Christmas is coming....
Tickets are priced £3 for this evening, which starts at 7.30pm.
On Sunday 13th December the choir has a busy day: two performances will take place at the Family Christmas Concerts at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall, one at 4pm and another again at 7.30pm. The day's events are organised by the Sutton Coldfield Orchestra, and also sees performances by the Sutton Musical Theatre Company. Music for the evening includes Gaudete, Razzle Dazzle, Little Drmmer Boy and Christmas Carol Jamboree performed by the Cluster Choir, some of which will be accompanied by the live orchestra. The orchestra will also be playing festive favourites such as Sleigh Ride, and other numbers too, including the theme from Pink Panther. The theatre company's repertoire includes a four-part version of 'Bring Him Home', from Les Miserables. These concerts are always a sell-out, so get your orders in fast. Tickets cost £8, £5 (conc) and £2 (children 11 or under). Email us through this website or call our office weekdays on 0121 675 2687.
Charity Concert - Saturday 21st November - Sutton Town Hall
We're up for the challenge again!
Tamworth's Musical Extravaganza!
The evening was rounded off with a superb rendition of Summer Holiday, complete with hats, sunglasses, shorts - even body boards! If the audience's reaction was anything to go by, they loved every minute - cheering for more at the end.
If you missed the evening's performance, or wish to re-live the night, click here for the pics. Of course, you can also purchase our CD (mentioned below) which features all the evening's songs plus a host of others. Here's to another year of happy music making!
Our latest CD - "A Musical Extravaganza"
Both choirs have worked tremendously hard over the past twelve months and this CD is a celebration of that work. It could not be achieved without all members attending rehearsals weekly, learning words and notes, and persevering when things don't go quite right at first! We hope you think the end result is worth it....contact us if you'd like to puchase a disc.
Brand New Choir - Sutton Coldfield Youth Voices
This September sees the launch of a brand new choir - Sutton Coldfield Youth Voices. This is an exciting new venture and will be open to anyone in Year 9 or older. Do you know anyone who might like to join? Please spread the word - and in the mean time, visit suttoncoldfieldyouthvoices.weebly.com for further information.
Choir to Sing at Sutton Festival of Arts
Four Oaks Cluster Choir are set to sing at the Sutton Festival of Arts on Sunday 12th July, alongside the Sutton Coldfield Orchestra and the Vaughan Singers. The event takes place at Sutton Town Hall, and tickets are available by ringing the box office on (0121) 464 8990.
To see the full news article click HERE. (Article taken from the Sutton Coldfield News, Friday 8th May 2009)
Music for Youth - report comments!
We were all very pleased with the choir's performance on Sunday 5th April at the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham. In our session we were the youngest group there and the comments from the adjudicators certainly reflected how much you enjoy your singing. Both commented on how impressive you looked as you walked on stage, before even singing a note - "terriffic" and "so cheerful" summed it up. Comments on our three pieces included the following:
Chasing Cars: "Good beginning...eyecatching and interesting...excellent unison sound, with excellent contrasts and clarity of diction...good intonation and great ensemble...balanced 2-part singing...well done violinists - nice touch....most effective conclusion."
Look at the World: "Excellent unison sound with focused, projected singing...much to commend in terms of expression and style...effective contrasts...clear vocals and stylistic thought."
Adiemus: "A good choice of programme for contrasts...diction clear...movements well co-ordinated...lilting and focused with excellent atmosphere created...recorders and percussion well done...the singing grew and we felt the poignancy of the setting...most enjoyable!"
These comments are a mixture from the two adjudicators - full copies will be sent out next term so you can read them fully.
Spring Concert - Wednesday 1st April 7pm
Music for Youth Festival - Sunday 5th April - afternoon session
Saturday 28th March
Please come and support us at our Spring Concert this Wednesday, 1st April. This takes place at Four Oaks Primary School and starts at 7pm, where we will also be joined by our adult choir The Accidentals, along with the school band, Mrs Brown's string group, the Year 2-3 school choir and some soloists. There are no tickets for the concert, and there is a restriction to two seats per family. However, there will be the opportunity to make a donation if you wish. Enjoy a glass of wine or juice when you arrive! The Cluster Choir will be performing Swing Low Medley, Look at the World, Make Me A Channel Of Your Peace, Best Friend, Adiemus and Chasing Cars.
We then have a last rehearsal on Saturday 4th April (10.30am-12pm) at Four Oaks ready for our appearance at the regional round of Music For Youth the following day, Sunday 5th April, at Birmingham's Adrian Boult Hall. We have ten minutes in which to perform our pieces, which will be: Chasing Cars, Look at the World and Adiemus. The children have been working incredibly hard to perfect these three, which are not easy by any stretch of the imagination. Parents are welcome to watch and support if there is space (there are usually free seats, but it's impossible to say how many). It would be great to see you there! Our slot is from 12.30-2.30pm and our performance will some time in this period. We won't know our exact order until we get there.
After Easter we will be working towards performances at the Four Oaks Community Concert (Tuesday 9th June) and a summer musical extravaganza at Tamworth Assembly Rooms (Saturday 18th July), which will include items from The Accidentals - plus a live band accompanying the proceedings. Further details will appear hear in the weeks ahead. The choir will also be recording their 2009 CD next term (which will be on sale at the Tamworth concert) as well as spending a whole day touring the nine Four Oaks Cluster Schools in June. In the mean time, please sign our guest book and leave your comments. We'd love to hear from you!
Rehearsals for Music for Youth well underway...
It may seem a while away, but Music For Youth is approaching again - and this year we're aiming to get through to the national rounds in July. The regional rounds, which take place throughout the spring across the country, include groups of all kinds: choirs, orchestras, bands and much more. The Four Oaks Cluster Choir will be taking part in Birmingham at the Adrian Boult Hall, on Sunday 5th April. We have ten minutes to impress the adjudicators, and will be including Karl Jenkis' Adiemus in our programme. This is proving hard work at the moment, but we hope the end result will produce a great performance, together with choreography and percussion.
Choir visits London!
Recently the choir has taken on a more competitive edge. For the last two years we have entered the Music For Youth Festival – something we are entering again this year. We also took part in BBC 2008 Choir Of The Year competition: we got through to the area selection (quarter finals) but were unfortunately pipped at the post!
However, the organisers still invited us (along with 5 other choirs from the UK) to London to take part in a workshop called Taking the Stage, connected with 'Sing Up' – the Music Manefesto National Singing Programme. This involved a couple of workshops with choral expert David Lawrence during our usual rehearsal time last autumn, followed by a choral clinic and foyer performances at the Finals day on December 7th 2008 at the Royal Festival Hall. We were also given free tickets to watch the final itself – which was televised on BBC4. As you can imagine, we were very excited and honoured to be given this opportunity! Click here to view the pictures. If you scroll down you'll see a close up of one of our members......
We have also had a mention in a national publication. The editor of Music Teacher magazine, Clare Stevens, was in London and saw our performances in the foyer and was really impressed. In the January 2009 issue she states: 'If anyone doubted the value of the national singing campaign, they should have been at the Royal Festival Hall's Chelsfield Room on 7th December when six groups of young people got together for a 'choral clinic', run by Sing Up in association with the BBC Radio 3 Choir Of The Year competition, the final of which was taking place in the main auditorium the same day. They came from all over the country, and the standard of their performances, especially that of Sing Up's own Four Oaks Cluster Choir from Sutton Coldfield, took my breath away.' Well done to all members!!