Skipton Choral Society’s wonderful free singing workshops

A SERIES of free workshops run by Skipton Choral Society for people who enjoy singing have just finished.

The five workshops included ‘Sacred Choirs’, ‘Passion Music’, ‘Choral Showstoppers’ and ‘Gospel Meets Choir’ and culminated in an informal concert of Brahms’ Requiem at Christ Church, Skipton.

Conducted by Robert Webb, the concert included two pianists as well as soprano and baritone soloists.

The workshops were free thanks to local grant funding from Skipton Borough Council in North Yorkshire.

Here Mike Swinden, a club member who took part in the workshops, explains what it was all about.

“Well, we did it – five weeks of wonderful workshops at Skipton Choral Society, covering a wide range of music, culminating in an informal concert of Brahms’ Requiem. We were really pleased that around 20 guest singers accepted our open invitation to take part, some of whom had travelled a long way. It was also really nice to see lots of new people in the audience.

The choir did surprisingly well considering that most of us had never sung Brahms before and had less than three hours to rehearse.

Richard Cressall was absolutely brilliant as our baritone soloist, singing with power, superb tone and feeling. Our regular accompanist, Robin Terry, did a fantastic job on the piano, as did Jenny Martins – to whom we owe special thanks for stepping in at the last minute to form the ‘four hands’.

Our thanks also go to all members of the Skipton Choral Society Committee who helped with the extensive organisational effort and to North Yorkshire Councillors Andy Solloway, David Noland, Simon Myers and Robert Heseltine for their very generous financial support of this project.

And last but not least, we could not have done all this without our Maestro Robert Webb, who had the vision and courage to put together such an ambitious and diverse workshop program.

We’re now taking a well-earned summer break. If you fancy trying us out, why not come along to our first rehearsal on return on Monday 2nd September, or our open rehearsal the week after? We’ll be singing lots of Christmas music and getting ready for performances with none other than the fabulous York Railway Institute Brass Band at Skipton Town Hall and Selby Abbey on 7th and 14th December. You won’t want to miss it.”

For more information visit: https://skiptonchoralsociety.com/