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.