All posts by Chris K

NMM Newsletter

Lins Emails

Good morning.
Firstly, here is a message from Chris regarding this week’s rehearsal :-
Hi all
We have one more song to learn in our rehearsal next week – That’s Christmas to Me.  If you don’t know the song, here is a link to a lovely version by the Pentatonix with very similar harmonies to our arrangement 
Do practise with the practise track though rather than this!
Instead of solos at b41, 61 and 77 I would like a small group of sopranos and altos to learn solo 1 and solo 3, and a small group of tenors and basses to learn solo 2.  This will mean that we can still use this song in some of the other events we are doing (John Lewis, Haskins, Bishops Waltham).  For our main concert, performing it like this will give an interesting stereo effect with the melody coming from different places in the choir while others sing the harmonies.  Have a think about whether you want to sing these solo lines and if possible listen to them before Thursday’s rehearsal.
Here is the plan for Thursday.
Warm Ups
Learn – That’s Christmas to me.
We will then run through as much as we can of everything else to get more confident with notes, words and rhythms before we start working more on dynamics from 30th October.
We will run through everything else in the following order – 
Sing We Now of Christmas
Step Into Christmas
Wexford Carol
Sussex Carol
All I Want For Christmas
We Wish You the Merriest
Fairy Tale of New York
Midwinter
A Muppet Christmas Medley
Somewhere in my Memory
Shepherd’s Farewell
Mele Kalikimaka
Jingle Bell Rock
I believe in Father Christmas
(I will work on A La Nanita Nana with the ladies another time)
From 9:30pm we will rehearse everyone who wants to try out for a solo in our Christmas concert.
Have a good week and see you on Thursday.
Chris
If you have already let us know if you want to do a solo, can you let me know asap so that you are able to have a rehearsal on Thursday with Keziah and Chris. 
We are starting to look for help at our concerts with Front of House, the Raffle, and in the kitchen, so if you know anyone who can help, please let me know.
Also, we are looking for donations to go towards the raffle prizes.
The sign up sheets for the four outings we will be doing over the Christmas period will be on the table as you come in, so please make sure you sign up if you are coming to give an idea of how many will be singing so Chris can arrange the programme for each.
Just to let you know that we have a Committee meeting on the 28th October so if there is anything you want the Committee to discuss, please let me know.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals on Wednesday at Ancaster House, Sarisbury Green, at 2.15pm, or at rehearsal on Thursday.
Bye for now.
Eric 

This Week’s Newsletter

Lins Emails

Hi there,
Firstly, here is a message from Chris regarding this week’s rehearsal:- 
Hi all
We only have two songs left that we haven’t yet been through (The Wessex Carol and That’s Christmas to me.)  This week I want to focus on learning the Wessex Carol and then give time to revising other songs.  Here is what we will cover in our next practise – 
First half
Warm Ups
The Wessex Carol
All I want for Christmas is You
Second half
FairyTale of New York (please listen to the practise track working on rhythms in verses).
Sussex Carol
Step into Christmas
We Wish You the Merriest
We then have our final rehearsal for the small group for the wedding 9:30-10pm.  
Thanks for all your hard work and practise. When you think of all the music we’ve learned we’ve covered a lot in 6 rehearsals!  And the good news….there’s still 9 weeks left before our Christmas concerts to get all those notes, words, rhythms and dynamics spot on!
Have a good week and see you next Thursday.
Chris
Secondly, to remind you that if you what to sing a solo in either of our Christmas concerts you need to let Chris and Keziah know so that they can arrange a rehearsal for you before the auditions on the 30th October.
Thirdly, we are asking for donations to go towards the raffle prizes this year instead of actual prizes, so if you want to donate, you can either give the cash to Sharon, or pay the money into our bank account under the reference “Raffle”.
Lastly, we are looking for nominations for our “Nominated Charity”.  Usually this only applies to our Christmas events, but the Committee has agreed to extend this for the whole year, and also added that any profits made on the raffles for all our events will also go to the Nominated Charity.  If you charity is selected, you will need to be able to provide collecting tins/buckets, leaflets etc so that when we go to Bishops Waltham, John Lewis and Haskins in December, anyone donating money will know where the money is going to.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals on Tuesday at Snowdrop Place, or at rehearsal on Thursday.
Bye for now.
Eric

