2016/17
VOICEBEAT NEWSLETTER 30 November 2017: Greetings from Karen, the Voicebeat Archivist. This might be my last newsletter to you all, as I retired from the Committee at the AGM on 9 October, the longest serving secretary in history, officially elected to the post in February 2010, and six months before that, David and myself were the remnants of an older committee, to which I had been co-opted early in 2009. The accolade of longest serving committee member goes to David, who by my calculation has served continuously from at least 2006, as Treasurer, then as Quartermaster, and retired from the committee at the recent AGM. Assistant Treasurer Marie retired on completion of a three year term, and Nik also stood down. Tom continues as Chair, Lilian as Treasurer, and Hannah becomes our new Secretary. Three new committee members, Bridie, Joanna and Peter co-opted over the summer were formally elected at the AGM, and have recently been assigned the roles of Assistant Treasurer, Social Secretary, and Member without Portfolio. In this capacity Peter has already excelled as our Concert Promoter, and the new committee is to be commended for an auspicious start. Chair Tom Malone has called a short Extraordinary General Meeting for Monday 29 January 2018 to ratify the reshuffle of committee roles since the AGM.
On 25 November we celebrated fifteen years of Voicebeat with a splendid Anniversary Concert in Renfield St Stephen’s Church in Bath Street. It seemed a good way to mark five years since our equally fantastic Tenth Anniversary celebrations in Adelaide’s, particularly because most of our current members were not around in 2012. Adelaide’s sadly not available, it was great to find an equally prestigious venue just across the road – a highly appropriate venue – because Renfield St Stephen’s was Voicebeat’s regular rehearsal place back in 2004-5. At our Tenth Anniversary Concert we looked back to our beginnings in the company of Jane Tomlinson, our first Musical Director, and many founding members were invited. We also launched our first CD “Swell the Sound”.
Last Saturday saw the launch of our second CD “In Living Green”, and the formal launch of “Friends of Voicebeat”. For information, please see our website, www.voicebeat.org and if interested in joining our “Friends of Voicebeat” write to [email protected]. Our concert was very well attended and enjoyed by all. Another former Musical Director Frances Hume shared a few words, and a former Assistant leader Jane Bentley was our percussionist. Although Voicebeat has performed seven annual summer concerts for charity, our 15th Anniversary Concert is only the second at which we have charged admission to raise much needed funds for the choir, and indeed, only our second fundraiser for the choir in all our fifteen years. Early indications are that it has paid for itself several times over, and has probably exceeded the profits made in 2012, which enabled the acquisition of resources, equipment, an excursion in 2013, various training opportunities, and subsidised places at our Weekend Away in 2016.
A little history might be appropriate here. Voicebeat was founded in 2002 by music teacher Jane Tomlinson, who arrived in Glasgow around the time the first asylum seekers were being dispersed to Glasgow. Jane wished to start a choir to help the integration of asylum seekers through singing and sharing songs. Funding came from Sense over Sectarianism, but members preferred to be defined as a singing group rather than an interfaith choir. Earliest records date to November 2002, when rehearsals commenced at St Charles’s Church in Kelvinside. Initially the choir met fortnightly on Thursday evening, and quickly established itself as a multicultural choir which sang at a variety of community events, religious festivals such as Diwali, and parties at Christmas and the Bahai New Year. In April 2003 Voicebeat moved to The Annexe in Stewartville Street Partick, and the following April to Renfield St Stephens in Bath Street. Each month a rehearsal was held at St Rollox in Sighthill, where many asylum seekers lived. In April 2005 weekly rehearsals resumed at The Annexe, which was to be our home for the next eleven years. Voicebeat consolidated its administration with an email address, mobile phone and a website, even employing an Administrator. Specific project funding ceased however, and from 2006 Voicebeat began covering its costs from weekly subscriptions and occasional performance income. The choir enjoyed a period of growth and a variety of interesting gigs, from singing in a field at the North Glasgow (Sighthill) Festival to the Peace Concert for the Dalai Lama in the Royal Concert Hall! We enjoyed lantern processions in Govanhill, multi-cultural events in the Hidden Gardens, and carol busking. Jane Tomlinson retired unexpectedly in the summer of 2007, and Frances Hume, realising a long cherished ambition to