and now for Amsterdam 2011......

The Sage Gateshead Chamber Choir are off on our travels again - this time to Amsterdam, for two days of singing and fun on 20th and 21st August 2011.

So far we have three venues booked to sing in:
on Saturday 20th August, Noorderkerk
on Sunday 21st August, De Duif and Oude Kerk

Do check out the Amsterdam Venues photo album on our Photo Page by following this link TSGCC Photo Page
The three venues we have so far are very interesting and impressive buildings
(Singing on the Sunday will finish by around 4.00pm.)

We plan to arrange a fourth venue which will most certainly be on the Saturday, and a whole choir meal out on Saturday evening - to which all friends and family who may be tagging along are very welcome.

More details will be posted on the website as they emerge, as will suggestions for hotels etc.

The Sage Chamber Choir visits Paris

Here is a better link to the Chamber Choir singing weekend in Paris film (see a couple of posts below)

Power to the People surprise at Eldon Square

Always game for something fun and different, some of Sage Gateshead Chamber Choir (joined by a few friends from the Sage), braved some Flash Mob singing in Eldon Square last night.

Disguising ourselves as average-joe shoppers we waited with baited breath for Ed's first note and then we were off - stripping off coats and scarves to reveal our "Power to the People" T-shirts.

And it was all filmed as part of a publicity campaign for Nexus and can be seen on youtube. here http://www.youtube.com/user/PowerToTPeople

where there are already two other Power to the People videos and more will appear over the next few days.....
It was a lot of fun. Many thanks to all who gave up their time for this event .....Tallis or Byrd next time?

What do Chamber Choir do on a Monday evening once they have left the building........?

Here's a clue.....
The Stairwell Singers giving it some welly (Monteverdi if I recall correctly) in the Sage car park stairwell

.....whatever (or wherever) next!

"Chamber Choir in Paris" film on YouTube

You can watch and listen to the film that David Fry made of our summer 2010 singing weekend in Paris on YouTube.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rn_Q6eDt9wA

Many thanks to David for all his time and effort putting this together.

The Sage Gateshead Chamber Choir make plans for 2011

The Chamber Choir diary for 2011 is already beginning to fill up.

Our next public performance will be on 9th April at Sunderland Minster.  We will be performing a selection of choral music - some new to the Choir as well as a few old favourites.....pieces by Byrd, Whitacre, Monteverdi, Schubert, Rheinberger and Biebl all likely contenders.

In early July we hope to be performing in The Sage on two occasions (more details to follow) and then our summer concert will be at Trinity Church, Gosforth on 23rd July.

Then in August we are delighted to be travelling further afield - to Amsterdam and Haarlem, on our 5th annual european singing weekend.  As plans are firmed up we will keep you posted.

Paris and Pictures

Chamber Choir in Paris – August 2010

For the fourth consecutive year, The Sage Gateshead Chamber Choir was able to field a choir of balanced numbers for a summer trip abroad – reinforced ably by some past and ‘associate’ members. This year it was Paris, with sacred music concerts at three of the great churches in that city – Saint Severin and Saint Sulpice (both in the Latin Quarter), and the huge and glorious Saint Denis in the northern suburbs. Whilst we would love to have sung inside the Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris, this was not possible; but ‘second best’, singing in the garden square directly behind the Cathedral, proved a relaxing and friendly affair with swathes of onlookers joining in the general mood of our light ‘secular’ music.
I am sure that I speak for all when I say that Saint Denis was unforgettable. There was more than one person blinking back the tears at the scale of the building and the sound of our performance – and this was just the singers! A most emotional and rewarding morning which will live on in the memory for a long time. If anyone needed persuading about the power of music and place, they will have had their answer.
After last year’s torrid heat in Barcelona, there had been a call for somewhere cooler. As it was, we fulfilled this request (just), but were blessed by hot sunny weather for the two main singing days – which is just as well as we were dashing about between concerts, cafes, and sight-seeing venues - but those who stayed over for the Monday will not forget the total change in the weather. Has it ever rained harder? Where did the 1000 people queuing up to go inside Notre Dame disappear to in the blink of an eye? Why did the writer stay outside to witness this and get soaked in the process?
We managed to pull nearly everyone together for a celebratory evening meal on the Saturday. It certainly had its memories, not least of which was the quality of the ‘cabaret’. We still fail to understand why, when confronted by a group of UK guests, the ‘cabaret’ insists in leading us in rousing choruses of Roses in Picardy and We’ll Meet Again (it was the same in Prague 3 years ago). It is also dangerous ground for anyone trying to lead a Choir in a sing-song as they tend to take over the performance with loud and multi-layered harmonies (to magnificent effect).
All in all, we held the Choir’s banner high, and enjoyed a weekend of good-humoured celebration and singing. There will be lots of photos, and hopefully some video, available in due course, so keep in touch with this site and you’ll see them. Ed fancies somewhere cooler next year – like Murmansk.
Rob Barnes


Photos from this years extra special trip can be found on- 
The Photo Page.