I Ache All Over

One of the side effects of being in a social group like the Pink Singers is that you meet people who have other interests. Case in point: Celso, one of the new tenors, jogs with the Front Runners, and, partly out of politeness, I agreed last Sunday to give this group a shot with Johnathon. By yesterday afternoon I was already chickening out, but Johnathon, very slyly I might add, decided to call me while he was already on the way down to the meeting point.

Great.

I was comfortably sitting on the sofa with a nice cup of cha and the Simpsons on telly, but had to then pack my running gear into a bag and head down to the South Bank.

To cut a long story short though, I had a really good time. I haven't really run properly in years, but the stretch along from the Houses of Parliament to Tower Bridge is wonderfully scenic, especially in the failing light of a London autumn. Johnathon is a little more out of shape than I, but I was actually quite glad for the excuse not to run at the pace of the rest of the group.

The biggest appeal of such groups though, is the people, and I met some really wonderful members yesterday like Steve, Nicholas, Dylan and Toby. Interestingly, when we went to the pub later, all the new members sat together while all the older members congregated elsewhere. Thankfully, there were some who made the effort to come across and involve us, and conversation flowed smoothly.

It is a situation I noticed with the Pink Singers when I first joined all those years ago. This has changed over the years, and there is now a much larger contingent of gregarious souls who make the effort to engage new members. At the same time though, it really is a two way street: being a newbie means stepping outside your comfort zone (as Johnanthon likes to say) and requires you to reawaken the dormant socializing genes.

Really glad I went, and will go again tomorrow, and even on Saturday. I ache all over, but it looks like I've found a new hobby.

How Fast?

Week 2 and the new members keep rolling in. For some reason this season there seems to be a lot more interest than last year, and there is still one more week to go for potential newbies. I am always interested in finding out how people find out about the Pink Singers, and also why they join us rather than one of the other gay and lesbian choirs in London. It turns out the majority hear about us through Google (no duh!) and our website. Remarkably few have ever heard of us through any other route, and even fewer have come to our concerts. I guess that means lots of room for improvement in terms of self-promotion. As to why people would rather join us than the LGMC or Diversity, or any of the other fledgling choirs for that matter, well, the new members I’ve spoken to seem to think that we seem really friendly and fun (and we are!) and have a good mix of voices and repertoire (which we do!). I’m glad that comes across. At the same time London is large enough to sustain three major LGBT choirs with very different social approaches, management and vocal styles, so really, there is something for everyone.

At the pub yesterday after rehearsal I was speaking to one of the new members, and he was saying that he was amazed at how fast we go through the music. This is in comparison to his old choir which seemed to slog through the pieces. In contrast, I actually find our progress slow going. For a brief period in college I was in the Gilbert and Sullivan society, and you were expected to just pick up the sheet music and start singing – our musical director was horrible in that he’d pick you out if you hit a bum note. It really was needlessly stressful. Thankfully Mladen is a much calmer influence, and is a good combination of firm and fair. In addition to last week’s songs, this week we started learning Hymne a l’amour (refer to video of Edith Piaf at her finest above), You’ll Never Walk Alone (another of Michael’s outstanding arrangements) and Lacrimosa from Jenkins’ Requiem, for a total of six songs in a fortnight. Balancing the needs of different people in the choir, from those who can sight-read music to those who have never seen musical notation before, is a real problem, but I do believe that people who sing have a natural affinity for a melody so pick things up quickly, and the Pinkies do it at a pace which caters to the greatest number of members.

The other news is that Johnathon, whose birthday it was on Friday, has convinced me to join him on a run around the South Bank with the Front Runners. This is after a conversation with another one of the new members who also runs with that group. I used to run competitively, but it has been a while since I did anything of the sort, and I am woefully out of shape. This does sound rather appealing though, and jogging along the South Bank in the cold winter evenings has a certain Rocky Balboa-esque attraction for me. Once it starts raining, of course, all bets are off.

And So It Begins - Winter 2007

The new season started on Sunday. I hadn't been away to Helsinki, so for me the break from choir really was a break, and I was very keen to get back into the swing of things. Having been in the choir now for a number of years, and having missed just one season in all that time, I can safely say that one of my favourite times of the year is the start of the winter season. It is almost like being back at school again after the long summer holidays - you get to catch up with friends who have been away, see your old (double entendre) "teachers" again, and meet a whole slew of new faces.

