Two Sisters in Nottingham

The choir at Nuthall

Towards the end of June, not long after our return from Ireland, there were two productions of Two Sisters and a Funeral in Nottingham.  Richard Harvey, one of our regular soloists, was one of the main organisers, along with Carolynn and Yvette, who have also sung for CMM on several occasions.  Carolynn has trained choirs for CMM in the past - most recently for the Leicester or Derby performances on the main tours.

Carolynn and Yvette

The two performances were at Nuthall Methodist Church and Newthorpe Baptist Church.  Nuthall is Richard's home church, and we have travelled there previously for a pre-Canada performance of Rock in early 2010, and a performance from the Dance group earlier this year.  It's great that they were happy to have us back!  Newthorpe also has a bit of a history with CMM.  It is not just the home church of Carolynn and Yvette, but it was also the church of Keith Riley, who sang the part of Jairus on the Jairus' Daughter CD.  Sadly he died before the premiere in 1992, but there has always been a link between CMM and Newthorpe Baptist in his memory.

Helen and Kevin

The choir represented many churches, and had been working hard over many weeks.  They were a wonderful group, sounded great, and had memorized their words (on the whole!), which makes a huge difference in the performance.  The soloists for these events were Devon (Lazarus), Carolynn (Mary), Yvette (Martha) and Richard (Jesus).  The choir had provided their own singers for the extra parts, although CMM's Jonathan also made a guest appearance.  Helen and Kevin provided some extra instrumental work.

Choir prayers at Newthorpe

Both performances were in front of packed audiences, and there was a lovely atmosphere - thanks so much to Richard, Carolynn and Yvette for all their hard work in making this such a wonderful occasion.

Richard wrote this:

The evening [Nuthall], and the following night's performance at Newthorpe, was a truly ecumenical experience, with 4 denominations coming together in the choir alone.  I know that many people were moved by the message of '2SAF' and we were so grateful that you were able to fit Nuthall and Newthorpe into your busy schedule.

The four soloists

From my own perspective, it was interesting to view a CMM event from the perspective of the host church; it's taught me a lot about the preparation which goes into hosting an event, and how important the evening is to the local people.

CMM Choir

On Sunday 19th June, the CMM Choir finished off their wonderful tour of the West Midlands with their final performance of Two Sisters and a Funeral at Annie's church - St. Germain's in Edgbaston.

They have had a wonderful time, with great performances and very good audiences.  Annie was delighted with the performance at her church particularly.  She writes this:

"Sunday night’s ‘Two Sisters’ with CMM Choir was wonderful: the church was packed with visitors, and one of our church youngsters gave her heart to the Lord – Pat led her in the prayer of commitment afterwards. It was the last piece in the jigsaw for her in coming to faith in Christ, and we are thrilled."

So a big well done goes to all of the choir, Annie and Sylvia for their hard working in training them, to Paul and Kim for sorting out the sound, and also to the soloists:
Jesus - Alan and David
Lazarus - Jonathan and Pete
Mary - Sue and Fran
Martha - Linda and Debbie
'Baddies' - Dave
(I hope the list is right!)

The Lamb

While Roger, Helen and the team were away in Ireland, Annie was as busy as ever.  She had several performances of Two Sisters with the CMM choir in Birmingham, and she also had a special musical in a day event.

On Saturday 18th June, Annie led 'The Lamb' in a day at Wylde Green URC near Sutton Coldfield.  The Lamb was written by Beresford King-Smith back in 1978 and was revised in 2000.  The lyrics were written by his wife Margot, who has sadly since passed away.

Beresford chose this event specially to celebrate his 80th birthday, and it was an honour for CMM to be able to contribute to the celebrations, as he has been such a wonderful supporter over the years.

The Lamb begins on the banks of the Jordan with John the Baptist, but then moves quickly on to the story of the passion, journeying with Jesus right through his resurrection and looks forward to the time when we will worship him in all his glory.

Annie had a lovely choir and an excellent group of instrumentalists for the day, and she says that the concert at the end of the day was absolutely wonderful and that everyone was very appreciative.  The Lamb was very challenging to complete in a day, but Annie was delighted with the achievement.

So happy birthday Beresford!

The final Ireland update

Hi all,

 

We made it home from Ireland on Monday, and it has been a fantastic trip.

 

Roger and Deidre

The performance on Saturday evening was wonderful.  The ticket sales had been very slow earlier in the week, but when the evening came it was absolutely packed out.  3 car loads came up from Bailieborough to watch, and they had a wonderful time.

 

A lot of those that came to watch were on the fringes of the church, including family members of our various hosts, which was fantastic.  One lad in particular befriended Devon, so hopefully that relationship will lead to some healing as he has had a very troubled past.

 

Deidre with most of the Rock team

On Sunday morning we took part in their family service.  It is a highly restricted service - a maximum of 50 minutes, and everything is timed down to the second.  Deidre had put together a fantastic band full of youngsters, including three trumpets, a trombone and two violins.  It sounded fantastic.  Roger the minister interviewed our Roger, and then we sang three songs from Rock - Rock, Just as I am and then He is the stone.  They went down really well, especially with a couple of added live instrumentalists from their band.

