15 October Update
Week 6 of 6 (Autumn Term H1)
In this week's bulletin, we have:
Coffee Notices
A rehearsal recap
☕ Coffee Notices
Half-term break and our Christmas plans
A reminder that there is no rehearsal next Thursday (22 October) as we're taking our half-term break. However, we do have a choir social planned, so there's still an opportunity to get together!
Thursday 22 October – COTH Social
We'll be meeting at the Faber Fox in Crystal Palace (25 Westow Hill, SE19 1TQ) from 7.30pm. All members are welcome. More details will be shared soon in the WhatsApp chat.
Getting ready for Christmas🎄
When we return after half-term, we'll be getting straight into our Christmas repertoire, with just three rehearsals before our first Christmas performance at The Westow.
We're aiming to get as much of the Christmas music as possible into the Christmas Music Library during the break, including recordings of the individual voice parts, so everyone has a chance to listen and familiarise themselves with the songs before we return.
We've chosen a mixture of familiar Christmas favourites and a couple of songs that will be new even to our longer-standing members. The set for The Westow will be particularly Christmas-focused, as requested by the organisers.
Please don't worry if some of the arrangements are unfamiliar at first. We'll work through everything together when we're back, with the aim of making sure everyone feels comfortable and confident by the time we perform.
And if listening to Christmas music in October feels a little early, spare a thought for your editor – I've already had to listen to rather a lot of it, and my reputation as the choir's resident Grinch is well established! 😂
Dates for your diary
Thursday 19 November – The Westow, Crystal Palace
Our first Christmas performance, as part of the Crystal Palace Christmas Light Switch On event.
A quick note about payment: As this performance falls on our usual Thursday choir night, it counts as a normal paid session. Members who pay by subscription are already covered, but those paying PAYG will still need to make their usual session payment, even though we're performing at the pub rather than rehearsing in the hall.
As we explained on Thursday, our regular session payments help cover the choir's ongoing costs, including Elena's time, our rehearsal venue and other running expenses.
We currently don't ask members to pay anything extra to take part in performances outside our normal choir evenings, even though these also involve costs for the choir. We hope this helps explain why the usual payment still applies on 19 November.
Saturday 5 December – COTH Christmas Party
Drinks, singing, Secret Santa and all the usual COTH Christmas fun, this year at Ivna's house. More details nearer the time!
Friday 18 December – Stanley Arts Christmas Concert
We'll be returning to this hugely enjoyable annual event. Further information will be shared as soon as it's available.
Keep an eye on WhatsApp for registration details coming soon!
Half-term subscriptions
For newer members who have been paying as they go, the start of the new half-term is also an opportunity to switch to a subscription if you'd prefer.
Subscriptions work out at £1 less per session than the standard PAYG rate and help us plan ahead by giving the choir a more reliable income to cover our regular costs.
We publish all of the subscription costs on our Payment page. Our second half term is 8 weeks (29 Oct-17 Dec) and will be £72 at the full rate and £36 at the concessionary rate.
If you'd like to switch to a half-term subscription, please ask a member of the management team for the payment details.
🎤 Rehearsal Recap
Song Notes
This week we revised Flight and Super Trouper. Recordings of all the different parts can be found in the Music Library.
Have a good half-term break. See you on the 29th!