lead a multicultural community choir succeeded seamlessly to the role of Musical Director for the next two years. We continued in a similar tradition with many interfaith gigs, most memorably singing to a World Conference of Midwives at the Armadillo! Voicebeat was a small but vibrant choir with a challenging repertoire. With Frances we attended our first Northern Harmony Workshop in 2008, and purchased their splendid resources. Towards the end of Frances’s tenure, Chair Lucie became co-leader, some committee members helping at rehearsals. This coincided with an unprecedented drop in membership, largely due to changes in people’s personal circumstances. We continued to work hard and fulfill gigs, even running singing workshops at Interfaith conferences, and through Lucie became involved in the campaign to restore Govanhill Baths. But we were not actively recruiting, and when Frances and Lucie moved on in the summer of 2009, Voicebeat faced an uncertain future. It was at this point that Harry Campbell came on board to tide us over until Christmas, and a whole new world opened before us. Several enthusiastic new members provided a much needed catalyst. By February 2010 we had an active committee with Olga as Chair, an exciting new repertoire and many new gig opportunities. Our rehearsal night changed to Monday, which sparked further growth. We held our first “Summer Rehearsals”, and later that year enjoyed the first of many “Weekends Away”. June 2011 saw our tradition of summer charity concerts begin with a cabaret style fundraiser for WaterAid attended by many former members. It was a watershed moment, as this was the first time we had sufficient singers versed in four-part harmony, and an extensive enough repertoire to fill an evening with song. By our tenth anniversary in 2012 we had grown to 30 singers at rehearsals, and had produced our first CD. We continued on an even keel until 2016, when The Annexe could no longer remain open on Monday evenings. Luckily, Tom our Chair found us a new home at the SDTA Studios in Kelvinbridge. The move seems to be doing us good, as we continue to attract members new and old.
Voicebeat has always been a choir which welcomes asylum seekers and this continues to be one of our principles, by granting free membership and raising funds during Refugee Week, particularly to help destitute asylum seekers in Glasgow. Substantial donations have been made to RST (Refugee Survival Trust) in 2012, PAiH (Positive Action in Housing) from 2013-16, and our 2017 Summer Concert “Connecting Voices” raised £495.17 for the Scottish Refugee Council. Tombolas at Folk Carols in 2014 and 2015 contributed to the RST Winter Bus Pass Scheme and to PAiH. Long may this tradition continue. We are particularly indebted to Glasgow City Council and the staff of the Botanic Gardens for a free charity let of the lovely Kibble Palace where we sang our midsummer concert for the fifth amazing time. Our singers have a wonderful generosity of spirit when it comes to fundraising for charity, and Jackie’s wonderful Tombolas are legendary. Last Monday we had a whip-round for earthquake victims in Kurdistan.
From its earliest days Voicebeat is made up of friends from many countries, singers of many nationalities, and we have always enjoyed singing in many languages, unaccompanied and in harmony. I like to list these as follows: in 2017 we have enjoyed singing with folks from Australia, Bulgaria, Camaroon, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kurdistan, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia and Switzerland. Sadly not all these are still singing with us, and some were visitors, but we also have a number of Britons who have lived overseas, and can boast an honorary Thai and an honorary Belgian, both with connections to Singapore.
On 16 October we hosted a fantastic Gospel Workshop led by Tony Backhouse, all the way from New Zealand. Though most of our members reside locally, some travel from well outside Glasgow, indeed there have been some who resided in the north of England, and some ten years ago, a member who came regularly all the way from Canada! Among our current members are a handful from the early days, one joining in each year from 2003 – 2009, with the exception of 2008, a lean year, as I have explained. From 2010 onwards, very many have joined and stayed.
January 2017 however saw the return of one singer who recalls attending Voicebeat a few times when it met in St Charles, back in 2002, and said “It was exciting with the asylum seekers there, but the harmonies were difficult.” Indeed, my own first memory was us learning a Venezuelan song in Spanish, and Jane asking us to “now sing it with a Scottish lilt”. I am sure all would agree it has been well worth sticking with it – by the third rehearsal you will know at least three songs in harmony, and have become a regular, and can even perform in a concert!
