Very sadly, given the public health situation, it has been decided that the Society needs to suspend rehearsals with immediate effect and cancel our forthcoming concert on April 4th. This is to protect members, audience and other performers. It is not possible at the moment to predict when we will be able to resume but we will keep you up to date with any developments. The ‘Singalong Social Evening’ (and practices for it) are also cancelled.

Fortunately the scores for St.John Passion belong to the Society and so there is no need for their immediate return. Please keep your copy safe so that it can be returned when we resume. Who knows we may be able to sing St.John at Easter 2021. We appreciate that there are other practicalities which will now need to be sorted but we are on the case. Our activities are insured through Making Music and we are checking this against cancellation in these unusual circumstances.

It is important that this message gets out to everyone, so please could you check with your usual contacts within the choir that they have seen this email as we don’t want anyone turning up on Wednesday, and convey our apologies to any potential audience members. It is certainly a time for remembering others, so please sustain contacts even if we are not physically getting together at the moment.

Best wishes. Take care and keep safe.

P.S. This is not the first time that the Society has had to postpone a concert. A performance of the Verdi Requiem Mass was due to be given on 17th February 1979 but the weather prior to that date was so bad that neither the orchestra or the soloists were able to guarantee to reach Sunderland. It went ahead on 1st April 1979.

Alongside our musical activities, the Society is required to have some specific policies to encourage good governance and ensure that we meet some legislative requirements. These cover Health & Safety, Safeguarding, Equal Opportunities and Data Protection & Retention.

All of these policies have recently been reviewed and updated. To ensure that all members have easy access to these policies, please find below links to each of the policies :

BCS Health and Safety policy

BCS Safeguarding Policy

BCS Equal Opportunities policy

BCS Data Protection and Retention Policy

If any member of the Society has any comments, concerns or suggestions then please raise them via the Secretary.

From Wednesday 11th March 2020, the remaining rehearsals for the St. John Passion concert will start promptly at 7.00 p.m. We look forward to seeing you at that time.

Please note that our next rehearsal on Wednesday 4th March will start promptly at 7.15 p.m. To allow for this change the ‘singalong’ group will also start earlier at 6.30 p.m.

Our rehearsal on Ash Wednesday – 26th February 2020 – will take place at Sunderland Minster between 8.30 p.m. and 9.45 p.m.

Please note that this is different to previous arrangements and that there will be a service taking place in the Minster before our rehearsal, so please avoid disturbing that by arriving early. Due to the short timescale there will be no coffee break on that evening.

Just in case you can not put your hands on the rehearsal schedule for the St.John Passion please find a copy below – which was correct at publication but may be subject to amendment as rehearsals progress:

Date                                    To be rehearsed
January 8th      Chorus Number 1 plus Chorales No.3 and 5 and 11
January 15th     Numbers 2a and 2b
January 22nd   12b Chorales Numbers 14 15 Choruses 16b 16d Chorale 17 Chorus 18b                                                                 Rehearse Chorus 21b 21d 21f Chorale 22 Chorus 23b 23d 23f
January 29th    chorus 25b Chorale 26 Chorus 27b Chorale 28
February 5th     Aria no.32 Chorale 37 Chorus 39 And Chorale 40
February 12th   Chorus 1, 2a, 2b Chorales 3 and 5
February 19th   Chorale 11 chorus 12b Numbers 14 15 16b 16d
February 26th   Chorale 17 Chorus 25b Chorale 26 Chorus 27b Chorale 28 Aria 32
March 4th          Chorale 37 Chorus 309 and Chorale 40
March 11th         Rehearse all of part 1
March 18th        Rehearse all of part 2
March 25th       ???
April 1st 7.30    Rehearse All
April 3rd 7.30   Rehearse All
April 4th 2pm   Rehearsal (Full)
7.30 p.m.  Concert

Rehearsals will start again in the New Year on Wednesday 8th January 2020.

Please could you try and be there a little earlier so that scores for St.John Passion can be sorted out to allow a prompt start at 7.30 p.m.

We look forward to seeing you then.

Looking for more copies of either the flyers or the postcards for the December 2019 concert? Please use the links below.

https://bishopwearmouth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Dec-2019-postcard_edited-1.jpg

https://bishopwearmouth.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Dec-2019-Flyer_edited-1.jpg

This year’s AGM will take place on Wednesday 4th September 2019, starting at 7.30 p.m. in Sunderland Minster. Scores for the new works will be available from 7.00 p.m. and the AGM will be followed by the first rehearsal of the new season.The Agenda for the meeting is attached to the beginning of the minutes – and links to a copy of the minutes as either a WORD document or as a PDF file can be found below :

BCS AGM held 5.9.2018

BCS AGM held 5.9.2018 PDF

It has been agreed that verbal reports will only be heard at the meeting from the Chairman, the Treasurer, and the Musical Director. Links to the other usual reports will be published here as soon as they are available so that members can check their contents and raise questions at the AGM if applicable.

PATRONS’ OFFICER’S REPORT 2018-2019

Concert Manager report 2019

Feedback BCS Summer Outing for 70th birthday Celebrations DL

There will be a choir rehearsal on Wednesday 3rd April 2019 and then a break before rehearsals are resumed on Wednesday April 24th.