Weekly Updates – Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus

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Scroll down for the latest weekly update, which will be uploaded every week on the date shown on the update (often Sunday but could be earlier). Scroll even further down for pdf files of each update for those who prefer to download and print it. If you do not receive the email you should:

read it on this page
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Updated Sunday 29 June 2025

NEW and/or IMPORTANT ITEMS (scroll down for further details)

Members Area: User Name member Password M4hler8D@rius22
Rehearsal tracks and recordings for next concert on website
IMPORTANT – three more vacant roles to fill
Jim Monach memorial service – Rachel’s tribute
Chatsworth sing on 12 July 2025 (attachment)
Summer Sing Tuesday 15 July 2025 from 6.30pm
Invitation to Bochum exhibition launch on Sat 19 July 2025 (attachment)
Change of contact details – tell us via

Links to rehearsal tracks and recordings of our next concert on 1 November are on the website at Members Area / Preparing the music

Chorus organisation – please volunteer for the vacant positions if you can

Thank you to the members who have volunteered for vacant positions – we are gradually getting there! A number of important positions still need to be filled. The list below provides links to the relevant page about the role on our Chorus website, so please have a look and see if you can offer your services to help run and develop the Chorus. You will receive lots of help from committee members and in the case of the Secretary role, from Anne Adams. The committee meets around six times a year and meetings are enjoyable and never boring!

Secretary – now a very much-reduced role from that undertaken by Anne and previous role holders, as many responsibilities and tasks have been allocated to other roles. In addition, Anne will have completed the rehearsal set-up and AGM tasks, so the role will be more modest in the first year of taking over.
Member Reps – members of the Chorus get four places on the committee, duration three years (though can be shorter of course). It’s the members direct line into the running of the Chorus and two of our three current reps are due to stand down in October, resulting in THREE vacances. Attendance at committee meetings and liaison with members are the only responsibilities.

Though not committee roles, we also need a Tenor Voice Rep – NOT the same as Member Rep of the committee, and there’s no need to attend meetings, it’s more about checking the attendance and general wellbeing of members. Come on tenors!

Jim Monach memorial service

Thank you to all those who took part in Jim’s memorial service in the Upper Chapel. The service was beautiful, though emotional, and Darius and the Chorus did him proud. Our President Rachel Copley gave a lovely tribute which is reproduced below.

“Being a long-standing member of the Sheffield Phil, there are a number of personalities that stand out in the memory during those years, and Jim’s is most certainly one of them. As a stalwart member of the tenor section, his enthusiasm was infectious. As a soprano I was, and am, often seated near the tenors, and in Jim’s eyeline in places like King Edward’s School where we used to rehearse, and the odd ‘quirky glance’ was exchanged when things didn’t quite go according to plan!

On a practical level Jim helped in setting up rehearsal rooms, moving pianos, erecting and storing music stands and organising seating, which inevitably meant that he was there early and left late. Before concert days we are sent an email with colour coded seating for our positions on the platform, and Jim was in charge of getting us to sit with sight lines to the conductor, filling any gaps, shorter folk at the front etc, duties which he performed briskly, and sometimes brusquely, on concert days.

The singers here today received a very comprehensive email, detailing timings for the rehearsal and where the various voice parts should sit. Half way down in these instructions was the following, which I loved: ‘There is no seating plan (sorry Jim!)’

The choice of music for today encompasses the spirit of Jim I think, with the lyrical tenor line to the Faure, the emotion of the Rachmaninov and the joyfulness of the Rutter and the traditional Sheffield pub carol.

Living as I do near Doncaster and allowing for the vagaries of Sheffield traffic, I sometimes arrive at rehearsals well before they start, and over the years, with one or two family or health crises going on, Jim was always there with a comforting or caring word, maybe a hug or a merry quip, as I suspect he also was for many members.

Jim was not simply a member of a choir, but one of the ‘Phil family’ and that family will miss him hugely.”