In June 2017 we made three appearances in the West End Festival: Vinicombe Street Community Day in the rain, “Voice@the Bandstand” was a welcome and rainless return to Kelvingrove Bandstand on Saturday 24th and our own magical midsummer concert on 25th June, the last evening of the festival. Glasgow Botanic Gardens was celebrating its 200th Anniversary and the weather was lovely. Autumn term too has been exceptionally busy. Besides rehearsing for the recent concert, we held four recording sessions for our CD, and have also been recorded for the radio! We had a second gig at the Auld Kirk Museum in Kirkintilloch, and sang for the Christmas Lights Switch-On in Vinicombe Street. On 11 December we host a Folk Carols workshop for the pub session in the Dram on Saturday 16 December.
On 25 November we celebrated fifteen years of Voicebeat with a splendid Anniversary Concert in Renfield St Stephen’s Church in Bath Street. It seemed a good way to mark five years since our equally fantastic Tenth Anniversary celebrations in Adelaide’s, particularly because most of our current members were not around in 2012. Adelaide’s sadly not available, it was great to find an equally prestigious venue just across the road – a highly appropriate venue – because Renfield St Stephen’s was Voicebeat’s regular rehearsal place back in 2004-5. At our Tenth Anniversary Concert we looked back to our beginnings in the company of Jane Tomlinson, our first Musical Director, and many founding members were invited. We also launched our first CD “Swell the Sound”.
Last Saturday saw the launch of our second CD “In Living Green”, and the formal launch of “Friends of Voicebeat”. For information, please see our website, www.voicebeat.org and if interested in joining our “Friends of Voicebeat” write to [email protected]. Our concert was very well attended and enjoyed by all. Another former Musical Director Frances Hume shared a few words, and a former Assistant leader Jane Bentley was our percussionist. Although Voicebeat has performed seven annual summer concerts for charity, our 15th Anniversary Concert is only the second at which we have charged admission to raise much needed funds for the choir, and indeed, only our second fundraiser for the choir in all our fifteen years. Early indications are that it has paid for itself several times over, and has probably exceeded the profits made in 2012, which enabled the acquisition of resources, equipment, an excursion in 2013, various training opportunities, and subsidised places at our Weekend Away in 2016.
A little history might be appropriate here. Voicebeat was founded in 2002 by music teacher Jane Tomlinson, who arrived in Glasgow around the time the first asylum seekers were being dispersed to Glasgow. Jane wished to start a choir to help the integration of asylum seekers through singing and sharing songs. Funding came from Sense over Sectarianism, but members preferred to be defined as a singing group rather than an interfaith choir. Earliest records date to November 2002, when rehearsals commenced at St Charles’s Church in Kelvinside. Initially the choir met fortnightly on Thursday evening, and quickly established itself as a multicultural choir which sang at a variety of community events, religious festivals such as Diwali, and parties at Christmas and the Bahai New Year. In April 2003 Voicebeat moved to The Annexe in Stewartville Street Partick, and the following April to Renfield St Stephens in Bath Street. Each month a rehearsal was held at St Rollox in Sighthill, where many asylum seekers lived. In April 2005 weekly rehearsals resumed at The Annexe, which was to be our home for the next eleven years. Voicebeat consolidated its administration with an email address, mobile phone and a website, even employing an Administrator. Specific project funding ceased however, and from 2006 Voicebeat began covering its costs from weekly subscriptions and occasional performance income. The choir enjoyed a period of growth and a variety of interesting gigs, from singing in a field at the North Glasgow (Sighthill) Festival to the Peace Concert for the Dalai Lama in the Royal Concert Hall! We enjoyed lantern processions in Govanhill, multi-cultural events in the Hidden Gardens, and carol busking. Jane Tomlinson retired unexpectedly in the summer of 2007, and Frances Hume, realising a long cherished ambition to lead a multicultural community choir succeeded seamlessly to the role of Musical Director for the next two years. We continued in a similar tradition with many interfaith gigs, most memorably singing to a World Conference of Midwives at the Armadillo! Voicebeat was a small but vibrant choir with a challenging repertoire. With Frances we attended our first Northern Harmony Workshop in 2008, and purchased their splendid resources. Towards the end of Frances’s tenure, Chair Lucie became co-leader, some committee members helping at rehearsals. This coincided with an unprecedented drop in membership, largely due to changes in people’s personal circumstances. We continued to work hard and fulfill gigs, even running singing workshops at Interfaith conferences, and through Lucie became involved in the campaign to restore Govanhill Baths. But we were not actively recruiting, and when Frances and Lucie moved on in the summer of 2009, Voicebeat faced an uncertain future. It was at this point that Harry Campbell came on board to tide us over until Christmas, and a whole new world opened before us. Several enthusiastic new members provided a much needed catalyst. By February 2010 we had an active committee with Olga as Chair, an exciting new repertoire and many new gig opportunities. Our rehearsal night changed to Monday, which sparked further growth. We held our first “Summer Rehearsals”, and later that year enjoyed the first of many “Weekends Away”. June 2011 saw our tradition of summer charity concerts begin with a cabaret style fundraiser for WaterAid attended by many former members. It was a watershed moment, as this was the first time we had sufficient singers versed in four-part harmony, and an extensive enough repertoire to fill an evening with song. By our tenth anniversary in 2012 we had grown to 30 singers at rehearsals, and had produced our first CD. We continued on an even keel until 2016, when The Annexe could no longer remain open on Monday evenings. Luckily, Tom our Chair found us a new home at the SDTA Studios in Kelvinbridge. The move seems to be doing us good, as we continue to attract members new and old.
