September 3, 2015
by cloud9womenschoir
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The Poetry of Music

This week we started to rehearse the very beautiful Seal Lullaby by the well-known choral composer Eric Whitacre.  It is one of the two pieces he has so far written for women’s voices only.  In it, he gives a contemporary choral setting to the words of a Rudyard Kipling poem.  At the end of rehearsal, for the fun of it, we finished with a loud and enthusiastic run through Jerusalem with words by William Blake.

It started me thinking about some of the other works the choir has sung recently where written works have been set to music.  Immediately, the gorgeous and well known Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Faure and Benjamin Britten’s Ceremony of Carols came to mind.  Then there is also Aaron Copland’s arrangement of the children’s song I Bought Me a Cat and Let it Go with words by Michael Leunig.  The latter has become one of the choir’s favourites and is one of the pieces with which we finish our concerts.

Whatever we end up singing I inevitably walk out of rehearsals with a lighter heart and step.  What magic!                                                                                                                           JS Cloud9 Choir member

August 12, 2015
by cloud9womenschoir
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Bring on the New Term!

Despite the cold nights, choir members are turning up in force as we start the new term.  Whilst Music Director Gloria was overseas fine tuning her already considerable choral conducting skills, our first two sessions were taken by choir members and guest Music Directors, Hilary and Christine.  Both displayed their own special skills and approach, and each gave us a little bit more to think about as we listen and tune into one another. The choir really enjoyed their sessions and were very grateful for their commitment.

After the great experience and success of our mid-winter concert we are starting to explore new and old repertoire for the second half of the year from Purcell to Broadway and much more in between.  It gives us an opportunity to try out music, keep what we like and what works for us, and build on what we have already achieved.  Apart from all that it is great fun; good humour prevails as we learn new pieces – something that regularly causes us to break down in fits of laughter.

Our core membership stands at around 35 but we are still looking for new members to join us. So even though the term has already started, if you may be interested please send us an email via this website and we will get back to you as soon as we are able.

JS, Cloud9 Choir member

June 29, 2015
by cloud9womenschoir
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What a wonderful Winter performance!

Congratulations to every Cloud9 member. Everyone agrees our Warm Up Your Winter concert on Saturday night was a wonderful success. We travelled around the world in song and I heard the words ‘magical’, ‘beautiful’, ‘stunning’ and many other compliments from the audience. Everyone agreed we were especially amazing when singing from memory. And we handled our Zulu, Greek, Serbian and Bulgarian beautifully. A number of people commented that ‘Let it Go’ and ‘The Irish Blessing’ sung in forest formation were tear-inducing.

Thanks to our announcers, Eileen, Christine, Desley and Jen. Thanks too to our soloist Cathie, and to our pop-up accompanist Marie.

Special thanks to Gail for her duo with Annabelle. And of course, to Jenny and Sue, and all their volunteers, and to all of you for making a memorable and exotic supper.

Thank you to Clare and Grant from My Little Tribe Photography for capturing our joy of singing in photos.

Thanks also to Bagryana Popov and Mary Riccioni for their cultural assistance at rehearsals, Max Fotheringham for recording the concert, Margaret and Kevin McGregor for supervising the door and Stuart Hair for assistance with sound.

Finally, our immense gratitude to Gloria for her determination to challenge us to produce this varied programme so successfully, and also to Annabelle who provides wonderful support always! It has been a wonderful semester.

Enjoy your two weeks off!

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June 29, 2015
by cloud9womenschoir
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The Wiggs Award!

Jenny Brown had the pleasure of presenting the Wiggs Award just before our performance on Saturday night.

Here’s what Jenny had to say:

As Janice is away, (she’s probably just landed in Vancouver), it will be my pleasure to present the Wiggs Award.

As you know, the Wiggs Award is presented twice a year in honour of our patron Leigh Wigglesworth OAM who was the founder and Music Director,  for more than ten years, of Elation Women’s Choir, from which Cloud9 developed.

The Wiggs award is given to someone who has made a significant contribution to the spirit of Cloud9.

The recipient of the Wiggs award for this semester is Elly Johnson!

Elly

Elly and Jenny cropped

Elly is a relatively new member of Cloud9, but she certainly has made her mark.

