Singing day with GGCC www.ggcc.org.uk Huge thank to hosts London School of Theology www.lst.ac.uk

Famous New Zealand love song. Pokarekare Ana was originally written in 1912 as a bid to win the heart of Paraire Henare Tomoana's beloved, Kuini Ripeka Ryland. Paraire had fallen in love with Kuini but her family refused to Give their blessing to a marria...  this).getParent().getNext().style.display='';$(this).getParent().style.display='none';">moreFamous New Zealand love song. Pokarekare Ana was originally written in 1912 as a bid to win the heart of Paraire Henare Tomoana's beloved, Kuini Ripeka Ryland. Paraire had fallen in love with Kuini but her family refused to Give their blessing to a marriage between the two. A lovelorn Paraire composed Pokarekare Ana in which he vowed his eternal love. He declared this passion by singing Pokarekare Ana at Te Poho-o-Rawiri Marae to Kuini in front of her Ngati Porou elders. The family was won over by his convincing performance and granted him their daughter's hand. How placid are the ripples of restless Waiapu, Dear they know of your returning, from far across the sea. Dear Heart of mine, I'll wait for thee, My love is thine alone, to eternity. this outdoor performance was the culmination of a six-week project which creates a choir from scratch for one night only. Each winter and summer, Chris Rowbury gathers a random bunch of singers from in and around Ipswich. There are no auditions and all s...    this).getParent().getPrevious().style.display='';$(this).getParent().style.display='none';">less

[The views expressed in this blog are from my personal experiences from 25 years of leading non-auditioned community choirs in the UK, as well as adult singing workshops. My focus is on teaching by ear using a repertoire of songs from traditions across th...

[this is a version of a post which first appeared on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   “Being able to make 40 people who do not know each other sing so well together was amazing”   “An excellent day proving that 50...

The Celestial City Choir wishes to invite all friends and love ones all over the world to join us to honor one of the great men in the Seventh-day Adventist Church Hymnal compoers. It will happen LIVE  this June. Please stay glue for more update

Today is a very special day for me because one of the most emotional and significant works in my repertoire, "I Will Dream With You," is premiering. I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to T.J. Harper and the Loyola Marymount University Concert Choi...

(A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog Choral Clarity) How do we measure success? this, of course, is a lifelong question that stares us in the face every day. this article is far less philosophical, but does perhaps pose a way ...

[A version of this article first appeared as a post on my blog From the Front of the Choir]   I caught a scene from the movie Spartacus the other day. The character played by Tony Curtis was asked to perform a song. He then proceeded to speak ...

Today, I received an unexpected blast from the past that brought back so many memories. Google reminded me of a beautiful drawing done by Alan for the cover of "I Will Dream With You." It's incredible how time flies because exactly one year and one day ag...

A couple of years ago, around this time of year, actually, I was having a particularly awful day. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say I was dealing with some pretty heartbreaking family drama, work was pretty crappy at the ...