Autumn term begins: 03/09/24
Half term break (no choir): 29/10/24
Autumn term ends: 17/12/24
Christmas concert date: TBC
Soul Full of Sunshine
Soul Full of Sunshine: Our summer concert in Cerne Abbas, 2024
Summertime was celebrated in Cerne Abbas this July as Kathie presented her adult choir, Cloud 9 Chorus, along with Wessex Music children’s choirs Skylarks and Nightingales and Cerne Abbas First School choir, Hummingbirds, at our summer choral concert! Also featuring special guests Waterfolk, this upbeat, joyful programme gave a taste of gospel, pop and folk songs old and new, all in aid of children’s charity Mosaic, supporting bereaved children.
Photos: Jane Tearle
Upton Country Park
June 2023
Cloud 9 Chorus performs at Upton Park in June
We were blessed with beautiful sunny weather for our first performance as Cloud 9 Chorus at Upton country Park walled garden on June 3rd this year.
Visitors to the park enjoyed a picnic on the lawns whilst listening to a variety of choral music. Also featuring Poole-based choir the Quayside Singers, the programme included well-known pop songs from the last few decades, as well as original music from local composer Geof edge, and a selection of Ukrainian songs.
Join us and sing your way into Christmas!
If you’re new to singing and would like to get into the festive spirit, now is a great time to join one of Kathie’s choirs! We will soon be beginning our Christmas repertoire – songs both familiar and new – and we would love you to join us! The music we sing is accessible to all: there’s no need to read music and every ability level is catered for. Come for a free taster session to Viva or Heart & Soul and sing your way into Christmas! Contact Kathie for more details.
Singing at Henge Fest ’22!
Viva!, Heart & Soul and DCH choirs were honoured to be invited to sing at Henge Fest in Maumbury Rings this July. Along with the Quangle Wangle choir and lead by composer Geof Edge, the choirs performed 7 pieces from the Dorset Songlines project.
Henge Fest was a great success, with a wide range of activities for all ages, delicious refreshments, and local goods and produce for sale. We would love to take part again next year!
The choirs sing at Henge Fest, Maumbury Rings
Holocaust Memorial Day Film
In the new year, Viva rehearsed and recorded Imagine by John Lennon, as part of a film collaboration to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day on the 27th of January.
To commemorate the event for 2022, Dorchester Town Council and the South West Dorset Multicultural Network, with the support of Dorset Council, worked with the local community, Kushti Bok, and several Dorset schools to create a short film made by Pageant Productions, to reflect on this year’s theme ‘One Day’.
You can watch the video here: https://youtu.be/LJJjaqIK1yg
Adult Choirs Term Dates: Spring 2022
Viva! term dates:
Thursday 6th January – Thursday 7th April
***No choir on Thursday 24th February (half term holiday)***
Heart & Soul term dates:
Tuesday 11th January – Tuesday 5th April
***No choir on Tuesday 22nd February (half term holiday)***
DCH Choir term dates:
Wednesday 12th January – Wednesday 6th April
***No choir on Wednesday 23rd February (half term holiday)***
Adult Choirs Term Dates: Autumn 2021
Viva! term dates:
Thursday 2nd September – Thursday 16th December
***No choir on Thursday 28th October (half term holiday)***
Heart & Soul term dates:
Tuesday 7th September – Tuesday 14th December
***No choir on Tuesday 26th October (half term holiday)***
DCH term dates:
Wednesday 8th September – Wednesday 15th December
***No choir on Wednesday 27th October (half term holiday)***
When Time Lost Its Edge
Members of Viva! The Dorchester Women’s Choir during a recording session at The Lighthouse Arts Centre, Poole in July 2021. We performed When Time Lost It’s Edge, a song commissioned for a nationwide Covid themed project composed by Karen Wimhurst. Viva performed alongside members of the Dorset County Hospital Choir, students from Thomas Hardye School, the BSO community Chorus and Karen’s choir , Palida.
Our performance and others from around the country can be watched using the following link:
www.asongforus.org
Virtually Viva!
Singing together even when we’re apart…
When choir rehearsals were understandably cancelled due to social distancing measures, we were imagining weeks of solo singing into hairbrushes, warbling in the shower, and chirruping into the ears of our locked-down family members.
But! Thank you Zoom app! And thank you Kathie for being determined to keep us together. Because now we have a way to meet up every week and sing our hearts out simultaneously, even though we’re scattered across Dorchester and beyond!
Although on Zoom we can’t all hear each other at the same time (we would go crazy!) we can learn our parts bit by bit with Kathie’s instruction, and then practise the songs in overlapping harmonies as we become more familiar with the music. In addition, Kathie has chosen recordings of some of our old favourites (Somewhere Only We Know, Hard Times and Amazing Grace, to name a few so far) that allow us to individually sing layered above the entire choir harmony, giving a real feeling of togetherness.
If you haven’t joined us yet on Zoom, come and give it a try! Keeping that feeling of singing together as a choir is such a mood-booster and when we ‘un-mute’(!) at the start or end of the session the usual Viva chit-chat and laughter ensues! If you’re not sure how to work Zoom, drop Kathie, Wendy or Caroline an email and they’ll be happy to guide you.
Look forward to seeing you all again this Thursday, at 7pm (our new regular time whilst ‘virtual’!).
Viva Women’s Choir Commemorates Holocaust Memorial Day
Viva Women’s Choir were honoured to be asked to return to sing at Dorchester’s Holocaust Memorial Day Event this January 24th.
Viva sang No More Silence, a folk song by The Burns Sisters.
Held at the Corn Exchange, the theme of this year’s commemoration was ‘Stand Together’, and the event included readings and presentations from Sunninghill Preparatory School and The Thomas Hardye School.
Read Dorchester Echo’s article on the event here.
Viva Term Dates – Spring 2020
Thursday 9th January – Thursday 13th February
No choir on Thursday 20th February (half term holiday)
Thursday 27th February – Thursday 2nd April
Heart & Soul Term Dates – Spring 2020
Monday 6th January – Monday 10th February
No choir on Monday 17th February (half term holiday)
Monday 24th February – Monday 30th March
Viva big/small hall timetable January 2020
Here is the hall timetable for Viva rehearsals at the Silver Band Hall:
Jan 9th: Small hall
Jan 16th: Big hall
Jan 23rd: Small hall
Jan 30th: Big hall
Feb 6th: Big hall
Feb 13th: Small hall
Feb 20th: Half term holiday, no rehearsal
Feb 27th: Small hall
Mar 5th: Big hall
Mar 12th: Small hall
Mar 19th: Big hall
Mar 26th: Small hall
Apr 2nd: Big hall