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Well, we are just getting our breath back after a summer of Festivals, which left us with mixed feelings. The sad part is that Moira has not been able to be with us for most of the summer, as her brother has been seriously ill. The good side is that the festival organisers have all been wonderfully accommodating about the changes and so Carolyn and I have been working as a duo for most of August, and fulfilled all the CMR commitments, though of course we missed Moira tremendously. However, we had some help at Sidmouth in the shape of Stream of Sound Choir, who came and sang a couple of songs with us at the Manor Pavilion (Sidmouth), and Lester Simpson also joined us for a memorable performance of Crossing the Bar. Many thanks to all for their wonderful singing. Sidmouth, Whitby and Shrewsbury are all very different, but we had great fun at all three (despite the occasional drenching rain) and as always made lots of new friends and heard some memorable performances.

The Way Through the Woods

Our new workshop-based show had its first outings at Sidmouth (where we had a cast of 60) and Whitby where there were over 80 participants, necessitating a quick hunt for a much larger venue. We couldn't have had a lovelier bunch of performers to work with, everyone sang the songs and read their parts wonderfully. Special mention must go to Kitty, our youngest participant, who delivered the last line of the Whitby performance to resounding applause. Click here for pictures of the Whitby performance, plus a few clips from the Sidmouth performance. Has this inspired you? We are now going to take the show on the road, to enable community choirs, folk clubs etc to work with us and put on a performance using their own singers. If you'd like to know more about this, have a look at the information in the workshop section of the website, or just send an email to me.

The Axford Five

Not a notorious gang of robbers, but five women who lived just outside Basingstoke in Hampshire, and who, between them, contributed nearly 80 songs to George Gardiner's collection of folksongs. Over the next few months we will be working with the Askew Sisters to learn and record some of their songs, and will be available to perform the "Axford Five" set at Festivals next year. If you haven't hear Hazel and Emily's wonderful dynamic songs and tunes, pay a visit to their website www.askewsisters.co.uk and find out more about these exciting young musicians. We re very excited about this collaboration, and grateful to Bob Askew for suggesting it, as well as for tireless research.

Workshops, workshops

We'll be running workshops in Daventry. Swindon, Shrewsbury and Derby during the Autumn, so hope that some of you will be able to come and sing with us. Details of who to contact and where and when to go are on the diary page, as are all the club dates.

Harmonies unlimited

That's what you'll get on Monday November 10th when Canadian trio Finest Kind, one of the world's finest harmony groups (and stunningly good on instruments as well), joins CMR for a concert in Winchester. Now Sold Out and with a waiting list. Phone 01264 738629 to be added

That's all for now - hope to see you somewhere in the next few months.
Sarah

Sarah Morgan

There’s more information about performances on the Diary page, or if you’d like to get up to date information by email, why not join our email list? If you’d like to join the list just contact Sarah.