Reflections for Remembrance Friday 11th November 2011
On Friday 11th November at Ellon Parish Church a service; “Reflections for Remembrance” was held. Using song and word, members of Ellon Parish Church led by the Ythan Singers reflected on remembering those who had given their lives and suffered while serving in the Armed Forces. The music included Fauré’s “Cantique to Jean Racine”.
This beautiful music has captured many audiences and on Friday that was no exception. Kim Leonard followed with “The Green Fields of France” by Eric Bogle.Accompanying herself on guitar, her clear soprano voice held the congregation with the poignant tale of Willie McBride who died in WW1. The main feature of the service was the beautiful and evocative choral suite of Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace”. The basis of this contemporary work is a 15th century French song “L’homme armé” and was commissioned by the Royal Armouries in 2000. In this piece Jenkins reflects on war and peace in a multi-cultural global society.
The Ythan Singers gave full justice to his the choral suite. The “Kyrie”, which requests divine blessings in Christian tradition, opened with a soprano solo sung by Hazel Wilkins followed by the Sanctus; an upbeat song of ecclesiastical praise before the ominous “Hymn Before Action”. Here Karl Jenkins has combined the powerful imagery of the words of Rudyard Kipling with a sweeping melody. Both the ‘Agnus Dei” and the “Benedictus” begin with the sopranos of the choir singing the haunting refrain before the sound is swelled by the whole choir. Between the choral suite movements were readings taken from the full version of “The Armed Man”.
The choir also sang a contemporary setting of Psalm 8 by Johnson and Fettke “The Majesty and Glory of Your Name” and John Rutter’s arrangement of the American Hymn “Amazing Grace”. The service ended with the Ythan Singers singing John Rutter’s beautiful “A Gaelic Blessing”. The choir was conducted by Morag Paton and accompanied by Rosemary Lund on piano and organ. There was a collection for “Help the Heroes”. The Ythan Singers would like to thank all who attended and helped to make Friday’s service such a special, beautiful and sincere service.
Ythan Singers Concert: Saturday 7th May 7.30pm 2011 7.30pm, Ellon Kirk Centre
To a packed audience in the Ellon Parish Church Kirk Centre the Ythan Singers held their annual charity concert “Hits from Stage and Screen”. Taking the audience on a musical journey from the 1930s through the decades to 2000s the concert opened with Judy Garland’s world famous number, “Over the Rainbow”, from the “Wizard of Oz”; beginning with a solo by Jean Stevenson before the 4-part choir joined in.
Moving on to the 1940s brought rich numbers from the many Rodgers & Hammerstein productions and members of the audience were spotted singing along to “You’ll Never Walk Alone”! Carole Fox continued with this theme singing “Hello Young Lovers”. The 1950s were represented with songs from “My Fair Lady”, “West Side Story” and solos from Christine Cruikshank; “Que Sera, Sera” and Sheila Craggs; “Climb Every Mountain”. The choir opened the 1960s with a medley of songs from that much loved musical; “Oliver”.
Moving ever forward through the decades the 1960s and 70s saw the rise of the Disney cartoon films, musicals by Andrew Lloyd Weber and rock musicals; one of the more memorable songs from this era “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” from “Jesus Christ Superstar” opened with a solo by Anne Whalley before the ladies joined in with 3-part harmony. The 1990s and 2000s was an era of more film music where Hazel Wilkins opened the song “Non Nobis Domine” from “Henry V”, Kim Leonard led the “Riverdance “song “Home and the Heartland” and the whole choir sang “My Heart Will Go On” from perhaps the most memorable film of this era; “Titanic”.
The concert closed with the rousing and evocative “One Day More” from “Les Miserables”. The Ythan Singers would like to thank all the audience for their support and of course their conductor Morag Paton and accompanist Rosemary Lund. The concert raised over £700 for the charity Parkinson’s UK.
“30 Years of Music”
On Friday 21st May the Ythan Singers held their Annual Charity Concert celebrating “30 Years of Music” as the group was formed in January 1980. This celebratory concert was given to a packed audience in the Kirk centre, extra seats having to be put out to accommodate the audience. The Ythan Singers was born when a group of singers from local churches planned a performance of Stainer's "Crucifixion" for Easter 1980. The Musical Director was Gerald Hill. From these performances, the Ythan Singers were invited to sing at other events. In those early years there were several Musical Directors; David Taylor, Jane Grime and Alison Young however the present Musical Director, Morag Paton, took over in 1988 and has been with the choir ever since. Rosemary Lund, a founder member, has been the accompanist throughout the whole period. Speaking at their annual end of year dinner founder member, Carole Fox said that “little did the small group of singers who came together in 1980 envisaged that the choir would grow from strength to strength with many engagements each year including the May charity concert and a Christmas concert”. She went onto say that “the concert had a particularly warm feel and buzz about it as evidenced by the smiles on the audiences’ faces”. Of course the Ythan Singers at the dinner acknowledged the important roles that Morag as conductor and Rosemary as accompanist play in leading and guiding the members over all the years and their stand-in conductor and pianist Alison Stephen was also presented with a gift.
