All posts by Chris K

NEW MUSIC MAKERS ANNUAL DINNER 2026

Lins Emails

HI there,

Firstly, many thanks for those who turned for the funeral this afternoon, it was a very nice service and I believe we were well received in bolstering the hymns.
Secondly, here is a message from Lin and Rebecca regarding the Annual Dinner:-
ANNUAL DINNER
Please find the menu for the Annual Dinner attached to this email.
There are a few things that we haven’t been able to confirm yet but wanted to get the menu out before Choir this week so will let you know when they have got back to me or I have time to pop over again.
If you are able to, print a copy of the menu and hand it back to me at choir or you can just email  or WhatsApp me your requirements.  Please can you let me have your choices and transfer payment no later that 5th March 2026 please.
Sharon has kindly agreed that we can pay by Bank Transfer which is the easiest way for everyone. If you are unable to do this then please let me know and we will find an alternative arrangement.  Bank Details.
                        NEW MUSIC MAKERS 30-90-89 / 36801660   Ref: ANNUAL DINNER
The Chef seems very accommodating so if you have any slight changes in the menu as in wanting chips instead of mash for example,  I am sure that they will be happy to oblige.  Can you state if you want custard or ice cream where appropriate and also if you have any dietary requirements or any allergies.
I will bring some forms Thursday evening.
Regards
Lin and Rebecca
Well, that’s all for now so I will see you tomorrow night.
Bye for now.
Eric 

pdf icon NMM-ANNUAL-DINNER-26.pdf

Rehearsal 19th February

Lins Emails
Hi there,
Here is a message from Hilary regarding this week’s rehearsal.

Really looking forward to leading our rehearsal on Thursday.  
Please remember to bring your pencils, water and all your music! 
We will be singing:  
  • Can-Can – our main item for the evening as we’ve not sung it for while so we will be relearning it – it’s a sprightly number – lots of short notes (dots/lines/> markings). Please make sure you have a look at if before Thursday – noting singing parts split, so the 2nds have the opportunity for their own part (except for tenors, sorry)  
    Bring your dancing shoes!*
  • Why we sing – going back over what we did this last week to cement that lovely bit between bars 10 – 48
  • Believer
  • Circle of Life
  • All things bright and beautiful
  • Shine
  • The Parting Glass – if we have time
  • Let the River Run- if we have time
  • And some bits from the other 2 medleys we have done so far – if time
* Only kidding! Hope to see you all there! 
Hilary 

Don’t forget those that are going to the funeral on Wednesday that funeral starts at 1.00pm, and although there is car parking around the back of the church, there is usually not many spaces, so you will need to get there early to grab a place.
If you have already done so, can you confirm to Lin that you will be going to the Annual dinner on the 21st March .  You can email her on lin.lellaway@yahoo.com, or WhatsApp her.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals tomorrow at Hamble Heights, Park Gate, at 2.15, at the funeral on Wednesday, or at the rehearsal on Thursday.
Bye for now.
Eric


Chairman’s Newsletter

Lins Emails
Hi there,
Here is a message from Chris regarding next week’s rehearsal:-

Hello everyone
Hi all,
In our first five rehearsals back this year we have covered 13 songs!  SO, this coming Thursday we are going to slow the pace (in both number of new things we look at and tempo of some of our faster numbers!) to allow some time for revision.
This week we will look at
1. Why We Sing b1-41 (especially focussing on 10-25)
2. Something Inside So Strong 
3. The Sound of Music Medley (revising each song in here separately)
4. Let’s Dance! The Songs of Irving Berlin Medley (revising each song separately)
5. Fix You
6. Celebration
7. Let the River Run
8. Believer

Do keep listening and practising with the tracks to all of these as you are able as these are such a helpful resource that Jerry has put in place for us and help us make the most of our rehearsal time together.

