2010/11
Karen writes:
It has been an amazing year. Since September 2010 Voicebeat has enjoyed the company of some 55 singers at various times, weekly attendance growing from around 15 to 25, with a solid core of regular and well rehearsed members. The net effect of this spectacular growth has enabled us to respond positively to all invitations, and sing four part harmonies in many languages at a tremendous variety of events. Harry has poured energy and enthusiasm into the choir, and the word has spread. Our website, Voicebeat.org, is the main point of contact for enquirers, and our email address, [email protected], receives many enquiries throughout the year. Thanks to the Yahoo Group mailings and Doodles, active members are in regular contact with Harry, and the growing Googlemail list keeps everyone else updated with key events and dates.
Gigs came slowly at the start of the session: a Glasgow Peace Federation event; an invitation to perform at a fundraising evening for the Pakistan Flood Relief Appeal; and our second “Folk Carols in the Pub”, this time in an icebound Liquid Ship [that’s a pub by the way]. Severe weather affected most plans: no carol busking, the Summerston Riding for the Disabled event cancelled, no public transport after the Folk Carols, but twelve of us made it to a Christmas Party in Stepps on a night of freezing fog.
In 2011 however the events began in earnest. Our second foray into the Streetland Festival in Govanhill involved busking and running a singing workshop in the deep end of the [drained!] Govanhill Baths. We sang for Jane Tomlinson at Lansdowne Parish Church on Easter morning, and for an event in Knightswood Congregational Church. Later we were invited to participate in Lansdowne’s Arts Adventure Day, the seventh Partick Folk Festival, a WaterAid event on a cloudless day outside the newly opened Riverside Museum, and the Gorbals Healthy Living Network’s Gala Day in the Gorbals Rose Garden. Our biggest event by far took place on Friday 1st July in St Silas Church, when we gave our very first Voicebeat Concert, a lovely relaxed evening with friends and families which raised funds for WaterAid.
Other new ventures were the drumming workshop, led by Jane Bentley, and the “Peak Party” at La Bodega. Voicebeat has enjoyed two innovative and inspirational weekends away: the first in a cottage in Strathyre last November, the other in a castle in Ayrshire in July. Both involved singing workshops, performing at local hostelries, and some recording. Another weekend away is planned this autumn.
A grant from Partick West Area Committee – thanks to Jane Tomlinson for alerting us – has enabled Voicebeat to produce stunning new publicity flyers and cards, purchase a djembe to provide rhythm in performances, and get some new recording equipment. Harry uses Soundcloud.com to store our songs, and this helps us learn and rehearse as well as showing the wider public what we can do. We have extended our repertoire to include Sotho, Zulu, Maori, Romanian, Latin, Italian, Gaelic and Welsh – all learned phonetically of course – and diverse material of many centuries and cultures from Jamaica to Corsica to New Zealand. Our efforts in English include American folk, shapenote, and sea shanties. The year ended with a recording session in Knightswood Congregational Church, with the intention of producing a demo CD to illustrate our amazing versatility!
Voicebeat has had 36 regular meetings on Mondays, with 4 additional summer meetings and at least one extra rehearsal on Thursday 30 June before the concert. The meeting on 11 October was our second “Bring a Bloke Night” and we hired two rooms. “Summer Meetings” in July were well attended and also attracted new singers. We continue to meet mainly in the Annexe in Stewartville Street, Partick, but have an alternative venue at Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church in Observatory Road on evenings when the Annexe is closed. We don’t let public holidays get in the way of our singing and socialising. We often repair to the Lismore pub after Monday practice, and sometimes to Tennents, and the Lismore is not entirely averse to a little singing.
In 2010/11 we introduced a membership fee of £1 a term for all those registering and receiving email communications through the Yahoo Group. This helps us monitor numbers and commitment, and brings in much needed extra income towards learning resources and insurance. The weekly contribution is £3.50 to cover costs, with the option to pay by the term and get a small reduction. Voicebeat continues to be a multicultural choir. In the past year we have welcomed singers from Canada, Goa, Mexico, Greece, Israel, Poland, Germany, Ireland, England and Orkney. We have been led mainly by Harry, with assistance from Frances Hume, Jane Bentley, and choir member Maggie McTernan. The Voicebeat committee has worked very hard and has held seven regular meetings, sometimes in the Lismore, or in members’ homes. Ideas and views are sought from all our membership, and anyone is welcome to join the committee and/or arrange an event. The role of Promoter has been shared between us quite successfully, but we still need help with publicity and other tasks. The AGM scheduled for 20 June had to be postponed because we were rehearsing for so many gigs, took place on 19 September.
Next year will mark the tenth anniversary of Voicebeat. It would be lovely hearing from former members, to share memories and information, and who knows... perhaps someone will be able to compile a history of this amazing and wonderful wee choir. We hope to stage another Voicebeat Concert in the summer of 2012 to celebrate this anniversary. Watch this space!