The programme for the concert was chosen from the large repertoire of music the Ythan Singers have sung over the 30 years. It opened with “There’s No Business like Show Business” and included songs from shows, Scots songs, and numbers from Joni Mitchell and Madonna; “Both Sides Now”; “You Must Love Me” and quieter more reflective music by John Rutter. Founder member Jean Stevenson showed her talent not only as a singer but as a flautist playing solo passages in Don Besig’s “Flying Free”, Karl Jenkins’ “Adiemus” and in Hazel Wilkins’ solo “Nel cor piu non mi sento”. Solos were also performed by Carole Fox; “If I Loved You” and Sheila Craggs; “Music of the Night”. The concert ended with a Rogers and Hammerstein medley featuring several of the Singers singing solo lines. This medley included most appropriately The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, I’m gonna wash that man right out of my hair sung by the Ladies and a fine rendition from the men There is Nothin’ like a Dame. It ended with Carousel’s famous song You’ll Never Walk Alone.
The choir would like to thank the Parish Church for use of the hall and all the audience who made the evening worth while and who helped the Ythan Singers raise £850 for their chosen charity; UCAN, Urological CANcer.
13 December 2009 "Christmas Cheer" Christmas Concert
To a packed audience in The Ellon Parish Church, Kirk Centre the Ythan Singers sang their hearts out during their Christmas Concert "Christmas Cheer" on Sunday 13th December 2009. The singers were rehearsed and conducted by Mrs Morag Paton and ably accompanied by Mrs Rosemary Lund. The concert began by inviting the audience to enjoy this "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" and was packed with delightful songs and carols; “Winter Wonderland” “Goin’ On a Sleigh Ride”. “Ring Dem Bells” “Cradle Song” “The Holly and the Ivy”, “The Huron Carol” and the "Nativity Carol" and more. Jennifer Strachan and Hazel Wilkins sang John Rutter's duet for two soprano voices “Angels’ Carol” and there were further solos from Carole Fox; "The Little Road to Bethlehem" by Michael Head and Carol Addison; "Shine in Us" by Schaeffer and Fettke . The ladies of the choir sang “Tell Out the News”, "Winter Wonderland", and "Patapan" with Jean Stevenson on flute. The audience also had a chance to participate by joining in the Zither Carol and the Calypso Carol.
The concert ended with the audience singing or humming along with the singers to “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow” and dreaming of a “White Christmas”.
At the end of the concert singers and audience mingled together enjoying festive fare of mincepies and shortbread, tea and coffee. The Singers are delighted to say that their concert raised £429.80 for the Salvation Army.
22nd May 2009-"Music In May" Summer Concert
The Ythan Singers sang to a packed audience on in Ellon Parish Church Kirk Centre. Their concert, "Music in May", opened with that toe-tapping number "Those Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer", bringing instant delight to the audience.
This concert covered a wide variety of musical styles from show songs to Scottish songs, new movie songs and ended with four selections from Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas. Solos were performed by Carole Fox singing Ivor Novello's "Music in May", Jennifer Strachan sang an arrangement of "The Rowan Tree" by Morag Paton accompanied by Rosemary Lund on Piano and Jean Stevenson on Flute, Sheila Craggs sang "Summer Time" from Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess" and Alison Craven sang the solo part in "On My Own" from "Les Miserables".
At the concert Carolyn Snedden, a representative for Marie Curie Cancer Care, spoke for a few minutes about the work of the charity which has been chosen by the choir to receive the proceeds. A raffle was held during the interval and raised about £200 for the charity. The concert was conducted by Morag Paton and accompanied by Rosemary Lund.
The choir will now take a break from rehearsals for the summer and begin again in late August 2009.
29 March 2009-Howe Trinity Parish Church
“An Evening with the Ythan Singers”
On Sunday 29th March 2009 the social committee of the Howe Trinity Parish Church, Alford, organised “An Evening with the Ythan Singers” to raise money for educational materials for Cambodia and Malawi.
The Ythan Singers began their concert with Handel’s glorious opening chorus from the Coronation Anthem “The King Shall Rejoice” followed by Howard Goodall’s “The Lord is My Shepherd” and John Rutter’s “For the Beauty of the Earth”. Carole Addison then took the stage for the first solo of the night singing an unusual piece by the American singer and composer, Mosie Lister; “A Storm Now and Then”.
Showing the wide variety of their music the Singers then moved to a Scottish selection of many well known tunes which got the audience tapping their feet. The second solo of the evening was “The Water is Wide” sung by our current chairperson Anne Whalley, who reminded the audience that the minister John Cook and his wife Alison had been members of the Ythan Singers, when John had been minister at Foveran and indeed the choir had sung at their wedding in Foveran Parish Church.
The concert moved on to popular songs including “You Raise Me Up”, made famous by Westlife. Returning to sacred music the choir sang two excerpts from John Rutter’s “Requiem” beginning with that glorious piece for soloist and choir “Pie Jesu”. The soloist was Jennifer Strachan.