Chatsworth sing on 12 July 2025 (attachment)

Thank you to those who have signed up to sing, and to Georgina Hulse who will conduct. We could still do with a few tenors – contact Georgina if you are free and can sing .
The music list is on our website at Members Area / Electives and copies will be available at the first of two rehearsals, on Tuesday 1 and 8 July 2025 at St Andrews.
Note that the venue has changed to the Rose Garden, unless the weather dictates otherwise. They’re supplying 10 chairs for anyone who needs to sit while we wait or during the performance, which is just 30 mins.
The attachment tells us where to meet and what to do on the day.

Summer Sing Tuesday 15 July 2025 from 6.30pm

Please let Helen Kirk know if you are hoping to attend the Summer Sing, either via the WhatsApp group or by email

Arrive from 6.30-7.00pm at soprano Charlotte Liu’s large garden – Arcadia Landscape design, Long Lane, off Back Lane, Stephen Hill S10 5PY. Charlotte’s garden is next door to the Holly Hagg Community Farm; see their website for directions, bus information etc. https://hollyhagg.org.uk/holly-hagg-directions/
Please bring
- something savoury or sweet to bring and share. Ideally please let Helen know whether it is savoury or sweet so that she can try to get a balance. Please label food which contains Gluten or nuts
- sealable containers for transportation
- your own drinks which you may choose to share with friends
- camping chairs and rugs
Helen will provide soft drinks, paper plates, napkins, disposable beakers
We recommend that you wear comfortable shoes as the paths are uneven in places.
There is no parking at the site. Street parking on Long Lane. Car sharing advised.
If the weather is inclement please refer to the WhatsApp group or email Helen; however there’s a poly tunnel if it rains so the event is unlikely to be cancelled.

Here is a link to information and photos of the garden, which was featured in BBC Gardener’s World. Doug & Charlotte (@arcadia_landscape_design) • Instagram photos and videos Hope to see you there!

Invitation to the launch of the Bochum exhibition on Sat 19 July 2025 (attachment)

The council invites members of the choir to the upcoming opening event for the exhibition celebrating 75 years of the twinning of Sheffield and Bochum. The event will take place on Saturday 19th July 13:00 – 15:00 in the Carpenter Room of the Central Library. There’ll be a welcome address by The Lord Mayor and an opportunity to preview the exhibition. One of the people who have been to Bochum many times will present the Lord Mayor with artwork given to us by the Bochum choir and make a short speech about the visits.

The exhibition has been developed in collaboration with the University of Sheffield to mark 75 years of the relationship with Bochum. The invitation is attached. Please RSVP to by Monday 7th July to confirm your attendance.

More about Chris Wiltshire piano fund-raiser 12 and 13 July 2025 (attachment)

Chris Wiltshire’s next fund-raising effort will be on July 12th and 13th when he will be joined by Jonathan Lazell to play ALL of Schubert’s Piano Duets. Chris is the widow of ex-member Pat, who sang with the second sopranos for many years, and he and Jonathan are aiming to beat the £3,000 which was raised for Alzheimer’s Research last year. The two-day event will take place at Chris’s home – 27 Hallam Grange Rise, Sheffield. See attachment for more.

Reminder – FaceNoise Choral Foundation Retreat 14 to 17 August 2025

New organisation FaceNoise, run by Tim Peters (ex-conductor of Octogenesis among other things) is organising a summer retreat from 14 to 17 August, in Hope Valley. Intensive rehearsal sessions will culminate in a final performance, as well as pub socials, group meals, and a guided sound walk in the hills. You need to be comfortable reading music. The retreat is DIY-style, ie participants arrange their own lodging and meals. For more details and to sign up, please visit the website: https://www.facenoise.org/facenoise-singers

Contact emails

These are all listed at Members Area / Chorus Contacts

Diary dates (dates in italics are voluntary electives; attendance expected at all others)

Confirmed concert dates and details, including piano and tutti rehearsal dates, times and locations, are posted on Chorus website as soon as they become available so that members can plan ahead, at Members Area / Diary dates

2024-25

Saturday 12 July 2025 Chatsworth, 13.00 Elective event. Free garden ticket per person who signs up. Georgina Hulse will conduct.
Tuesday 15 July 2025 – Summer Sing, from 6.30pm. Bring and share – and sing – in Charlotte’s gorgeous garden.