It has been an amazing year. Since September 2010 Voicebeat has enjoyed the company of some 55 singers at various times, weekly attendance growing from around 15 to 25, with a solid core of regular and well rehearsed members. The net effect of this spectacular growth has enabled us to respond positively to all invitations, and sing four part harmonies in many languages at a tremendous variety of events. Harry has poured energy and enthusiasm into the choir, and the word has spread. Our website, Voicebeat.org, is the main point of contact for enquirers, and our email address, [email protected], receives many enquiries throughout the year. Thanks to the Yahoo Group mailings and Doodles, active members are in regular contact with Harry, and the growing Googlemail list keeps everyone else updated with key events and dates.
Gigs came slowly at the start of the session: a Glasgow Peace Federation event; an invitation to perform at a fundraising evening for the Pakistan Flood Relief Appeal; and our second “Folk Carols in the Pub”, this time in an icebound Liquid Ship [that’s a pub by the way]. Severe weather affected most plans: no carol busking, the Summerston Riding for the Disabled event cancelled, no public transport after the Folk Carols, but twelve of us made it to a Christmas Party in Stepps on a night of freezing fog.
In 2011 however the events began in earnest. Our second foray into the Streetland Festival in Govanhill involved busking and running a singing workshop in the deep end of the [drained!] Govanhill Baths. We sang for Jane Tomlinson at Lansdowne Parish Church on Easter morning, and for an event in Knightswood Congregational Church. Later we were invited to participate in Lansdowne’s Arts Adventure Day, the seventh Partick Folk Festival, a WaterAid event on a cloudless day outside the newly opened Riverside Museum, and the Gorbals Healthy Living Network’s Gala Day in the Gorbals Rose Garden. Our biggest event by far took place on Friday 1st July in St Silas Church, when we gave our very first Voicebeat Concert, a lovely relaxed evening with friends and families which raised funds for WaterAid.
Other new ventures were the drumming workshop, led by Jane Bentley, and the “Peak Party” at La Bodega. Voicebeat has enjoyed two innovative and inspirational weekends away: the first in a cottage in Strathyre last November, the other in a castle in Ayrshire in July. Both involved singing workshops, performing at local hostelries, and some recording. Another weekend away is planned this autumn.
A grant from Partick West Area Committee – thanks to Jane Tomlinson for alerting us – has enabled Voicebeat to produce stunning new publicity flyers and cards, purchase a djembe to provide rhythm in performances, and get some new recording equipment. Harry uses Soundcloud.com to store our songs, and this helps us learn and rehearse as well as showing the wider public what we can do. We have extended our repertoire to include Sotho, Zulu, Maori, Romanian, Latin, Italian, Gaelic and Welsh – all learned phonetically of course – and diverse material of many centuries and cultures from Jamaica to Corsica to New Zealand. Our efforts in English include American folk, shapenote, and sea shanties. The year ended with a recording session in Knightswood Congregational Church, with the intention of producing a demo CD to illustrate our amazing versatility!
Voicebeat has had 36 regular meetings on Mondays, with 4 additional summer meetings and at least one extra rehearsal on Thursday 30 June before the concert. The meeting on 11 October was our second “Bring a Bloke Night” and we hired two rooms. “Summer Meetings” in July were well attended and also attracted new singers. We continue to meet mainly in the Annexe in Stewartville Street, Partick, but have an alternative venue at Kelvinside Hillhead Parish Church in Observatory Road on evenings when the Annexe is closed. We don’t let public holidays get in the way of our singing and socialising. We often repair to the Lismore pub after Monday practice, and sometimes to Tennents, and the Lismore is not entirely averse to a little singing.
In 2010/11 we introduced a membership fee of £1 a term for all those registering and receiving email communications through the Yahoo Group. This helps us monitor numbers and commitment, and brings in much needed extra income towards learning resources and insurance. The weekly contribution is £3.50 to cover costs, with the option to pay by the term and get a small reduction. Voicebeat continues to be a multicultural choir. In the past year we have welcomed singers from Canada, Goa, Mexico, Greece, Israel, Poland, Germany, Ireland, England and Orkney. We have been led mainly by Harry, with assistance from Frances Hume, Jane Bentley, and choir member Maggie McTernan. The Voicebeat committee has worked very hard and has held seven regular meetings, sometimes in the Lismore, or in members’ homes. Ideas and views are sought from all our membership, and anyone is welcome to join the committee and/or arrange an event. The role of Promoter has been shared between us quite successfully, but we still need help with publicity and other tasks. The AGM scheduled for 20 June had to be postponed because we were rehearsing for so many gigs, took place on 19 September.
Next year will mark the tenth anniversary of Voicebeat. It would be lovely hearing from former members, to share memories and information, and who knows... perhaps someone will be able to compile a history of this amazing and wonderful wee choir. We hope to stage another Voicebeat Concert in the summer of 2012 to celebrate this anniversary. Watch this space!