The other 5 we have touched on in rehearsals so far  are songs we have carried over from previous years (most from last year)
 Bohemian Rhapsody
 Shine
 Circle of Life
 The Parting Glass
 All Things Bright and Beautiful
That is a lot of music we have covered since January so well done. Lots of time to refine and go over it before any of our performances!
Take care and see you on Thursday.
Chris
Lin has reminded me to ask you that if you ae intending to come to the Annual Dinner on the 21st March, at Southampton Arms, could please let her know as soon as possible so that she can book the room at the pub.  She is on holiday at the moment, but she will acknowledge your emails.  Her email is lin.kellaway@yahoo.com.
We have confirmation of the date for Bitterne URC which will be the 23rd April, so can you let me know if you are available so that Chris can arrange the music depending on how many we have.
For those of you that have offered to help with the singing at Marg’s mother’s funeral on Wednesday, 18th February at Holy Trinity Church, Fareham, I enclose a copy of the three hymns that thewy will be singing, and Chris has agreed to rehearse them once we finished our rehearsal next Thursday. The time of the funeral is 1.00pm, so I would suggest that we get there earlier than that as parking is not very good around the area.
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at The Firs, Park Gate on Tuesday for Local Vocals, or at rehearsal next Thursday.
Bye for now.
Eric

doc icon Hymns-for-Funeral.docx

Newsletter Extra

Lins Emails
Hi there,
A couple of things have come up since I sent out my weekly newsletter.
The first is a request for help.  As most of you may know, Marg Dunne’s mother has recently passed away, and her funeral is being held on Wednesday, 18th February, at 1.00pm, at the Holy Trinity Church, Fareham PO16 0NT. It is where we sing for the Dementia Support Group for the Christmas Christmas party. Marg has asked if any of us would be available to go and help to sing the three hymns which her mother had chosen for her funeral, to booster the singing.
The three hymns are:-
How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds
O Love that will not let me go – tune St. Margaret
Just as I am Without One Plea – tune Saffron Walden
All three hymns can be found on YouTube, and Chris is willing to rehearsal them after we have finished our rehearsal on the 12th February so that you can familiarise yourself with the hymns.  I will ask for volunteers tomorrow night.
Secondly, we have been asked by the Bitterne URC Senior Citizens Club to sing at one of their meetings in April.  Chris is available on either the 23rd or the 30th, so we have given those dates to the club and are waiting for a response back from them.  Can you let me know if you ae available for this.
Lastly,  we have secured KCC for our Summer concert on the 6th June.
Well, I think that’s all for now, so I will see you tomorrow night.
Bye for n ow.
Eric

Chairman’s Newsletter

Lins Emails
Hi there,
First is this from Chris:_

Hi all,
This week we will continue to learn new music and revise songs we have looked at so far.
In this week’s rehearsal we will start to learn
  • Something Inside So Strong
  • Why We Sing
and we will revise
  • Celebration (look at b48-end) and then run through
  • All Things Bright and Beautiful
  • Fix You
  • Let’s Dance Medley
  • Let the River Run
Thanks for all the work you do learning these. Keep listening to the practise tracks as it really does help us make the most of our time when we are together as a choir.
I look forward to seeing you again on Thursday.
Chris
Secondly, we were approached by the Mayor of Eastleigh at our Christmas concert to see if we would do a concert for her Mayor’s Charity Appeal.  We have agreed to this requested and the concert will take place on Saturday, 9th May, at West End Village Hall, with the time still to be agreed.  Chris and I will make arrangements to go to the hall so that we can arrange where everything will go, and I will come back to you when we have further information, but please put the date in your diaries.
Local Vocals have also agreed to sing for the Botley, Hedge End and West End U3A on Wednesday, 9th December, at 1.30, so please put this date in your diaries. Location still to be agreed.
Well, that’s for now, so I will see you at rehearsal on Thursday as there is no Local Vocals this week.
Bye for now. 
Eric

Chairman’s Newsletter

Lins Emails
HI there,
There’s not a lot to say this week, so here’s Chris’s message for the rehearsal on Thursday.

