Come Back Quire

 The Come Back Quire gave a free concert at the Globe yesterday afternoon, and the place was pretty full.  It was a mix of songs they had done as the Village Quire and new material - carols, Welsh plygains and traditional songs, with readings from Under the Greenwood Tree, a medieval poem called This Endris Night, The Shepherd's Dog by Leslie Norris (who was present at the Nativity), and The Diary of a Farmer's Wife 1796, based on Ann Hughes' Boke, a manuscript diary which is now sadly lost.  Ann was a farmer's wife in South Herefordshire.

The concert was free, but they had invited a fund raiser for Shelter Cymru along, and he gave a little speech at the beginning of the interval about the work they do, and how important it is.   It seemed appropriate, since several of the songs in the concert were about remembering the poor at Christmas.

The second half began with a real Welsh tradition - we were visited by the Mari Lwyd!  This is a horse's skull on a stick, with a white sheet draped over the performer, who is led around on a leash.

 

There was a small child up on the balcony who was leaning out to try to pat it!

I've missed nearly every Christmas Carol Concert in Hay this year for one reason or another - I'm very glad I didn't miss this one! 

Fairtrade Fair and the Come Back Choir

 Saturday 20th December is going to be busy.  The annual Fairtrade Fair will be on at the Buttermarket.  Among the usual offerings will be some Zeytoun goods from Palestinian suppliers - who need all the help they can get at the moment.

Then, in the afternoon at the Globe - I think they start at 2.30pm - the Come Back Choir are giving a free concert.  These are members of the Village Quire who decided they still wanted to sing some of that wonderful repertoire when the Village Quire was wound up, with a few new members in the mix. 

Kings College London Choir Concert - "Angels aren't always saints"

 The church was packed again for the Christmas concert by Kings College London Choir.  

It wasn't exactly a carol concert, though some carols were included - the glorious finale was Joy to the World and they also sang the Coventry Carol (probably the only Christmas carol about the Massacre of the Innocents by King Herod), and Three Kings from Persian lands afar.  During the course of the concert, I was very impressed to see that the choristers were singing in Russian and Latin as well as English.

The first half was music by Taverner and Rachmaninoff.  

I had a vague recollection that I'd heard choral music by Taverner before, and I was right - his Song for Athene was performed at Princess Diana's funeral.  This time, the pieces were Ikon of the Nativity and As One Who Has Slept, both solemn and complex harmonies, bookending the much longer six part Vespers from Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, which was heavily based on Orthodox chants.

I think my favourite pieces came in the second half - the conductor, Dr Joseph Fort, had constructed the order of music around four linked pieces by Poulenc, written after he had seen a series of frescos about the Nativity story in Florence.  One of the things that struck him about the frescos was that the angels all seemed to be having fun, making faces at each other, and sticking their tongues out!  Hence his comment: "Angels aren't always saints".  So some of that music is very jolly, especially the piece about the shepherds.

To pair with each of the Poulenc pieces, he chose The Coventry Carol and In the stillness by Sally Beamish for the first (Christ lying in the manger); Angelus ad pastores ait by Raffealla Aleotti for the shepherds; O Radiant Dawn by James Macmillan and The Three Kings carol for the wise men, and Joy to the World to follow the last Poulenc piece, Hodie Christus natus est (Today Christ is born).

It was all absolutely sublime.

Hay Music has a full programme of concerts already planned out for next year, the first being The Marsyas Trio on Sunday 12th January at 3pm.  As usual, tickets are available through Hay Music or the Tourist Bureau.

Carol Concert

 Yesterday afternoon I was at St Mary's Church for a very enjoyable carol concert, given by the Hay Madrigals (or Hay Mads!) and the Come Back Quire.

The Come Back Quire is composed of the members of the Village Quire who didn't want to give up singing together when the Village Quire wound up operations, and I think they've recruited some new members, too.  Some singers were in both choirs.  Sadly, one of the tenors couldn't make it, and one lady had a footstool ready to rest her knee because she only had a knee operation a few days ago - the show must go on!

There was also an organist/pianist, who was treating the church organ like Reginald Dixon at Blackpool Tower Ballroom, with a lively rendition of Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer (complete with cuddly Rudolf toy).

The music was a mixture of 17th century madrigals, Welsh plygain carols, a folk song from the Copper family, and interesting settings of carols like Dancing Day and O Little Town of Bethlehem that I hadn't heard before.  There was also a reading of the carol singing scene from Cider With Rosie.

Oh, and for one song, called Sheep, the choir donned flat caps (for the shepherds) and head bands with sheep ears (for the sheep)!  Great fun!

Next Saturday I'm looking forward to the carol concert by the choir of Kings College, London, organised by Hay Music, which I think will be a slightly more serious affair.  That concert starts at 7pm, and tickets are still available from the Hay Music website or the Tourist Information office.

Not Another Christmas Concert!

 Hay Community Choir are having a Christmas Concert, together with Clyro School Choir, Dave Price on trumpet and Richard Errington on piano.

They promise songs to delight and entertain for the Christmas season.

The concert will be at St Mary's on Sunday 8th December, at 6pm.  Tickets are £10 from Hay Deli, or on the door, and is in aid of Herefordshire Growing Point.

