Page 343 - She's One Crazy Lady!

CONCERTS:
With my Dad being Welsh I always loved the sound of Welsh Male Voice Choirs; Mum loved Classical Music and I loved to hear children sing... mix them up together and we had the makings of a concert! A ‘Celebration of Life’ Concert. The Corby Male Voice Choir had performed for us on many occasions; I had strong links with two wonderful schools (Studfall Junior School in Corby and Irchester Junior School, where my good friend Julie, having left Highfields, was the Head). Both had a good reputation for having strong choirs and music teachers. Could I get the three to join forces to put a concert on? The answer was ‘Yes’.
The planning was meticulous and took over ten months of hard work and endless rehearsals to put it all together but what an evening it was! The rehearsals were incredible. Never before had any of us heard men sing with children or children sing with a choir of men – it’s hard to describe the experience without feeling emotional. One of the songs they sang together was ‘Panis Angelicus’ in two parts. The children stood in front of the men and we told them: “When the men sing, don’t turn round and look at them, carry on singing.” We said the same to the men. Well, the feeling as they sang so proudly was... tearful. Even some of the men were reduced to tears – as were we.
We booked the Festival Hall at Corby and it was a sell out! We had tremendous help. Sue (Osborne) – our seamstress made over 100 pink bow ties for the men and children to wear; Glennis and Lisa made over 100 pink rose button holes; Gary (General Print Solutions) and Bill designed a superb programme; members organised a huge raffle; Andrew Torbell (CMVC Musical Director), Julie and Maggie (Studfall) had put together a wonderful repertoire of songs; Bobby Civil (ex-Mayor of Kettering) compered the evening, and a friend of Heather donated a beautiful hand made quilt which was raffled off and raised £1,400 – an overall total of £3,500 raised. The highlight was when all our Committee went up on stage to join the children and the men, all with party hats on, and we sang Lesley’s Song, ‘Celebrate Life’. Yes, it was an incredible, wonderful, memorable evening – Corby Male Voice Choir ending with the rousing song from Les Miserables, “Do You Hear The People Sing” – “Will you join in our Crusade...” (Words we could relate to!)
Julie: “The morning after the night before... “WOW!!” What a fantastic evening it turned out to be! Our parents loved it, our children loved it, my Mum and Dad loved it... everybody loved it! It worked! Thank you for having the vision and the dream for letting ICPS be a small part of the big picture. It was so lovely to give the children the opportunity to work with the men, who were terrific. If it happens again next year, I just know the whole world will want to come because they will now get to know what they missed.”
We did do a similar concert at Corby the following year but with Brambleside Junior School, under the direction of Sue Peel, and Studfall
“Yes, it was an incredible, wonderful, memorable evening – Corby Male Voice Choir ending with
the rousing song from Les Miserables, “Do You Hear The People Sing” – “Will you join in our Crusade...” (Words we could relate to!) ”
343