1) Renewing your membership
For those of you paying termly, registration for the spring term is now open at https://membermojo.co.uk/streathamchoral.
When you register, please check your personal details and indicate whether or not you plan to sing at our concert in Southwark Cathedral on 5th April.
Please note you should aim to attend at least 9 Monday rehearsals and the dress rehearsal on the day at the very minimum if you want to sing in the concert.
If you have any questions, please see the guidance here or email us at streathamchoral@gmail.com.
2) Paying subscriptions
Please also arrange the appropriate payment for the spring term (£60 full, £40 concession, £90 family, £60 family concessions). Please note for this term this doesn't include your tickets. Details of how to buy your Southwark Cathedral concert tickets will follow.
As ever, if you have any issues paying your subscription at this time you can speak to our Treasurer, Carol, in the strictest confidence at carolharrison9@gmail.com. We never want to leave people out who may be experiencing financial difficulties.
You can pay in cash, with a cheque made payable to 'Streatham Choral Society', or do a bank transfer, for which the SCS details are: Account Name: Streatham Choral Society Sort Code: 40-52-40 Account Number: 00033798 Reference: Surname followed by as much of your first name as there is room for eg SMITH ALICE - or if paying for more than one member, just surname(s) eg JONES or BROWN&MACMILLAN
Please note: Should you get any message from your bank indicating they are not able to verify the account details of our bank, CAF Bank, please rest assured that the above bank details are tried and tested.
3) Before Monday's rehearsal
Please arrive at St Leonard's a little earlier than usual in time to sign in, receive your music, and start warming up at 7.30pm.
If you'd like to listen to the St. John Passion in advance, this version is the closest to ours: https://open.spotify.com/album/1ald2OWvZmc8VaIyEY1yW6?si=5zsk-9YzTuOsbswoMvamvg
Just for your information, we will be signing the Barenreiter version of the St. John Passion.
4) Music Theory classes
We will be resuming the Music Theory classes which were so popular last term. Please see below a message from Sam with more details on what these classes will cover...
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It is that time of year when we start thinking about New Year Resolutions and so you may be relieved to know that I will be running theory classes again from Jan 2025.
There will be 10 sessions, broadly covering the ABRSM Grade 2 theory (and some of the Grade 3) syllabus with some focus on how this theoretical knowledge can be used in practice; i.e. examples of concepts will come from the St. John Passion we are studying next term. The sessions will work on the basis that attendees are of a Grade 1 standard but are open to all - you do not need to have attended this term's theory sessions. If you are not sure of your standard, you can find a sample grade 1 theory paper here and the answers to it here (ignore the front cover, it won't take 1.5hrs!). A mark of 60 or more would demonstrate a good understanding of Grade 1 concepts.
Wider Notices
1) Family subscription rate
At its last meeting, the Committee voted to abolish the Family rate subscription from September 2025 onwards. We remain committed to concession rate memberships and other case-by-case/occasional discounts as we do not want to exclude anyone for financial reasons. Anyone currently with a family membership will be asked to transfer to 2 standard or concessionary memberships as appropriate in September 2025, or to discuss with Carol if this is an issue.
2) Waiting list
For capacity reasons, Robin is currently managing a first-come-first served waiting list for the choir. Please let him know at streathamchoral@gmail.com if you leave the choir, so that your place can be offered to someone else. If we haven’t heard from you or seen you for 2 consecutive terms, we will reach out to you to find out whether we can offer your place to someone else.
3) Changing Voice Parts
To help us with managing capacity, please check with your voice rep and update MemberMojo before changing voice parts. Look out for signup sheets for more voice part check sessions this term to make sure that you are in the right section.
4) Workshop Day - Saturday 25th January We will be holding our annual Workshop Day at St Leonard's Church and Church Hall, and will have the same structure as our previous Come & Sing Days. We will be working on excerpts of the St. John Passion, and we would love to see you there! More details on this will follow soon.