In the last few years our little choir really has been growing. When I joined the Pink Singers were probably about 30 members, which would mean between 7 and 8 members per section. This year I think we are aiming for 8 members per voice. With 8 voices, that means a total of 64! Of course, the reality is that when it comes to the concert we will not have all 64 members on stage, but it does give us room to accomodate the inevitable cold or food poisoning on the night. At the same time, it is my strong belief that we should not get any bigger than that. At the moment everyone knows everyone else, and there is a strong sense of community in the Pinkies. The larger you get the more fragmented the choir becomes and we will lose the very element which makes us such fun to sing with.

On Sunday the first group of newbies came along. This is basically a chance for potential new members to get a feel for what the choir is about and whether they feel they would fit in. There was a tenor and several basses - which is a good thing because that section needs a bit of a boost, especially in the bass twos - and there were several women as well, a couple of new sopranos and altos. I hate to be an old fogey, but I remember when I first joined just how downright frightening it was, especially since I didn't know anyone. Things are quite different now, because everyone new joins at the same time, so they at least have each other in common, and the oldies are also much friendlier once they know a member is committed.

At the pub after rehearsal I had a chat with a guy who sang with Gloria in Ireland, and Andrew F found a compatriot in a guy who also hailed from Malta. Who would have thought it? They both professed to loving the Pink Singers, so here's hoping we will see them again.

One thing I was concerned about the last time was how terrifying an initial rehearsal can be. Last season we started off with Big Band Bash which is a complex piece with rather odd rhythms and harmonies. Needless to say, by the end of that first session we still sounded pretty painful. If I had joined for the first time I would have been put off. I am pleased to say that on Sunday, however, we started off with When I Fall In Love, a simple song which we pretty much nailed straight off. Then again, we also tried our hand at Come What May which has potential, but which we still managed to utterly slaughter. Can't let the newbies, or the oldies, get too complacent!

The Power of Pink

It is hard to imagine that in this day and age people still associate the colour pink with gay. Well, I guess kids still do, especially in the provinces. That said, here is a wonderful story from Canada about some salutory behaviour from two kids and how they combatted bullying.

Two Nova Scotia students are being praised across North America for the way they turned the tide against the bullies who picked on a fellow student for wearing pink.

The victim — a Grade 9 boy at Central Kings Rural High School in the small community of Cambridge — wore a pink polo shirt on his first day of school.

Bullies harassed the boy, called him a homosexual for wearing pink and threatened to beat him up, students said.

I won't give away the ending, but it is really quite heart-warming!

From Helsinki With Love

What? No post since Pride - time to rectify that...

We kicked off our winter season in style by performing in Helsinki with Europe's youngest gay choir - Out 'n loud. While most Pinkies flew there directly to take in the best of Helsinki, some of us took the scenic route by flying to Tallinn and catching the ferry to Helsinki. From all accounts, the night before the show was one to remember with Pinkies exercising their vocal cords as only the Pinkies can - by singing all night in a karaoke bar (gay, of course).

The day of our concert (Sat 15 Sept)dawned wet, dull and cold. Our rehearsal reflect the weather with Mladen tearing his hair out as we were all flat. But as the day brightened to reveal a sunny blue sky, so did our voices so by the time of the show we were raring to go.

Our host choir provided the warm up act by performing in the first half. Stepping onto the stage to rapturous applause, we knew we were onto a winner. We kicked off with Fancies, and followed up with the classical section.

After a brief interlude of Nathalina and Carol provided the audience with an amusing take on a Brit learning a foreign language, the rest of the concert flowed effortlessly. "Love Song For A Vampire" hit new peaks and "This Woman's Work" was a treat especially for one of the Helsinki choir members who declared this his favourite song. "Abba Pink" brought the house down and we closed the event singing a joint song in Finnish with Out 'n loud (a song about ducks and being by the water). The audience was hugely appreciative and the reception we received was heart warming.

We trooped off to a bar-come-sauna afterwards for some entertainment. While some Pinkies warmed themselves in the sauna, others were dancing to the perpetual stream of Eurovision songs blasting from the speakers. As Adam said "...all the songs sound the same..."