 

After going to hosts for lunch, a few of us traveled with Gordon, my host, to the 'Titanic Quarter' of Belfast.  This is the docklands where Titanic was built, and the city is just starting to cash in on that with new appartments, businesses, a college and a tourism centre.  In response the churches of Belfast are working together to create an ecumenical chaplaincy to the area, situated on a boat.  Chris, the Anglican involved, has been leading a prayer walk through the area every Sunday as the area is built and the plans for the chaplaincy grow.  It is wonderful to see all the main denominations working together (particularly thinking about the violence over the past two days in the city) and we pray that this will be a beacon of hope in the area.

Holywood Parish Youth Service

Then on Sunday night we all went to the evening service which was led by their youth band.  It was a great evening and we were all really blessed.  The Parish Church in Holywood is full of so many gifts and a lot of wealth - but they are really using it well.  

 

It was a completely different culture to County Cavan, and it was fantastic to have been involved in both during the trip.  Sunday night finished off wonderfully - watching Holywood's favourite son Rory McIlroy win the golf :-)  The golf club round the corner was partying into the early hours.

 

Thanks for all your prayers.

 

Helen

x

Rock in Ireland 3

The third update:

We made it safely to Holywood on Thursday and had a lovely evening meal with Deidre, the local choir trainer.  This is a very different area from County Cavan - there is a lot of wealth around, and the church is the big lively Anglican Church in the centre of town.  If this was Nottingham we'd be at St. Nics, or Holy Trinity in Leicester, or St. Martin's in Birmingham.  There is loads of music going on and lots of young people at the church.  Deidre is the musical director at the church and quite a character.  She knows how to throw a party!  She used to work as a sound engineer for the BBC and is incredibly musical.

 

The choir she has got together are about 25 strong, and very young.  Most of the singers are under 20, which is wonderful, and they make a lovely sound together.  The rehearsal last night went really well, especially as the church worship director, a young guy called 'Roo' was there, and he knows exactly what he's doing when it comes to setting up PA.  It was a joy to turn up and find everything right ready for us!

 

Yesterday we went over to the Giant's causeway, which was great apart from the heavens opened on us as we were about to walk back to the car! 

 

Rock in Ireland 2

The second update from Helen:

Andrew, Roger and Alan with Guiness

We had a lovely day off on Monday, and were shown round the area by a local historian and a local butcher!  That evening we went to Florence (the choir trainer)'s house and had dinner with her.  She lives in an amazing old schoolhouse with her dogs and her horses, as well as her harp - she gave me a quick lesson!

 

Florence with one of her horses

On Tuesday we began our mammoth tour around all of the primary schools in Bailieborough.  It was incredibly hard work, and some of the children were more interested than others!  The younger ones particularly loved joining in with the singing and the actions.  One thing that we hadn't thought of was that they would laugh when Devon did his crying bit!  Rock isn't particularly designed for children, but we managed it - and a couple of the children even forced their parents to bring them to the concert last night.

 

On Tuesday evening we divided into two teams and went and led a couple of housegroup meetings.  Roger took Aly and Andrew to Florence's house, and I took Devon and Alan to a lady called Christine's house.  Christine is originally from Lincolnshire, and hasn't lost any of her accent.  She's absolutely amazing, and really has a passion for God.  She invited all of her neighbours, and her room was packed out.  It would have been even busier had it been raining and the farmers weren't out making silage.  The evening was well received, and there was a real buzz in the room afterwards.

 

Yesterday we visited the last two schools to make 5 in all - although the last school was just a nursery where we just sang a couple of children's songs with them.  We had a nice break after lunch and then travelled over to Kilmore Cathedral for the performance.  Setting up the sound was a nightmare, but it worked out perfectly in the end, and the performance went really well.  Huge thanks go to David from the choir, who has neglected his fields in order to help us with the technical side of things.

 

This visit to Bailieborough has felt very much like preparing the way.  Maybe we will be invited back, and they will know us and trust us, and allow us to share more than just music with them.

Rock in Ireland 1

We spent a wonderful week in Ireland back in June.  Here is the first of several emails back home from Helen:

Hi All,

 

Having a good time in Ireland so far.  We had an excellent journey over - only just made it to the ferry, and then the crossing was beautifully smooth, which was great because Aly gets sea-sick.

 

We arrived at Bailieborough at about 7.15pm on Friday night, and shared a lovely meal in the hotel with all of the hosts, some local clergy, and other choir organisers.

