Having Fun Raising Funds
On a damp Saturday morning in early March, around 260 singers converged
on St Mary's Church in the centre of Aylesbury to take part in a
'celebrity' choral workshop led by Jonathan
Willcocks.
The event was organised by Aylesbury Choral Society as part of its
70th anniversary programme. There was a dual purpose. Firstly, to
be adventurous and to use the anniversary year as an opportunity
to try a new venture which would provide enjoyment and inspiration.
Secondly, to raise money to fund the final event in the season -
a performance of the Dream of Gerontius at Stowe
Chapel.
When we locked up the church on Saturday evening, we were confident
that we had achieved the first aim. The singers and around 100 audience
had all left the church smiling. A week later when the accounts
were finalised, we were delighted to discover we had raised well
over £2,500.
This happy state of affairs was the result of at least a year's
work. We considered the following at the beginning of our planning:
who to invite as a celebrity conductor; where and when to hold the
event; and how to attract enough singers.
We wanted a conductor who would be: "charismatic, enthusiastic,
fun, and well-organised" and also sufficiently well-known to
attract enough singers. We were very pleased when Jonathan Willcocks
accepted our invitation in April 2002. He could not have fitted
our job description better. It was an added bonus that we were able
to include Jonathan's own Magnificat (composed 1997) in the programme;
I believe many singers were attracted by the opportunity to rehearse
and perform a work with its composer.
We gave careful thought to the timing of the event, taking account
of: half-term dates, Easter, local societies' concert dates and
commitments, amount of daylight etc. It seems that early March is
a good time when Easter is late. Although we considered other venues,
St Mary's Church (one of our regular performance locations) seemed
the most appropriate. It houses around 280 - 300 singers, and provides
an inspiring setting and wonderful acoustic for a large choir singing
sacred music.
Once the conductor, date and venue were fixed, all that we needed
to do was to attract singers. This was where we turned to Making
Music for help. They can provide member organisations with labels
for all other member societies. We selected the regions that we
decided were within our catchment area. Then, in late October, we
stuffed the envelopes with posters and booking forms and waited
for the bookings to roll in.
Meanwhile we were encouraging our own members to book and to invite
friends to join us. We also had full
details on our website, circulated local libraries and got an
article into the local paper. We offered a reduced fee to students
from the local schools, as part of our policy of trying to get more
young people involved with choral singing.
By early January, there were a few long faces, as we were a long
way short of our target. However, Making Music was again able to
help by providing contact details. We divided the list up and phoned
round the societies to find out who was thinking of coming. This
cheered us up, as a number of people were interested, but had been
tied-up with Christmas and New Year.
A steady stream of bookings followed, and then an avalanche of letters
and phone calls for 2 to 3 weeks before the event. We were delighted
that the bookings included over 20 students from a local school.
However, it was clear we were going to need extra music. Once more,
Making Music helped by putting us in contact with societies which
could provide us with vocal scores via the Music Exchange Scheme.
On the day, singers came from across Aylesbury Vale and the Home
Counties; also from London, Portsmouth, Chichester and from even
further afield. There were three rehearsal sessions of one-and-a-half
hours each, followed by a performance of Parry's I
Was Glad, Willcocks' Magnificat, and Faure's Requiem.
There is little doubt that most singers thoroughly enjoyed the day.
One wrote to us saying: "Thank you for a wonderful, stimulating
and joyful day. As well as the beautiful music and the warmth and
charisma of Jonathan Willcocks (and the excellent organ and piano
playing of Iain Farrington) I appreciated the friendly atmosphere.
As an older singer, I found that the presence of so many younger
singers added brightness to the day."
So, if your choral society wants to have fun and raise money, why
not consider running your own workshop?
Top Tips
- Don't panic - people book late
- Talk to someone who has organised a workshop already
- Use Making Music services for labels, and music hire
- Check dates carefully
- Find out what else is on in your catchment area
If you are thinking of running a choral workshop, please feel free
to contact us.
Chrissie Williams
Workshop Co-ordinator
Aylesbury Choral Society
01296 670230
Some photographs of the event:
 |
Taking
seats and catching up with the gossip... |
 |
Sweatshirts
from far and wide! |
 |
Autograph
hunting |
 |
Jonathan
and Iain discuss tactics |
 |
In
full voice... |
 |
Girls
from the Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School with Jonathan |