However, Andrew F seemed to know every word to every song... What more could a Pinkie want except to go clubbing afterwards - so while Hercules was being explored by the men, DTM was being invaded by the women.

The next day found just Ben and Liang accompanying our single Finnish host Jaakko (hope I spelt this correctly) on the proposed city tour. I guess everyone else was just too tired or partied out... Later on, a number of bleary eyed Pinkies were seen at the airport checking in and waiting for their flights home.
We had enjoyed marvellous hospitality, experienced a Finnish sauna and tasted a Finnish sandwich (chemical) cake.

Thank you Nathalina for getting the ball rolling and thank you Tanya for completing the organisation. Roll on Paris...

PS. I mustn't forget to thank Lynne for her endless organisation energy, Mladen for conducting us fabulously, Michael for his tireless nimble fingers and Andy for his wonderful arrangements.

Looking Back On Pride

In the build up to Pride I found myself watching the weather forecast hoping for a fine and sunny day (nothing to do with eye candy). As the day dawned and started to rain, I felt we would be lucky just to get a break never mind sunshine. Not to be put off, I attended the parade and was heartened to see lots of people lining the streets watching and celebrating with me.

Our spirits were not dampened by the weather and the atmos- phere was great. And it was wonderful to see representations from the various Forces who received applause as they progress down the march. I later joined the rest of the Pinkies in Trafalgar Square as we prepared to sing to the masses. Backstage, the handsome John Barrowman soon found himself beseiged by Pinkies as we crowded round for photos.

Finally on stage, it was fantastic to see such a big crowd under a sea of umbrellas in the pouring rain as we belted out our number "Big Band Bash" - maybe "Don't Rain On My Parade" would have been more appropriate! The highlight of our performance was when John Barrowman started singing with us (well - it was for Carol as he was standing next to her). The crowd was supportive and we have to say well done to Lynne for organising this not to forget Mladen and Michael for their usual expertise in getting us through the song.

Wimbledon was a washout as usual but I suppose we'll have a water ban later in the year as our old and leaky pipes drain all the water from our systems. Oh I forget, it's the wrong type of rain for filling the system. However there is hope on the horizon with the streets of London being dug up all over the place apparently to replace our pipes. No doubt, they'll be dug up again next month to replace cables followed by gasworks the month after...

For me this long and enjoyable day ended with a quiet drink at my local with a handful of friends - one of whom had his last cigarette indoors before the smoking ban came into force - hurrah!

Fire And Brimstone, And A Kwik-E Mart

As you may know there have been a number of freakish storms this last week, resulting in the flooding of the area around Sheffield. I was due to travel up to Leeds last Tuesday but had to cancel since the country was effectively cut in half with road and rail networks down. For me it was just an inconvenience, but for the people who actually live in the area, it was pretty much a disaster, and my sympathies to them.

Of course, most people will see the events as little more than an unfortunate collision of weather systems... but not if you can get some publicity mileage out of it! Yesterday the Rt Rev Graham Dow, Bishop of Carlisle said that

This is a strong and definite judgment because the world has been arrogant in going its own way... We are reaping the consequences of our moral degradation, as well as the environmental damage that we have caused... The sexual orientation regulations [which give greater rights to gays] are part of a general scene of permissiveness. We are in a situation where we are liable for God's judgment, which is intended to call us to repentance.

How does such intolerance like this still exist in the 21st century? I know I was somewhat surprised at the slightly militant quality of the Deep C Divas performance at our summer concert, but I guess that because I live in the cosmopolitain and progressive bubble that is London, I have forgotten that such attitudes live on our doorstep.

I think it is time for something to perk me up, and what better than a real-life Kwik-E Mart with a shiny life-sized Apu behind the counter?

Singing In The Rain

Well done Pinkies - another splendid Pride performance on the main stage!

Despite the rain, the Pinkies continued as normal:

Lynne was everywhere at once, organising us all with her customary efficiency and remaining patient throughout. Surely for our 25th anniversary next year we should consider presenting her with an inscribed silver clipboard?

While Lynne toiled over a soggy clipboard, some of the choir were able to help out by doing a little networking . . .


Mladen excelled himself by conducting our entire performance using his umbrella. This made him much more visible for the tenors, middles and basses at the back. Thanks Mladen!

And as for the singing . . . we were fabulous of course! See you all on the main stage for Pride 2008!