End of Year Reflection

It’s been a jam-packed summer term for us here at Mill End Voices. For a choir that only rehearses once a month, we really have managed to fit a lot in...

Choir Festival

Back in June, MEV performed at the Piddington Choir Festival, an event held in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust (see www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk for more information), and put together by MEV’s very own Treasurer, Sue Smith. The event saw several different choirs take to the stage in a celebration of music, harmony and togetherness. It was an honour for MEV to take part in such a fantastic event and we were delighted that the festival raised over £1,200 for the CF Trust. We hope that the festival becomes an annual event and that MEV get the chance to perform there again next year. Bravo, Sue, for putting together such a wonderful festival!

Choir Workshop and Recording Weekend

With Piddington Festival barely behind us, we embarked a couple of weeks later on Mill End Voices’ second choir workshop and recording weekend. The weekend kicked off with a fun round of team building games before the choir began recording the first of 8 songs.

We were very lucky to have had the pleasure of a visiting vocal coach, Helena May Harrison, who put us through our paces on the Saturday afternoon, teaching us new warmup techniques and helping the choir learn and perfect new harmonies for one of our songs.

On the Sunday morning, we made an unexpected appearance on BBC Radio 2 when one of our choir members took part in the famous Sunday morning quiz show, ‘On The Ball’, with Michael Ball. Cue much excitement from the entire choir and plenty of background squealing as Michael read MEV’s name out on the radio. Such fun!

Of course, there was much eating, drinking and merry-making, as well as singing, as our choir members worked and played hard together over the course of the weekend. We are all looking forward to enjoying the fruits of our labour when our CD is released, hopefully around Christmastime 2019. Watch this space for more details of release date and how you can purchase your own copy...

MEV hopes that it will be able to include a weekend away for choir members every two years, whether it be for recording purposes, as part of a bigger choir festival, or taking part in bandstand concerts. Time away together as a choir is wonderful for building on existing friendships, cementing the choir together and reminding us all just how much fun being part of a choir really can be.

Great Missenden Cream Teas

In what has become an annual event for Mill End Voices, we ended the summer term with a performance at St Peter and St Paul Church, Great Missenden’s cream tea concert. Performing a full concert, we sang through a mammoth set list of 17 songs, to the quiet accompaniment of clinking tea cups and the gentle mastication of homemade cake.

We were truly honoured to have had one audience member travel all the way from Germany to hear us sing at this concert! That’s true dedication for you; Mill End Voices’ very first groupie :-)

With the busy summer term now over, the choir will be enjoying a well-earned break before meeting again in September. What lies in store for MEV in 2019/2020? Well, with the Beaconsfield Festival of Choirs and HWMC Senior Concert already booked into our calendar, as well as brand new arrangements written by our own Patrick and Simon to learn and perfect, it is set to be another busy year.

Until we meet again in September, relax, enjoy, but don’t forget to keep singing.....!