Welcome to East Malling Singers


   

Our next sing: 23rd March - Spring Concert
Mass in C - Beethoven
 
 		  

Howard-Goodall-and-pros

VIPS from the Howard Goodall workshop in October L-R: Anna Wynn (harpist), Nick Bland (organist), Gillian Ramm (soprano), Howard Goodall (composer), Ciara Considine (EMS Music Director), Simon Thorpe (baritone), John Hayden (pianist)
     
♬   MARCH 2024: Final reherasals and preparations for our Beethoven concert on Saturday 23rd March, featuring soloists Nicola Corbishley, Rachael Lloyd, Tom Robson and Simon Thorpe, and an orchestra led by Alice Hall. This really will be a fantastic show!
     
♬   JANUARY 2024: Happy New Year! Back to rehearsals for the Beethoven Mass in C. The concert is on March 23rd - at St James as usual.
     
♬    DECEMBER 2023: A really enjoyable Christmas Concert, with a lovely seasonal program, special guest chamber choir Innominata and the audience joining us providing, described by an audience member as "a warm and joyous atmosphere and I came away completely uplifted"!
     
♬   OCTOBER 2023: An absolutely fantastic day with 150 singers under the direction of Howard Goodall, guiding us through his “Eternal Light: A Requiem”. He described his thinking behind the work, the specifics of why the very tricky rhythms were included - it was to challenge the original dance company, not the singers! - and cajoled EMS and all of our welcome guests through the whole thing, with acute insights into how best to be thinking about it, before we even began singing.

Howard’s job was to keep everyone engaged and in chorus, but there was a small army ensuring voice parts were physically sat together and keeping everyone in tea, coffee and cake, plus ensuring the lunch break went without incident, then resetting every chair ready for church service the following morning. Thanks to all guests who joined us, and to all the volunteers who, under Liz’s captaincy, enabled the day to run so smoothly.
     
 ♬  
KCF-Logo-Colour-Web-5b45e2cb5d499                We are proud to have been considered worthy of a Kent Community Foundation grant to help pay for the Howard Goodall workshop. The award was through KCF’s Micro Groups Programme, which helps out smaller groups like EMS and was provided from the John Hobson Fund. Thank you to Sue and Elaine for compiling the application, and to KCF for their generosity.
     
♬  

JULY 2023: We combined with West Malling CE Primary School choir, who were led by Joanne Cripps, and showed off a widely varied evening of film music - from the uplifting (The Lion King), to a sense of fun (Let’s Go Fly a Kite), to Mozart’s Requiem, and the schoolchildren being just a little bit “Naughty”! A brilliant evening to a packed house. Now we take a break for the summer, and reconvene refreshed to join with Howard Goodall himself taking us through his Eternal Light.
   
     
♬   East Malling Singers is a friendly, mixed-voice, amateur choir of approximately 80 members that performs a very wide variety of sacred and secular music. Usually we perform four concerts per year at St James the Great Church, East Malling and are often joined by professional soloists and orchestra, as well as guest singers.
     
♬   We always welcome new members. You do not have to be able to sight-read music, although it helps, nor do you have to come to every rehearsal, and practising with a CD or online recording between rehearsals is also useful. We rehearse on Wednesday evenings during term time, at St James the Great Church, where our concerts are also held. Please ask the Membership Secretary on 01622 675592 or Contact Us for more details of how to join us.