Voicebeat has always been a choir which welcomes asylum seekers and this continues to be one of our principles, by granting free membership and raising funds during Refugee Week, particularly to help destitute asylum seekers in Glasgow. Substantial donations have been made to RST (Refugee Survival Trust) in 2012, PAiH (Positive Action in Housing) from 2013-16, and our 2017 Summer Concert “Connecting Voices” raised £495.17 for the Scottish Refugee Council. Tombolas at Folk Carols in 2014 and 2015 contributed to the RST Winter Bus Pass Scheme and to PAiH. Long may this tradition continue. We are particularly indebted to Glasgow City Council and the staff of the Botanic Gardens for a free charity let of the lovely Kibble Palace where we sang our midsummer concert for the fifth amazing time. Our singers have a wonderful generosity of spirit when it comes to fundraising for charity, and Jackie’s wonderful Tombolas are legendary. Last Monday we had a whip-round for earthquake victims in Kurdistan.
From its earliest days Voicebeat is made up of friends from many countries, singers of many nationalities, and we have always enjoyed singing in many languages, unaccompanied and in harmony. I like to list these as follows: in 2017 we have enjoyed singing with folks from Australia, Bulgaria, Camaroon, Czech Republic, Egypt, England, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kurdistan, Poland, Russia, Scotland, Singapore, Slovenia and Switzerland. Sadly not all these are still singing with us, and some were visitors, but we also have a number of Britons who have lived overseas, and can boast an honorary Thai and an honorary Belgian, both with connections to Singapore.
On 16 October we hosted a fantastic Gospel Workshop led by Tony Backhouse, all the way from New Zealand. Though most of our members reside locally, some travel from well outside Glasgow, indeed there have been some who resided in the north of England, and some ten years ago, a member who came regularly all the way from Canada! Among our current members are a handful from the early days, one joining in each year from 2003 – 2009, with the exception of 2008, a lean year, as I have explained. From 2010 onwards, very many have joined and stayed.
January 2017 however saw the return of one singer who recalls attending Voicebeat a few times when it met in St Charles, back in 2002, and said “It was exciting with the asylum seekers there, but the harmonies were difficult.” Indeed, my own first memory was us learning a Venezuelan song in Spanish, and Jane asking us to “now sing it with a Scottish lilt”. I am sure all would agree it has been well worth sticking with it – by the third rehearsal you will know at least three songs in harmony, and have become a regular, and can even perform in a concert!
In June 2017 we made three appearances in the West End Festival: Vinicombe Street Community Day in the rain, “Voice@the Bandstand” was a welcome and rainless return to Kelvingrove Bandstand on Saturday 24th and our own magical midsummer concert on 25th June, the last evening of the festival. Glasgow Botanic Gardens was celebrating its 200th Anniversary and the weather was lovely. Autumn term too has been exceptionally busy. Besides rehearsing for the recent concert, we held four recording sessions for our CD, and have also been recorded for the radio! We had a second gig at the Auld Kirk Museum in Kirkintilloch, and sang for the Christmas Lights Switch-On in Vinicombe Street. On 11 December we host a Folk Carols workshop for the pub session in the Dram on Saturday 16 December.