Herefordshire Growing Point is a local charity that works with people who have physical or mental challenges, giving therapy through gardening.  They have a demonstration garden at Credenhill, and have been doing this work for 30 years.

Lots of Music Everywhere!

 I'm coming the the realisation that the Christmas season is almost upon us, and there are all sorts of concerts planned in Hay.

Hay Music have got the choir of Clare College, Cambridge in St Mary's Church on Wednesday December 6th, at 7pm.  Tickets are £20, or £10 if you are under 25.  They will be singing a wide range of carols from around Europe, a mix of medieval and modern (one of the modern ones is the Shepherd's Pipe Carol by John Rutter, which I learned at school), familiar and unfamiliar (Ding, Dong, Merrily on High to O Magnum Mysterium).  It looks as if it's going to be a really good evening.

Before that, on Saturday 2nd December from 10.30am, Father Richard will be giving an organ recital with a retiring collection in aid of the church.  Tea and coffee will be available. 

Later that afternoon, at 3.30pm, Hay Forum will have a talk about the Camino de Santiago, the great pilgrim route across Spain, with music from Terry and Christina Watson, Catherine Hughes, Father Richard and Lucy Green Ford, ranging from Polish carols with guitar accompaniment to a Bach organ solo, a Welsh carol and a piece from the Messiah.  Tickets are £5 on the door and there will be mince pies and sherry.

On Sunday the 3rd December at the Globe, the Hay Shantymen will be singing from 6.30pm.  Tickets are £10 online and from Flow on Castle Street.

On Saturday 9th December at 7.30pm, the Hay Community Choir are doing the Messiah at St. Mary's (part one, the bit with the Halleluiah Chorus) along with Clyro School Voices and children from Hay School.  Tickets are £10 from Hay Deli and on the door, and there will be a licensed bar.

Also in St. Mary's, on Saturday 16th December from 3.30 to 4.30pm, Hay Madrigals will be performing a mixture of Christmas and non-Christmas songs, beginning with an organ recital by Father Richard.  Tickets are £10 on the door, and there will be tea, coffee, wine and cakes afterwards.

Climate Choir

 I was asked to help out the Climate Choir by handing out leaflets when they sang in the Marquee at the Festival site on Saturday, and I had great fun doing it.

One of the stewards on duty said the singing was the most enjoyable he'd heard all weekend!

The leaflets contained handy hints on ways people can do things at home to reduce waste, and also to make their money count by moving their bank account to an ethical bank, encouraging use of public transport where possible, and supporting climate activists in calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies, and a fast introduction of renewable energy.

Hay Festival has had a lot of events relating to climate change and sustainability, and what we can do about it, and there were stalls this year for the Woodland Trust, WWF, RSPB, and Greenpeace.  They also have a deposit return system for reusable coffee cups and bar glasses across the Festival site, and do a lot of recycling.  The electricity supplier for the Festival is Good Energy, which is 100% renewable energy.  

They have also partnered with the Woodland Trust and the National Trust to plant 30 acres of woodland.

The Climate Choir was one of three choirs giving free performances during that afternoon of the Festival.  The others were Cantorion Y Gelli, who were celebrating Welsh music, and The Hay Shantymen, singing sea shanties.

Local Events During Hay Festival

 The Hay Festival programme has come out online, and I've had a preliminary scroll through to see what looks interesting - one of the big names this year is Hilary Clinton.  I remember hanging around at the top of Backfold (is it really twenty years ago?!) waiting for Bill Clinton to arrive in Hay - he was horribly late!

Mostly, though I was looking for local interest, and it struck me quite forcibly just how musical people in Hay are.  Performing through the Festival are the Hay Shantymen, the Hay Community Choir, the Hay Climate Choir, the Hay Festival Chorus (made up of members of the Community Choir and others) and a new group focussing on Welsh music, Cantorion Y Gelli.

Also featured are local authors, illustrators and photographers.  Adele Nozedar and Lizzie Harper talk about Adele's new book The Tree Forager, which Lizzie illustrated.  Jenny Valentine is running a writers' workshop, and Billie Charity and John Bulmer are talking about their books of local photography, created fifty years apart.  The Hay Writers Circle also has a spot to talk about new local writing.

There's also a talk about the interesting churches and chapels local to Hay, and The Poisonous Solicitor Walk, visiting sites related to Major Armstrong the Hay Poisoner (or was he?).

Singing for Peace in Ukraine

 The Community Choir will be singing in St Mary's Church from 10am to 4pm on Saturday, 19th March, to raise funds for Ukraine.  It's free to come and listen, or sing along, but you have to pay to leave!

The money is going to be sent to the Disaster Emergency Committee.

Sunflower seeds (a symbol of Ukraine) will also be on sale, donated by the Old Railway Line Garden Centre.

The Ukrainian National Anthem will be sung every hour, on the hour!

Choral Singing under the Bridge

 It was arranged at quite short notice, but I saw an announcement on the Hay Facebook page and when I got to the Bridge  there were a few people listening to medieval carols sung a cappella.  

