25 Choirs in Leicester

Loros have organised a 25 year anniversary concert which will be held tomorrow in Birstall, Leicester. 25 local choirs will be singing for 25 minutes each from 2.30pm - 9pm at Longslade Community College in Birstall.

The entrance fee is only £2.50 you can come and go as you please, stay for as long or as little as you like. Refreshments and a raffle and all proceeds go to Loros. Get on down there and enjoy some singing!

Brant Broughton Festival

If you don't make it to Glastonbury this summer then look no further than the Brant Broughton village festival. This year the residents of the village have organised a one-day event that includes live acts from across the country, workshops, real ale, activities for the youngsters. And all for under £15!

Visit the website for further inforamation.

Join the Summer Sundae Festival Scratch Choir

For the first time audiences flocking to this year’s Summer Sundae Weekender festival can take to the stage, as part of a specially commissioned festival choir. Festival audiences will rehearse on the Friday and Saturday, with participants then performing a handful of well known songs to a packed comedy tent on the Sunday. The choir is led by local voice practitioner Hannah Brine and is suitable for anyone with a love and interest in singing.

Taking part is easy. Register by the 9th August 2010 by sending an email with your name, contact details, and a list of any previous singing experience to summersundaechoir@gmail.com. Places are limited. For more details: www.summersundae.com

Working with young people?

The government has announced that it has put on hold plans to launch the new Vetting and Barring Scheme in England and Wales next month.

Until further notice, there will no longer be a requirement either for individuals working with children and vulnerable adults to register with the new scheme, nor for employers to verify the status of employees and volunteers on the register. This was originally intended to become a legal obligation for new employees and volunteers from November 2010, and for existing employees and volunteers from August 2015.

Instead, the current system whereby organisations use the CRB disclosure service in England and Wales to conduct criminal records checks for individuals working with children, in association with other child safeguarding measures they might implement as part of a wider policy, will continue to apply.

For further information click here.

African Sanctus at Derby Cathedral 10th July

The Derbyshire Singers will be performing a really exciting looking concert at Derby Cathedral next month. The chosen piece is David Fanshawe’s internationally acclaimed “ African Sanctus”.

The work blends elements of the Latin Mass & Anglican Liturgy with traditional African music based on unique recordings Fanshawe collected while hitch-hiking down the Nile from Egypt through Sudan, Uganda and Kenya to Lake Victoria in the early 1970’s.

The composer says that: “ After meeting a remarkable African of the Luo tribe named Mayinda Orawo – the ‘ Hippo Man ‘, he decided to change the title of the original work to ” African Sanctus “ (Holy Africa) The ‘Hippo Man’ represents the symbolic figurehead of all the legends and myths of Africa, at the same time he represents Africa as it is today – a changing world and one that I want to praise in my music”.

Tickets: £16; concessions £14; !8yrs and under £7 from Natural Choice, Ashbourne 01335 346096,(cards accepted) and Geoff Stevens, Matlock 01629 583630 or on the door.