Rehearsals start on Wednesday 20th April at Trimley St Martin Primary School.

Our twice-postponed 40th anniversary concert, ‘Mostly Mozart’ – with Julie Roberts among the soloists – takes place on Saturday 2nd April at St Andrew’s Church, Felixstowe.

Tickets are available now from The Card Centre in Hamilton Road (01394 283170).

Do join us for what promises to be a very special celebration of our first forty years!

… You know, the one we had last year but couldn’t celebrate.

Well, we’re celebrating it this year come hell or high water. We started rehearsals for our Spring Concert at the beginning of this month and, in my next post, I will be telling you all about the pieces we will be performing.

In the meantime, see if this brings back any memories:

It’s all getting very real for us now! The Christmas concert will be at the United Reformed Church in Orwell Road, Felixstowe at 7.30 pm on Saturday 11th December.

Get your tickets from the Card Centre, Hamilton Road (01394 283170) or at the door..

Yes! Rehearsals will start again next week – Wednesday 15th September, at 7.15 pm at Trimley St Martin School.

We will be working towards our Christmas concert, which will feature Poulenc’s “Gloria”, with Julie Roberts as soloist, and a programme of familiar Christmas carols to get everybody singing.

Please come and join us, we’ve missed you!

We had pinned our hopes on the “Road Map”. We were deep into preparation for a concert – our 40th Anniversary Concert, no less – and the government dropped its bombshell.

Twenty four hours after the country had moved into Step 3, with its promise of being able to meet in person, the government announced that, despite the regulations telling us that “Indoor hospitality, entertainment venues such as cinemas and soft play areas, the rest of the accommodation sector, and indoor adult group sports and exercise classes will also reopen” – that meant everyone except amateur choirs.

Are we upset? Yes. Are we angry? Yes.

Our local Members of Parliament have been bombarded with our expressions of displeasure and have replied only with the most anodyne of pre-prepared statements.

But you can’t keep the Dorian Singers down. We are re-scheduling the concert for September – Saturday 25th September, to be precise. Obviously, this could change again – we’re keeping a very close eye on the regulations as they change, even though it’s like trying to nail jelly to a wall. We are determined, though, that we will celebrate our 40th Anniversary, and in style.

If you are interested, this was the official response from the MP for Suffolk Coastal:

As you will be aware, an amateur choir of up to 6 people can now sing indoors and outdoors amateur singers can perform or rehearse in groups of 30.

I recognise that you may wish to see this number rise or to allow activities to take place with multiple permitted groups and I understand that this updated guidance may be disappointing. As you may appreciate, the Government is taking decisions based on the advice of public health experts. There is strong public scientific evidence indicating that singing loudly increases aerosol and thus increases the risk of coronavirus transmission, particularly indoors.

A New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) assessment of transmission of Covid-19 in singing and music events found evidence to suggest that singing can produce more aerosols than normal talking or breathing. Singing for any appreciable amount of time therefore may present a risk for the creation of infectious aerosols and allow for infection transmission.

As with any activity, the cumulative effect of aerosol transmission means that the more people are involved, the higher the risk of transmission. Therefore, it is important to limit the total number of individuals involved in singing as far as possible and reduce the possibility of large-scale transmission events.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Hon Dr Thérèse Coffey MP

Suffolk Coastal

As restrictions ease, we are looking forward to our 40th Anniversary concert.

We’ve been rehearsing virtually, on Zoom, and expect to get back to real life rehearsals in May for …

In view of the grave situation regarding coronavirus, we have taken, with heavy hearts, the necessary decision to cancel the planned Spring Concert. Our sincerest apologies to everyone ewho is disappointed by our decision, but in the light of the Government’s lates advice we felt it to be inevitable. We will advise those of you who have bought tickets as soon as possible. Until we meet again, keep well.

We are absolutely thrilled, this term, to be performing Francis Poulenc’s “Gloria” at our Spring Concert on Saturday 28 March.  If you are expecting something that sounds “churchy” then you’re in for a surprise.   Although a man of deep faith, Poulenc’s hymn to the glory of God takes on the most modern of idioms.  The soprano solo passages, which will be sung for us by Gill Wilson,  are nevertheless redolent with ethereal beauty.

And not only this!  We are also performing two movements from Mozart’s “Vesperes solemnes de confessore”, one of which is the famous “Laudate dominum”, again a great showcase for the soprano voice.  Added to these will be Faure’s “Messe Basse” (“Low Mass”) for women’s voices,  and Haydn’s operatic “Insanae et vanae curae”, and the outcome is a real treat of really eclectic sacred music.

The concert will be at at St Andrew’s, Felixstowe, starting at 7.30 pm.

Yes, it’s getting closer!  Our feast of Christmas goodies will take place this year on Wednesday, 11th December at Trinity Methodist Church.  We are serving up seasonal favourites old and new, plus a joyous sound from our extra special guests “Drum and Brass”.  Something for everyone!