 

Sopranos and Altos with Roger

On Saturday we spent the day rehearsing with the choir.  The Bailieborough Community Choir is an ecumenical group - Catholics, Presbyterians and Church of Ireland mostly - who meet together most weeks during the year under the direction of Florence Taylor.  Florence used to be the Presbyterian minister here in Bailieborough but has since retired and now returns each week to lead the choir.  They are quite a mixed group, mostly still working, and they sing really well together.  Florence had warned us a couple of months ago that they were struggling with the music, but she has done a great job and they are absolutely fine.  In the morning we rehearsed in the Presbyterian church, and then we moved over the road to St. Anne's, the Catholic church in the afternoon, as that is where we were due to perform.  St. Anne's has an amazingly lively acoustic, which made getting the balance between the backing track and the choir very difficult, but we managed it. 

 

On Saturday evening we travelled to Pauline's house just outside Bailieborough for dinner.  They have been looking after us incredibly well, with a different choir member that isn't a host having us all round to dinner each day.

Andrew and Devon

 

Yesterday we drove about 45 minutes to Kilmore Cathedral, which is the Church of Ireland cathedral 4 miles outside of Cavan.  It is quite a small cathedral, but lovely, and we were made very welcome by the dean and the other members of the congregation.  Roger preached, and we sang a few songs during communion which went down really well.  We then went to different houses for lunch, which was great, because it meant that we could meet the members of this congregation, and get to know them, ahead of the performance at the cathedral on Wednesday evening.

 

The Bailieborough choir at St. Ann's

Yesterday evening we met at St. Anne's for a rehearsal at 7pm and then the performance at 8.30pm.  The timings are so late in order to give the farmers chance to finish their jobs for the day.  We had a wonderful audience who really appreciated the performance.  The choir sang really well and were thrilled with the response.

 

Today we are having lunch at the presbyterian church before being taken out by a local guide to see the sights.  This evening we are having dinner with Florence, but other than that it is a free day.  Tomorrow will be hard work though, as we are going into three schools, before leading two house groups in the evening.  Roger will take with him Aly and Andrew, and I'll have Devon and Alan with me.

 

Hope you're all well.

 

Helen

 

xxx

 

A Rock Warm-Up

On the Sunday immediately following Grange, Roger and a team took the rather shorter journey to King's Heath in Birmingham for a performance of Rock at Devon's home church. The CMM choir were also performing in West Bromwich on the same night, which meant that we had to come up with a special choir for the occasion.

The performance was deliberately scheduled in the diary so that the Rock team about to tour Ireland could meet together to rehearse. The team was Alan (Cornelius), Devon (Peter), Andrew (Jesus - he'd never performed it before), Aly (Zillah and various other bits), Helen (Susannah and various other bits). It was a great opportunity for the team to join together and gel in advance of the trip away. It was also fantastic to see Devon in action in his home church. At the start of the evening Roger commented to the congregation that it was 'great to see where Devon comes from'. At the end of the evening the pastor commented that it was 'great to see where Devon goes'!

The choir were absolutely wonderful. We had Katie, Laura, Charlotte, Ann, Amy, Dave, Martin, Simon and Phil - Phil doing a stirling job as the only bass! It was a bit of a daunting choir - three of the original cast for Rock and two of the studio backing vocalists...

The performance went really well, and was set going in some style by Devon leading 'Shine Jesus Shine' from the keyboard. One of the most powerful times in the performance was the moment where the space was given for God to speak - and not just cast members joined in but the choir too!

We were looked after brilliantly well, and know that the church will have been praying for our tour of Ireland.

Abbot Hall 2011

Spring bank holiday week at the end of May is the traditional time for CMM to get on the road up north to Abbot Hall, Kent's Bank, near Grange-over-Sands. Abbot Hall is one of the Christian Guild hotels, and CMM has been holding a half term music week there now for quite a few years.

This year Roger, Mary, Annie, Sharon, Christine and Marion were the CMM team for the week. Sharon lives nearby and trains the Barrow-in-Furness choir, so she has been our regular choir trainer at Grange. Christine is a new addition to the CMM associates - she is a flute/clarinet teacher, and really great to have around. Carole dropped in a couple of times with young Hannah, and Poppy also travelled up to Cumbria, but she spent the week holidaying with Barbara and Reg in Grange, and sent Roger and Mary plenty of postcards to let them know what she was up to.

The musical of the year was Two Sisters and a Funeral. This was the first holiday week using the musical as a base, so Roger had to work extra hard preparing his Bible teaching for each of the morning's sessions. Roger was very pleased with how the Bible teaching went - he

focused on each one of Mary, Martha and Lazarus for the three sessions, drawing out some strong messages for the guests.

Other highlights of the week included Annie's talk in the Sunday morning service, and Sharon singing a solo - 'Song' from Karl Jenkins' Gloria.

Prayer ministry was another vital part of the week, and the team were delighted by the way God led them to pray with certain people.

The performance itself on the Friday night went amazingly well. The orchestra were fantastic, and the choir and soloists did a brilliant job. Roger was particularly delighted with Kevin, who had only sung a solo for the first time last year, and this year not only sang solo, but also sang out a prophecy at the end of song 10. In the past Jaime had been on team playing drums, but instead this year the only drummer was Anthony, and he was absolutely brilliant on the bongos.

Well done everyone!