Hi all,
I’m really pleased with how we are getting through the new music.  In our next rehearsal I want to slow down a bit and consolidate some of the things we have done so far.  For those that missed our last rehearsal or who haven’t been able to attend yet here is what we have covered to date – 
1. All of Let’s Dance! The Songs of Irving Berlin Medley 
2. The Sound of Music Medley b1-197
3. Celebration (b1-44)
4. Believer
5. Fix You
6. Let the River Run (b12-35)
7. Bohemian Rhapsody
8. Shine
9. Circle of Life
10. The Parting Glass
Please try to go over these with the tracks on the website.
This week we will look at – 
1. Celebration – revise and finish off
2. The Sound of Music Medley (Learn b197-end) and revise the complete medley
3.Fix You
4. Let the River Run (Learn intro and coda and revise chorus and verse)
5. All Things Bright and Beautiful 
6. Run through Let’s Dance Medley
Have a good week and I look forward to seeing you all again on Thursday.
Chris
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals tomorrow at Florence Court, Segensworth, or the rehearsal on Thursday. 
Bye for now.
Eric

NMM Newsletter

Lins Emails
Hi there,
Firstly, here is a message from Chris regarding this week’s rehearsal:-

Hi all,
So far in our rehearsals we have covered the following. Do try to practice these with the tracks on the website to consolidate what we’ve done or catch up if you have missed anything  – 
1. Let’s Dance! The Songs of Irving Berlin Medley b1-109
2. The Sound of Music Medley b1-132
3. Believer
4. Fix You
5. Bohemian Rhapsody
6. Shine
7. Circle of Life
8. The Parting Glass
This week we will look at the following
1. Let’s Dance! The Songs of Irving Berlin Medley b117-end
2.The Sound of Music Medley b147-196 *Note there is an incorrect lyric in this – b155 v3 says “Soon her name with a gleaming gloat heard” – it should read “Soon her Mama (pronounced “Mum-are”) with a gleaming gloat heard.*
3. Celebration
4. Let the River Run
5. All Things Bright and Beautiful
Run through Believer and Fix You at the end if time.
We are only two rehearsals in and we are getting through a lot of music at a good pace.  We will be going over things regularly so don’t worry if you’ve missed something or aren’t sure of certain bits! Have a good week and I look forward to seeing you again next Thursday.
Chris
Secondly, we have heard that one of our founding members has passed away, and Chris has sent us the following:-
I have been asked by Frank Parker if we could pass the following information on to the choir about a Founder Member, Sue Knight, who passed away just before Christmas.  I know Sue from church but didn’t ever realise she was a founding member of NMM!
There is a committal service at the Wessex Vale Crematorium Hedge End at 2pm on Monday 2nd Feb and then a Thanksgiving Service for her life at King’s Community Church, Hedge End at 3pm.  People are welcome to either service.

Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Local Vocals on Wednesday at Rosewood, Woolston, or at rehearsal on Thursday.

Bye for now.
Eric

Fw: NMM email this week

Lins Emails
Hi there,
Here is a message from Chris regarding next week’s rehearsal.

Dear NMM
Well done with all the new songs in our first rehearsal back!  For those who were poorly, out of the new music we covered – 
Let’s Dance (Irvin Berlin Medley) “Puttin on the Ritz” b 7-46
The Sound of Music Medley – “The Hills are Alive” b 1-50
Believer b1-45
Fix You b1-27
If you can go over these sections with the practise tracks before next week that will help consolidate what we have done so far.
In our second rehearsal we will look at – 
Let’s Dance (Irvin Berlin Medley) – “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” b49-108
The Sound of Music Medley – “My Favourite Things” b63-136
Believer b45-end
Fix You b30-end
Let the River Run
The Parting Glass
Circle of Life
I’m looking forward to the term ahead and learning these new songs! Have a good week.
Chris
Well, that’s all for now, so I will either see you at Snowdrop Place on Tuesday, for Local Vocals, or next Thursday’s rehearsal.
Bye for now.
Eric