This Week’s Newsletter

Lins Emails

Good afternoon,
I hope you haven’t been blown away with these high winds that we have had over the weekend.
Here is a message from Chris concerning this week’s rehearsal:- .
Hi all
Well done in our last practise.  You will be building a picture out of all the songs we have done so far, as to what you know and what you are still unsure of. Please can I encourage you to use the practise tracks to work on parts you are unsure of so that we make the most of our practises together.  There is a lot of new music to learn this year and I really appreciate all the work you are putting in.  This week we will focus more time on fewer songs as we have two to learn that are a  bit more tricky!  Here is the plan for this week – 
First Half
Warm Ups
Sussex Carol p242 of 100 Carols for choir (b32-46 Soprano 2s and Tenor 2s will sing the “choir 1” part (melody) everyone else will be choir 2 (singing the Ah…)
Second Half
Finish Step into Christmas
Revise – 
All I Want For Christmas is You
Fairy Tale of New York
From 9:30-10pm we will rehearse the small group singing at the wedding on Saturday 18th October.
See you Thursday! 
Chris
I am sad to say, that due to the lack of numbers for the Beetle Drive/Quiz Night, we have had to cancel the event next Saturday.
Don’t forget that if you want to audition for a solo spot in our Christmas concerts, please let us know so that we can arrange a rehearsal for you before the auditions on the 30th October.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals on Tuesday at Rosewood Care Home, Swift Road, Woolston, or on Thursday night.
Bye For now.
Eric 

NMM Newsletter

Lins Emails

Hi there,
 
First, here is a message from Chris regarding this week’s rehearsal..
Hi Everyone
We have had our first month of rehearsals for our Christmas programme and I’m really pleased with how much new music we have learned so far (and yes there is a lot this year!).  Here is where we currently are –
Rehearsed/rehearsing
All I Want for Christmas
We Wish You the Merriest
Somewhere In My Memory
A Muppet Christmas Carol Medley
The Shepherd’s Farewell
Sing We Now of Christmas
Fairy Tale of New York
A La Nanita Nana
I Believe in Father Christmas
Jingle Bell Rock
Mele Kalikimaka
Still to Learn
Step Into Christmas
The Wexford Carol
Mid Winter
That’s Christmas To Me
Sussex Carol
Please focus any practice time you have on music from the first list of songs we have already gone through in our rehearsals so that you get more confident with these.  My aim is to have finished learning the parts to all of our songs by the end of October.  We will then spend November refining our music ready for some more sell out concerts and other events in December!
This week we will be looking at – 
FIRST HALF
Warm Ups
Learn – Step Into Christmas
Revise – Fairy Tale of New York
We Wish You the Merriest
SECOND HALF
Sing We Now of Christmas
The Shepherd’s Farewell
Learn – Mid Winter
Somewhere in My Memory
Have a great week and thanks for all your hard work.
Chris
Secondly,  a reminder that we are holding a Beetle Drive/ Quiz Evening on Saturday, 11th October, at the Underhill Centre, St Johns Road, Hedge End, at 7.30pm.  The cost is £5.00 per person and you need to bring your own drinks and nibbles.  A sheet will be on the table as you come into the hall on Thursday evening to enable you to sign up for the event.
Thirdly, we will be auditioning for the solo spots in our Christmas Concert on Thursday, 30th October, so if you would like to try for a spot, of which there are four, can you let me know so that we can arrange a rehearsal for you with either Chris or Keziah.
Lastly, the Committee has decided that we will donate the profits from our raffles for the coming year to our designated charity, together with any donations we collect at the four outings we have this year, which are Bishops Waltham, John Lewis, and twice at Haskins. If you would like to nominate a charity, you must be prepared to supply all the collecting tins for the donations together with any publicity material for your charity.  I will need your nominations by the 23rd October and the nominated charity will be chosen at our Committee meeting on the 28th October.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will see some of you at the Local Vocals on Wednesday at the Hawthorns, Woolston, or the rest of you next Thursday at rehearsal.
Bye for now.
Eric