 She not only has a lovely voice, but she is brave and determined, given that she does not read music.

She has charmed us with her smiling, cheerful presence.

And astonished us with her willingness to participate, even when dobbed in for a solo!

She brought even more colour and movement to our photo-shoot in the park by arriving on her wonderful bike.

 And finally, Elly can bring a smile to everyone, even when she is having a bad hair day.

 Congratulations to Elly from all of us!!

And thanks, as always, to My Little Tribe Photography for all our wonderful images.

my little tribe photography

June 18, 2015
by cloud9womenschoir
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Yet another benefit of singing

While researching websites for a walking trip to the National Parks in the Rocky Mountains in Canada, I came across a number of references to bear sightings both of brown bears and grizzly bears.

There’s loads of interesting information on the official park sites about bears, where to stash your food and toiletries (!), what to do if a bear is on the walking trail in front of you, what not to do if it walks towards you and even what to do if it starts to attack (fortunately very rare). You can even buy a proprietary ‘bear spray’ to deter curious bears.

But to stay safe while walking on a trail a couple of sites recommended travelling in a tight group and SINGING LOUDLY!!!! I am now preparing an appropriate repertoire: The Bear came over the Mountain, The Bare Necessities, Teddy Bear’s Picnic, We’re going on Bear Hunt, Teddy Bear……….on second thoughts perhaps not Elvis’ last line ‘I just want to be your teddy bear’.   JS, Cloud9 member

14937710225_29b9e3acca_oImage credit: Victor via Flickr

June 6, 2015
by cloud9womenschoir
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Get ready to warm up your winter with our concert 5:30pm on Saturday 27th June

Winter concert 2015 A4 Flyer colour

Cloud9 is most looking forward to our Winter Concert coming up on June 27th. We will be performing folk songs from the UK, Greece, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, US, South Africa and Australia as well as our signature pieces Let it Go and The Irish Blessing.

And of course it wouldn’t be a Cloud9 concert without our signature delicious supper which is included in your ticket price.

We look forward to seeing you there; please invite all your friends!

 

June 6, 2015
by cloud9womenschoir
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Performing for the Rotary Club of Camberwell

Last Wednesday night, Cloud9 had the pleasure of performing for the Rotary Club of Camberwell. We sang most of the songs we will be performing at our upcoming Winter concert on June 27th. It was wonderful to be ready to perform so much of our Winter repertoire with three weeks of rehearsals still up our sleeves.

Aside from the music, we tried out a new performance look – autumnal-coloured scarves rather than our blue stoles. Everyone agreed our new look is a hit!

And our singing was extremely well received too. Well done ladies.

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February 21, 2015
by cloud9womenschoir
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Cloud 9 looks forward to an exciting 2015

2014 was another Great Year for Cloud9

Cloud9 finished off its 2014 season with an end-of-year concert that moved away from our more traditional Christmas carol repertoire and introduced some new works spanning a range of styles. It was not without some Christmas reference though, with The Little Drummer Boy and five pieces from Benjamin Britten’s lovely Ceremony of Carols, including the glorious harp interlude. We were delighted to have Melina van Leeuwen, a very accomplished harpist, to accompany us for these beautiful works. Some lively gospels songs, some songs set to well-known tunes, a couple of our all-time favourites and two new additions to our repertoire, Faure’s Messe Basse and a piece by Brahms rounded out the program. It was a terrific ending to a great year.

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Melina van Leeuwen on harp joins us for the Ceremony of Carols.

Looking forward to 2015

2015 is already shaping up to be one of our best ever. Under the continued and inspiring leadership of our music director, Gloria Gamboz, we have started our weekly rehearsals with typical enthusiasm. We were very pleased to welcome the newcomers that joined us this year and are always keen to accept and welcome new members. One of the things current members most value about our choir is that we rehearse in a relaxed and happy atmosphere without compromising on our journey of musical improvement and excellence. We are actively seeking new members for 2015 and if you think that Cloud9 might be for you, check out our FAQ section and send us your details in our “How to join” page and we will get back  to you as soon as we can.

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Cloud9 performs our ‘Spring into Christmas’ concert.