Ugie voices are finally back to rehearsing in person! It is so wonderful to see everyone in 3-D so to speak after so long with only zoom rehearsals. We have started on our Christmas program which includes a nice mix of secular and sacred pieces, including some Handel, Rutter
(of course!!)  and even a song from the Polar Express. With all that I'm about ready to get the tree up. ha ha!
As for our Adopt-a-Creator project, things are moving on. We had a joint rehearsal just before the summer break which went really well. I don't mind saying that this project was approached with some trepidation by choir members, as can be expected when faced with something totally new and dare I say a wee bit out of our "comfort zone"
we were joined by the composer Ben Lunn, who , as well as being amazingly talented was such a genuinely nice person. Ben took us through a couple of the pieces, and also listened to our comments and took them on board. He rehearsed with Ugie Voices and then we joined the ASO, who were rehearsing in another part of the venue. That's when we got the best idea of how everything would come together and it sounded wonderful.
There are still a few issues to work through, the main one being the balance of volume between voices and saxophones, but that's just a technical problem. We have set up another two joint rehearsals in October and November, so we are looking forward to that. By the way you may notice our very own MD, James Campbell, in his cassock, he had a very busy day, doing not only the morning but the evening services, fitting the rehearsal in between and there's quite a drive for him between the venue and home, bless him.

We have now finished our zoom rehearsals and are having our summer break.
With many restrictions being lifted we are very hopeful that we will be able to resume face to face rehearsals in September. Covid restrictions will still apply as far as we know and we are looking at a new venue so we can keep social distancing as our present venue will be too small.
We have begun an exciting project with Making Music, in collaboration with Aberdeen Saxophone Orchestra with pieces by composer Ben Lunn.
We have now received the music scores for these pieces and are looking forward to it all coming together. 
 

Our Zoom Rehearsals are going well. I think everyone is beginning to relax to the new way of our choir rehearsals.
Our program is quite varied, including some pieces from the Messiah, a Rodgers and Hammerstein Medley, music by John Ritter plus some very easy listening pieces.
As always we welcome new members so if you would like to join us, please follow the link to our facebook page, leave a comment and we will message you with the details of our rehearsals.

Recently our MD James interviewed Ben Lunn, our composer from the Making Music UK "Adopt a Creator" scheme we are in with Aberdeen Saxaphone Orchestra. Now is your chance to sit back and enjoy our take on "Desert Island Discs"

​https://fb.watch/3g1vXIYoCS/

Last week we had our second online rehearsal, and while never as good as singing in person with the rest of the choir, it is good to be doing something positive in these challenging times.
Our MD James, surprised us with a short message from none other than John Rutter. Mr Rutter is the composer of three of the carols in our Christmas program, "All Bells in Paradise", The Angels Carol" and "The Nativity Carol" so for him to send us a personal message was to quote an overused but appropriate word , awesome! Many thanks for that James.
Ugie voices are looking forward to some interesting projects ahead. First we are obviously rehearsing our Christmas program which we hope to record and post for your listening pleasure.
Then we are embarking on, to quote Monty Python, "Something completely different!"
A project involving Making Music.org, the Aberdeen Saxophone Orchestra and the composer and conductor Ben Lunn. ore on that in the coming weeks.
Ill leave you with a random Christmas fact. William the Conqueror's coronation was on the 25th December 1066.
Until next time, stay safe and keep singing.