Hazel Wilkins performed the third solo returning to Handel and singing the lyrical soprano solo “How Beautiful Are Thy Feet” from the “Messiah”. The final section was songs from the shows and the concert concluded with Howard Goodall’s beautiful and peaceful arrangement of the hymn “Love Divine”.
The concert was conducted throughout by Morag Paton and the accompanist was Rosemary Lund.
In his vote of thanks John Cook thanked the choir for a “wonderful concert” and “for bringing joy and peace to the audience”.
8 March 2009-Concert at Cruden Old Church, Cruden Bay
“Sacred Music for Spring”
Ythan Singers ready to commence the performance
The Ythan Singers held a concert of sacred music on Sunday 8th March. The concert covered many centuries of music as it included the beautiful 18th century music of George Frideric Handel; The Coronation Anthem, “The King Shall Rejoice”. Entering the 20th century the choir sang, “The Lord is My Shepherd”, by Howard Goodall, the words of which are taken from Psalm 23 and made famous as the theme tune of “The Vicar of Dibley”.
Keeping in the 20th century the choir sang excerpts from the 20th century “Requiem” by John Rutter; the text of which comes from the Missa pro Defunctis, the Book of Common Prayer and the Psalms. The choir sang this wonderful piece of music with control and beauty, whilst the haunting melody “Pie Jesu” was sung by Jennifer Strachan.
Mrs. Morag Paton conducted the concert and the organist was Mrs Rosemary Lund. Recognising their hard work and dedication they were presented with planters full of Spring flowers by the choir.
There was a collection at the door for Christian Aid. At the end of the concert the Minister Roger Neilson said how he was sure he spoke for the whole audience in saying how much he had enjoyed the concert. He was particularly pleased to hear Jennifer singing the solo, as it was not too many years ago since he had encouraged her to join Cruden Church choir. He was delighted to hear her reach much higher – well at least to A flat!!
18 February 2009 Concert at St. Andrews Church Guild, Fraserburgh
On Wednesday 18th February, the Ythan Singers presented a concert to the Guild of St Andrews Church, Fraserburgh which encompassed a wide variety of music.
The concert began with a lively Scottish selection of the “Dashing White Sergeant”, “Mairi’s Wedding” and the “Uist Tramping Song”. However, no Scottish selection is complete without some songs by Robbie Burns; the choir sang “A Man’s a Man” followed by our first soloist, Carole Addison singing “Mary Morrison”. The concert continued with songs from the twentieth century; “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell, “Where Peaceful Waters Flow” by Mary Donnelly and “You Raise Me Up” made famous by Westlife. The second soloist for the evening was Hazel Wilkins opening the show section with the beautiful song “The Way You Look Tonight” by Jerome Kern. This section included “Who Will Buy” from Oliver, “Tell Me It’s Not True” from Blood Brothers and ending with that fast tongue twister “The Rhythm of Life” from the Broadway musical Sweet Charity.
However it is no doubt that what brought the house down was Carol Fox’s rendering of “The Egg” which was first performed in the 1920s by the Fol-de-Rols Concert Party. This song tells us the fate of an egg cooked for breakfast, cleverly interweaving recognisable tunes and told so dramatically by Carol.
A Spokeswoman for the Guild commented “that the music had been uplifting, a truly enjoyable evening”.
In January 1980, a group of singers from local churches planned a performance of Stainer's "Crucifiction" for easter of that year. Subsequently, the performance was repeated at three different churches during the year. As invitations to sing at other events came in, the Ythan Singers was born. At that time the Musical Director was Gerald Hill followedby David Taylor, Jane Grime and, for a short time, Alison Young. The present Musical Director, Morag Paton, took over in 1988. Rosemary Lund has been the accompanist throughout the whole period.
Photo by kind permission of Edward Bartlett
The repertoire of Ythan Singers is varied, from oratorios and other classical music, folk music especially Scottish, songs from the musicals and semi pop music.
Although based in Ellon, Ythan Singers performs in venues within resonable travelling distance within Aberdeenshire and sometimes outwith the area. The venues are varied ranging from Churches, National trust properties, sheltered housing units and residential homes.
Unless otherwise stated the contents of this web site are Copyright of Ythan Singers which is a charity registered in Scotland, Number SC038223. Where copyright is held by others, its use within this web site is with the copyright owner's prior permission. Should you have any comments or suggestions, please contact Ythan Singers or the Webmaster.
In January 1980, a group of singers from local churches planned a performance of Stainer's "Crucifiction" for easter of that year. Subsequently, the performance was repeated at three different churches during the year. As invitations to sing at other events came in, the Ythan Singers was born. At that time the Musical Director was Gerald Hill followedby David Taylor, Jane Grime and, for a short time, Alison Young. The present Musical Director, Morag Paton, took over in 1988. Rosemary Lund has been the accompanist throughout the whole period.