Summer Newsletter

Lins Emails

Hi there, 
I hope you are all enjoying the fine weather we are having at the moment. 
Firstly, here are the details of Margaret Bowditch’s funeral.
Her funeral is to be on 2nd Sept. at 15.00 in the north chapel of Portchester crematorium and afterwards at 25 Claremont Gardens, Purbrook,  PO7 5LL for afternoon tea. 
All are welcome to attend.
Secondly, here is a message from Chris regarding what we will be doing on our first rehearsal on the 4th September.
Hello New Music Makers
I hope that you had a good summer.  I am looking forward to our first Thursday rehearsal as we begin to look at our Christmas music.  In our first rehearsal we will be looking at:-
– All I Want For Christmas is You
– A Muppet Christmas Carol Medley
– Somewhere in My Memory
– The Shepherds’ Farewell (Number 89 in 100 Carols for Choirs)
– Mele Kalikimaka
– I Believe in Father Christmas
– Jingle Bell Rock

A big thanks to Jerry again for putting all of these on the website. Do try to listen to these in advance of our rehearsal so you know what to expect!
Looking forward to seeing you all again on Thursday!
Chris


Tony will be handing out the new music and those from our library at the rehearsal.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals which is at Snowdrop Place this week on Tuesday, or when we get back to rehearsals.
Bye for now.
Eric

Update

Lins Emails
Hi there,
I hope you are all having a relaxing time during the summer break.
There’s just a few things that I thought you might like to know about.
Some of you may remember Margaret Bowditch, who was an Alto in the choir for many years. Well, I am sad to say that she has passed away recently, and when I have details of her funeral arrangements, I will let you know.
The Committee are having a meeting on the 26th August, so if there is anything that you would like the Committee to discuss, can you let our new Secretary, Jacqui, know asap, by emailing her on secretary@newmusicmakers.com.
Finally, as the time is coming up when we start back to rehearsals on the 4th September, I enclose the list of songs that we will be singing for the Christmas season.  As you will see, some songs have been brought forward from last year, some you already have in the “100 Carols for Choirs” book, and the rest will be given out to you at the first rehearsal, by Tony, who has now received all the new music which we have purchased ready for this season.
Well enjoy the rest of the summer, and I will see you in September.
Bye for now.
Eric
doc icon Christmas-2025-Programme.docx

This Week’s Newletter

Lins Emails

Good morning everyone,
I hope you have all got over yesterday.  Gods know what it would have been like if the hall did not have the air-conditioning that has recently been installed, it was rather warm yesterday.
Many thanks to all those that turned up to help set up, serve and pack away afterwards.  We were set up by 11.30, so we were not in any rush to finish, and we were pack up by 6.00, which, again, meant there was no rush to finish.  We are very lucky to have partners who are happy to come along and help because without them, we would not be able to put on these type of events. 
Here’s a message from Chris:-
Also here is a short paragraph from me if an email is going out to the choir this week – 
Hello Everyone,
I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who was able to take part in our “Summer Spectacular” this year. The concert certainly lived up to its name!  From the moment we opened  with our Beatles Medley to the closing bars of “Shine” it felt like we had the attention of the room.  The sound was full and expressive and it felt like we had stepped up a level even from our Summer concert a few weeks ago.  All of our soloists and small group worked hard along with all of you in the choir to deliver a brilliant finale to our Summer 2025 season.  A special mention must go to Roy who, at 90 delivered an outstanding solo and the response almost brought the house down!  Also a big thank you to Keziah who has fitted in brilliantly as our accompanist and to Amelia for joining us again.  I am also aware that the success of our “Summer Spectacular” goes beyond the music, so a big thank you to everyone who also helped with the set up, cooking and providing cakes, refreshments, front of house, raffle, tidy up etc…
We missed everyone who couldn’t be part of this event this year.  For me, this concert was a wonderful finale to our first term of working together and I left feeling extremely proud to be MD of a choir that can produce this quality of music.

Just a reminder that we have Local Vocals on Tuesday, at a new venue for us, Rosewood Nursing Home, Swift Road, Woolston.  There is difficulty parking at the home, so you will probably need to park in the road.
Next Thursday is our AGM, so please attend and have your say in how the choir is run etc.
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.
Bye for now.
Eric