Sing! 2016 - the highlights!
Well, it's now November, the nights are drawing in, the heating's going on so why not take a quick look back at what we did in September...when it was warm!!!
We have had a very busy few months and somehow forgot to do a little write up about our Sing! 2016 conference in September. So we're going to do it now...better late than never eh!
On 16/17 September we were joined by 15 choir leaders and 130 singers for a full on two days of Gospel singing. Thornbury Baptist Church was once again the perfect venue for workshops, meals and concerts.
On the Friday, choir leaders came and spent and afternoon and evening sharing stories, learning loads of new songs, getting lots of practical tips on performance and teaching techniques as well as having yummy fish and chips for tea! Carey also led a great session on improvisation in the evening. Several of the leaders had been to last year's event so it was really encouraging to hear how their choirs have developed.
Then on Saturday, the singers came! The church was packed out and we literally only took a break from singing for drinks and food! Sessions were led by Kim Samuels (Renewal Choir), Eiron Bailey (Bristol Cathedral School), Emma Smallwood (GGCC Bristol) and of course Geraldine & Carey Luce. This gave everyone who came a wide variety of styles of songs as well as teaching techniques. There was also opportunity for folk to sign up for a 'Get to know your voice' workshop which proved to be very popular. Oh and we wrote a song with Emma Smallwood especially for the conference which features on the film above.
We had a delicious lunch provided by the amazing Heather Staley and team and a steady stream of tea/coffee and biscuits throughout the day to keep us going.
The day ended with a performance of the songs we had learned as well as a few songs performed by some of the choir represented. These were brilliantly accompanied by our band for the night, Carey, Jamada, Winston & Chad.
So many things to be thankful for, what shall we do next?