2025-26 – all but the Come Sing date now confirmed (see below)

Saturday 1 November 2025, St Marie’s Cathedral, organ 150th anniversary concert. Jonathan Dove Seek Him that maketh the Seven Stars, Cassie White (second prize winner in the Young Composer Competition) for music like the sea, Stanford Blue Bird, organ solo (Darius), Coleridge Taylor Lea Shore & Summer is Gone, Balfour Gardiner Evening HymnINTERVAL Lili Boulanger Hymne au Soleil, Durufle motets, organ solo, Jean Langlais Messe Solonnelle (double organ). Soloists from choir. Organists: Neil Taylor, James Mitchell and Darius. There will be seating for the choir when we’re not singing (and for those who need it on the altar).
Tuesday 9 December 2025, City Hall. Halle orchestra live accompaniment to big-screen showing of the film “Home Alone”; we’ll sing the main theme and the in-film carols
Saturday 13 December 2025, 30, City Hall (SICS) Carol concert with Black Dyke Band, BBC presenter Josie D’Arby, programme to include a carol composed by Rachel Fright
Sunday 14 December 2025, 2pm cathedral, St Luke’s carol service – date confirmed
Friday 6 February 2026, 19.00, City Hall (SICS) Arvo PartLament with Manchester Camerata
Saturday in April/May – Come and Sing event – date to be confirmed
Friday 9 May 2026, Crookes Social Club, SPC Ceilidh plus Pie and Pea supper, date confirmed
Sunday 7 June 2026, City Hall, 16.00 (SICS) Elijahwith Halle conducted by Matthew Hamilton

*SICS = concert is part of the Sheffield International Concert Season

Darius concerts

See Darius’s website at http://www.dariusbattiwalla.com/concerts/concerts-2025.html

Reminder – what to do if locked out of the website

If you are unfortunate enough to be locked out of the website (usually due to typing in the wrong password three times), rest assured – it is set such that you can try again after just 5 minutes! The user name and password are at the top of every weekly update, including the short version that goes out by email.

Rehearsal tracks from Choraline

If you purchase rehearsal tracks from Choraline, please note that we have a discount of 20%. To claim, use code SHEFF and type ‘SINGER’ in the discount code on the basket page. If ordering by telephone, quote these when asked.

Singing opportunities

All up-coming opportunities for singing locally are on the Chorus website, along with a list of wider singing opportunities compiled by Phil Harrison and provided by John Morgan, in the Members Area, Information, Singing opportunities.

What’s On

Classical Sheffield’s website lists all local concerts: https://classicalsheffield.org.uk/events

What to do if your contact details change

If any of your contact details change, including address, email or telephone number, please send a message to to ensure that your details are amended on the Membership database and that you continue to receive the weekly update.

Weekly updates, Chorus & Classical Sheffield websites/passwords, WhatsApp

If ever you don’t receive the weekly update, please read it on the website at Members Area / Weekly Updates.

The Members Area lists rehearsal details, rehearsal notes and links to recordings, concert and re-audition arrangements, as well as dates for the following season, our official stage procedure, Darius’ rehearsal schedule, how to look after your voice etc.

The Chorus WhatsApp group is at SPC Social. Please don’t post personal or music-related details about other SPC members or ex-members without their permission!

Contact emails

These are all listed at Members Area / Chorus Contacts

SPC Update for Sunday 29 June 2025

SPC Update for Sunday22 June 2025