With 130 members, the Northampton Bach Choir is proud to be the
largest choir in the region. Vacancies for new members arise at
various points in the year, so we encourage you to get in touch as
soon as you can if you are interested in joining us. Usually we will
invite you to join us for a rehearsal, and if you find it enjoyable
you will come for a short (and we hope stress-free) audition. We are
proud to still be singing in the same venue as our very first
concert in 1936,
St Matthew’s Church,
home of artwork by Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland, and the church
where première performances of works by Benjamin Britten, Gerald
Finzi, Herbert Howells, and Michael Tippett, were given. However the
church only has limited ‘stage space’ for the performers, and whilst
we utilise specially-manufactured staging to maximise space, there
are times when we have no vacancies. At this time your details will
be added to our waiting list, and we will be in touch just as soon
as vacancies arise. Like most similar choirs, we are often
over-subscribed for sopranos and altos, but under-subscribed for
tenors and basses. Unfortunately we are not able to accept
applications from singers under the age of eighteen.
We often get asked why we have auditions and how good you have to be
to join. We have auditions to make sure the standard of the choir is
maintained, to decide what section of the choir you will sing in,
and to ensure that members are able to keep up with the pace and
detail of rehearsals. The audition is the first step in what we hope
will be a long and fruitful musical partnership; we want you to pass
your audition and we do all that we can to put you at your ease. We
look for a pleasant singing voice and basic musicality. Some
understanding of musical notation is also required. Auditions are
taken by the Musical Director,
Lee Dunleavy, and normally consist of singing a few scales, a short
prepared piece, and a short period looking at a new score, to
identify musical features and sing, with accompaniment, some of the
simple melodies in it. We are often asked “what prepared piece
should I bring” – for experienced singers this might be a classical
song, for people who haven’t sung for many years, this can be a
well-known hymn, folk song or Christmas carol. Please contact the
Membership Secretary if you have any further queries.
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Latest Recording
Requiem
Reflections - our fourth commercial CD, recorded in our home
church of St Matthew’s, Northampton, was recorded in October
2016 and commemorates the life of Constance Travis
(1911-2015), a stage actress who married into the
Northampton family that eventually became Travis Perkins. In
later life, she became a philanthropist who founded the
Constance Travis Charitable Trust, which has made grants to
numerous charities locally and nationally. |
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The Society's season starts on the first Monday evening of September
and goes through to the final concert in early June of the following
year.
Rehearsals take place on Monday evenings from 7:45pm to 9:45pm and
are held usually at the Northampton High School on the Newport
Pagnell Road (NN4 6UU). The school is best accessed by car – it is only
a 5 minute drive from junction 15 of the M1. The school has
excellent and plentiful car parking. We rehearse in the main hall,
which is now known as the Theatre. This is not accessed by the main
entrance to the school, but rather from the next entrance along the
building – park in the main car park in front of the school and it
should be obvious. On some occasions we may
use other venues, and details will be circulated in advance.
There is a usually a 10-15 minute break in the rehearsal for a
chance to have a drink and catch up with fellow members, and for any
notices to be given out. Water, juice and biscuits are available for
a nominal cost.
There are no fixed seating arrangements – members take the first
available seats wherever their respective voice parts happen to be
located. This can vary from concert to concert, and sometimes week
to week, depending on the works being rehearsed. Every voice part
has a representative and you will be introduced to this person the
first time you come along, to ensure you are sitting with someone
who supposedly knows what they’re doing!
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Choir members receive training from our music staff, which not only
prepares us for concerts, but also improves our vocal technique and
our understanding of the variety of repertoire we perform. Our
membership subscriptions therefore defray the costs involved in
simply rehearsing – paying our Musical Director and Répétiteur, and
the hire of our rehearsal venue. The cost of subscriptions is
presented to the Annual General Meeting each autumn by the
committee, based on balancing the budget for the coming year. There
are three levels of subscription rate depending on your personal
circumstances; the full rate for the current season is £145, with
concessions for students. Please contact
Crawford
Craig for further details. |
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For most of the music we perform you will have the option either to
purchase the scores or to hire them from the Librarian. There is the
odd occasion when either one option or the other cannot be offered
but this is rare.
When there have been higher costs for music hire for a concert, we
endeavour to programme the concert following so that music hire will
be inexpensive. The hire rates will vary as they are subject to the
costs of the Northampton Bach Choir hiring them in the first place
but are typically only a few pounds each time. The choir has
concert folders which are also available from the Librarian.
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Most of our concerts take place in St Matthew’s Church on the
Kettering Road (NN1 4RY), though our concerts with the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra take place in Royal and Derngate.
Unlike many choirs we do not require our members to purchase a
minimum number of tickets for each concert. Nevertheless, we rely on
choir members to promote our concerts, and encourage friends and
relatives to attend.
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As with any organisation like ours there are a few basic rules that
all members are required and expected to abide by. There are not
that many and the key ones are noted below:
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Must attend a minimum number of
rehearsals to be eligible to participate in a concert – this
will vary from concert to concert. |
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Adhere to the agreed concert dress code
for the concert in question. |
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Ensure you abide by the rules and are
aware of the Choir’s Constitution. |
In return for this, you will:
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Get to sing in four concerts a year with dynamic
programmes, performing alongside professional musicians and
singers of the highest calibre in a diverse list of venues. |
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Have the opportunity to participate in other special
events to which the choir (in part or whole) is invited, not
least our programme of joint concerts (most recently with
the Royal Choral Society and Alfie Boe in the Royal Albert
Hall), Cathedral visits (most recently to St Paul’s
Cathedral), foreign tours (most recently to Paris, where we
sang in the Cathédrale de Nôtre Dame) and recordings (three
commercial recordings have been made in the last five
years). |
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Receive excellent vocal tuition at rehearsals. |
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Be able to join other members in various social events
organised during the year, and sometimes outside of the
season. |
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