Catherine Kramer was singing the soprano parts, as part of a new group called innominati.  This was their first performance, to raise money for the Friends of the Upper Wye.

The Friends of the Upper Wye have citizen scientists testing the water of the river for pollution and a Lift the River group celebrating the cultural diversity of the river - they have been sharing photos of the river, and information about walks and other events.  They also have a Designated Bathing Water group who are trying to make the river cleaner for swimmers.  The website is www.fouw.org.uk.

I was pleased to recognise some of the carols.  There was one about walking in the Garden in the cool of the day that I was unfamiliar with, but they also sang Lully, Lullay and Gaudete and Adam Lay Ybounden.

Christmas Fayre

 It was lovely to wander round town with all the stalls today - some familiar faces from the Thursday market with a few festive extras.  It was possible to buy cider, beer, and gin from local specialists, as well as Ukranian vintage clothes, hand carved wooden spoons, baskets and rugs, sheepskins, plants, wreaths and mistletoe, hand spun wool, jewellery and lots more.  There was even a stall for the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, and there was a man in the corner of the Buttermarket doing hand printing.  

In the morning I heard two different choirs, one in the town square and one down by the Clock Tower, and in the afternoon Brass Bells were playing - who turned out to be a small brass band.  There's something very Christmassy about hearing carols played by a brass band.

I managed to get the last few bits of presents I needed - all I have to do now is send them off! 

More Christmas Jollity

 On Saturday 11th December Hay is holding a Christmas Fayre in the middle of town - there will be 40 stalls offering festive gifts, crafts, food and drink, and singing from the Hay Community Choir and the Hay Shantymen.

At 3pm there will also be carol singing with Brass Bells (I'm not sure if that's the name of the group, or that they will be ringing bells, or both).  They will be fundraising for Homeless Hope.

So I think that will be a good opportunity to get the last few presents I need.

Turning on the Christmas Lights

 The centre of Hay was packed last night.

There were a few stalls along the edge of the car park, and more in the Buttermarket.  

The Community Choir sang, and so did the Hay Shanty Men and the school choir.

George the Town Cryer rang his bell and Andrew Williams introduced the special guests.  Citizens of the Year this year were Zoe McLean and Mac Eager.

Miriam Margolyes said a few words about how much she loved Hay, and how thrilled she was that Hay had invited an old Jew to turn the Christmas Lights on!

(she's not the first Jewish celebrity to turn the lights on in Hay - I seem to remember Matt Lucas making a similar comment when he did it.)

A New Choir in Town

 Hay has a lot of musical people, and several choirs already.

A new one will be meeting on Tuesdays in the Globe garden from 6.30 to 7.30pm.  They can accept a maximum of thirty people, and no experience is necessary.  The choir is being run by Jane Dodds, who can be contacted on jane.dodds13@gmail.com

Dedicating a Bench

Here are members of the Bell Bank Club and the Monday Choir getting ready to dedicate the new bench (hidden just round the corner of the stone building), which has a plaque on it in memory of Eileen Bufton, who belonged to both the Bell Bank Club and the Monday Choir. The crowd that had gathered to watch was across the street - and there was a police officer up in the square making sure no cars came through while the ceremony was in progress. A number of people walked straight through the middle, though. County Councillor Gareth Ratcliffe, and Josie Pearson from the Town Council, were also in the crowd, as well as members of Eileen's family. John Price was the Master of Ceremonies, and the Monday Choir sang three of Eileen's favourite songs - Summer is icumen in, The Lord's My Shepherd, and (with help from the crowd) Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
The plaque reads "The Bell Bank Club for the blind and partially sighted" at the top, around a picture of bells, and under that "Fond memories of Eileen Bufton and all departed members and helpers of our club."

Choral Singing

I always enjoy listening to the Community Choir when I see them, and it seems that the same organiser is also responsible for another group, the Decibelles.
The Decibelles will be singing at Clyro Village Hall on Sunday 9th July at 7pm and the Community Choir will be at Baskerville Hall on Sunday 16th July from 7pm.
I'm not sure if I'll be able to get to either of them, but if past performances are anything to go by, they'll be enjoyable evenings!

The London Welsh Male Voice Rugby Choir - in Hay

There will be a special concert at St Mary's Church on Saturday 13th May, at 7pm.
The London Welsh Male Voice Rugby Choir will be singing, supported by the Black Lion Singers.
The concert is in memory of Betty Weir, who died last year. She was half of the North Weir Trust, a charity which gives grants to local people who wish to advance their education or extend their professional expertise through voluntary work. It's been giving grants for twenty five years now, and Vera North, the other half of the partnership, is still involved.
When Betty died, it was decided to put on a special event to raise money for the North Weir Trust, and this is the result.
Roger Beetham, from the B&B at the back of Hay Cinema Bookshop, has been singing with the choir since 2005, when it toured New Zealand with the British and Irish Lions. The choir also sang at the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics - so they're used to big crowds!
Tickets are £12, and are available from Roger and Dawn Beetham on 01497 820408, Eric Pugh on The Pavement, and Jackson and Gill Opticians in Backfold.
There will be a bar serving wine and soft drinks.