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Spring concert 2025
Once again our Spring concert was a huge success and our large audience were treated to a fabulous mix of Easter music.

Our programme ranged from Pergolesi's Stabat Matar and Wagner's 'Spinning Chorus' through to the Ascot Gavotte from 'My Fair Lady' and even a gloriously joyous rendition of Abba's 'Thank You For The Music' with the audience invited to open their lungs and join in, which they did with enormous gusto!

Our guest professional musician was Phoebe Masters who thrilled us all with her brilliant bassoon playing. Our chosen charity for the spring concert was CLASP and we raised over £1000 for this fabulous local charity who support adults in Berkshire with learning disabilities.

Singing for the local elderly 2024

Charity work and outreach is a very important part of life with Vivace Voices and, at the end of October some of the choir visited two local elderly care homes to sing to the residents.

The pieces were selected to be a combination of arrangements of well-known songs along with some original works and the delighted audience even joined in with a rousing rendition of Abba's 'Thank You For The Music'!

Summer Concert 17 July 2024

Comments from the audience about the singing were full of praise, and the variety of the pieces was much enjoyed. Grant, the vicar, had heard the Little Jazz Mass before and was a bit concerned that we were singing it in our concert. When he heard us, he thought we were fantastic

Many thanks to Mary (accompanist) and Paul (double bass) - lovely to have those bass notes!

In addition a whopping £1,000 was raised for Daisy's Dream!

Spring Concert 2024

What a great concert. A varied programme with something for everybody! And refreshments were delicious as well.

The audience seemed to really enjoy it and several people said they always come to our concerts and love them.

We were running out of chairs and also the space to put them, which is a lovely position to be in.

Not just a pretty voice!

Vivace Voices brings together women from many different backgrounds and with a wealth of experience, skill and expertise between them that goes way beyond their ability to produce beautiful music. Dig a little deeper during the weekly tea and cake break and you will be surprised and delighted at what you discover ...

Lion!

This vibrant piece of art was created by Ann Moore (2nd soprano). It is just one of many works she has produced in her spare time. It is a beautiful representation of the many colourful strands of music we bring together in Vivace Voices.

Polyphony

At the centre of the polyphony

Lies an invisible mesh

That holds us,

Makes our bodies weightless.

The piano keeps Earth’s pulse

As the sky begins to ring

And icicles on peaks

Melt in a slow flow,

To wind through a valley of sound,

Whose base notes provide

A spadeful of rich soil.

This friendship of creating

Continues to reverberate

In the pauses, the silences,

The laughter,

Seamless tones slide like balm

Warming us

To the point of evaporation,

And through the blending of our voices

We weave a pool of sunlight.

By Carolyn Askar (performance poet, children's writer, creativity coach & 1st soprano)

To discover more about Carolyn and her beautiful poetry books visit her website

Meet Valerie ...

One of the choir's second altos, Valerie is a keen cricket fan. Her love of leather on willow started at school when, in the summer, all the girls could play a variety of sports. Valerie joined the school cricket team and eventually became captain.

Valerie was wicket keeper and she says that the lenses in her glasses had to be changed to plastic to protect her in case she was hit in the face by a ball.

She also recalls playing a team of the fathers - the dads went in with the intention of being 'nice' to the girls but soon realised that their daughters could hit the ball just as hard and ... run a good deal faster than them!

Cake Corner

There IS more to life than cake but a slice of the sweet stuff along with a hot cup of tea can ease a myriad of woes and certainly revitalises the energy and vocal chords half-way through rehearsals! The bakers amongst us love to share our cakes AND our recipes ...

Sheila's Chocolate Cake

Ingredients (serves 8-12)

For cake:

280g soft margerine
280g soft brown sugar
5 x medium-sized eggs, beaten (or 5 flax 'eggs' for a vegan version)
215g self-raising flour
2tsp baking powder
3tbs milk (dairy or plant)
150 gms self-raising flour
65g cocoa powder

For icing:

65g caster sugar
a dollop of golden syrup
100g good dark chocolate (at least 54% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
A little milk (dairy or plant)

Method

Pre-heat oven to 190C (170C fan), Gas 5.
Cream fat and sugar until pale and fluffy.
Add the beaten egg or flax 'eggs'.
Add the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder and combine well.
Add the milk and beat the mixture until smooth - use a spatula to keep the mixture in the middle so that you don't over-beat it.
The mixture will not be runny but will be thick enough to need a bit of spreading into your chosen, prepared tin.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes.
Allow it to cool on a rack before icing it.
To make the icing, put the sugar and golden syrup along with a couple of tablespoons of water in a small pan.
Bring to the boil and then take the pan off the heat and stir in the chocolate. Stir until completely melted. Add a little milk (dairy or plant) to make it shiny.
Let it cool a little before pouring it over the cooled cake. It will firm up in about half an hour.
ENJOY!

Fun Facts

The voice is presumed to be the original musical instrument and there is no known culture anywhere in the world that does not sing.

Primitive human sang to invoke their gods, celebrate rites of passage, and recount stories from the day.

The oldest known song is The Hurrian Hymn 6 which dates back to approximately 14000 years BCE! Find out all about this song and listen to it HERE.

'He who sings scares away his woes'

Miguel de Cervantes

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