News & Events
Forthcoming events:
2010
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Jan 14th, 21st, 28th, Feb 4th,11th,18th – Free Learn to Sing course
find out more -
Jan 22nd – Club annual dinner
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Feb 13th – Quiz, Aston on Trent. Guests welcome.
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Feb 19th – Social evening with Grand Central Chorus
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Feb 25th – Recruitment night / fuddle
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May 15th – Member’s ‘noughty’ birthday party
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August 14th – Member’s wedding
November 2009, Selston Music Festival
Gem Connection won the Barbershop class and were the overall winners of
the festival, gaining 90marks out of 100 and the following comments from the
judge:
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“Exceptional presentation – every singer was fully involved and ‘living’ the music.”
“A very polished performance with real pizzazz!” -
“Very clean chording throughout, and again, lots of attention to detail. good use of dynamics.”
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“Overall: a very accomplished choir, with terrific blend, balance and flair.
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90 Outstanding (adjudicator has only given this level of mark twice in the last 5 years)
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Outstanding = An exceptional performance, both technically and artistically
October/November 2009, Cheltenham – Convention
See and hear our best performance ever and see action photos of our performance and party afterwards! in the Gallery.
September 2009
Our member, Kim’s, wedding. See the picture in the
Gallery.
May
2009 Derby Arts Festival
Gem had a successful day’s competition, winning the Ladies Barbershop
section and coming joint first in the Concert Class along with the Dale
Divas
March
2009 Holland, European Convention
Our eventful trip started with the bus breaking down at 2 in the morning on
the motorway and a 2 hour wait for a replacement! The ferry ride took place
in a gale and our hotel was situated miles from the competition venue. But
nothing deterred us from smiling and singing all the way there and back! It
was a terrific trip. See the pictures in the Gallery.
November 2008 GEM Connection win Silver medal at national competition
Gem Connection members were thrilled and VERY proud to be awarded
the Silver Medal for their performance of Happy Feet and If I Give
My Heart To You at the LABBS Convention in Harrogate on November 1st
2008.
Proud Chorus Director, Rachael
and Musical Director, Lisa, hold our silver medal trophy and a bag of silver
medals, one for each chorus member. The photo was taken at our celebratory
dinner on the evening after the contest.
Listen to our performance
Happy feet
If I give my heart to you
Gem Connection also shared the Phoenix prize for the best small chorus, together with two other choruses – Silver Lining and the Abbey Belles. Three choruses joined together for this photos.
Three happy choruses
More
photos can
be found in the Gallery.
May 2008,
Gem Connection Celebrate 10 years of Singing, Harmony and Friendship
Gem Connection celebrated their 10th birthday at the beginning of May, the
chorus being formed in 1998. Our name, incidentally, is derived from the
fact that the chorus members come from the (Great) East Midlands area, and
they connect with people through their singing.
Many of the small group of original members are still in the chorus and the founder Chair of the chorus, Trish Hanson, joined us in the celebrations and looked back on our development and achievements over the years in a heart warming address to the chorus. She also presented gifts to our two directors. Later, the original members sang their first ever song, My Foolish Heart, to applause from the remaining chorus members.
The beautiful iced celebration cake was made by one of our very talented members and the decorative feature atop it was made up with 10 sparkling stars, one for each year, and a tiny crystal bead to represent each member. Thanks to Jan Jones for this lovely and loving gesture. This was duly washed down with champagne while tributes were made to our hard working Musical and Chorus Directors and many others who work to make the chorus such a success.
Needless to say there was also lots of singing and speechifying and a great evening was had by us all, leaving us feeling fortunate to belong to such a wonderfully friendly and supportive group of women. Roll on the next 10 years! More photos can be found in the Gallery.
May 2008,
Gem Connection Get Involved In the Race for Life
On a hot day on
May 20th, most of the chorus joined thousands of runners in
Darley Park, Derby to take part in the Annual Race For Life to raise funds
for Cancer Research. Every one in the chorus had various experiences of the
disease, either personally or indirectly through family and friends.
The number of supporters for all the race runners was truly amazing and members were moved by the various messages of dedication printed on the runners’ tee shirts and on the memorial wall which was where the race both started and finished. Before the race started a warm up session was conducted with an instructor on the stage helping every body to’ loosen and limber up.’
The chorus gathered at the start and appropriately opened with the song ‘Happy Feet’ before setting forth. Our local radio station featured this on their broadcast of the event. The distance of five kilometres was just right, with the chorus stopping to sing Love Eyes Medley half way through. It was decided that a walking pace was the best for the majority, so that they would have enough air to sing.
Although the fittest members ran the last kilometre, all other chorus members crossed the finishing line together, again singing ‘Happy Feet’ and were each awarded with a medal and a goody bag containing ‘girly stuff’- nail varnish, body lotion, tanning cream and an energy drink.
Afterwards the chorus picnicked in the sun, joined by family and friends. Iola, one of the lead singers, also celebrated her birthday. The fabulous sum of around £2500 pounds was raised by the chorus, in what was a truly worthwhile venture. More photos can be found in the Gallery.
February
2008, Annual Chorus Dinner
At the beginning
of February the chorus put on their glad rags for their annual event to dine
in style. The meal was fabulous and the company and fun even better. After
the meal we sang for our supper, the staff coming out from the kitchen to
enjoy the impromptu entertainment.
As we had taken over the whole of the downstairs dining room the applause came from the diners upstairs, some coming down to see us. One lady was celebrating her 70th birthday with her sons and was thrilled when we sang Happy Birthday to her, followed by more songs. She said it was the best birthday she had ever had and couldn’t get over it!
The octet and a quartet then sang to complete the entertainment and we all went home in great spirits, happy to have spent an evening full of fun, friendship and song. There’s nothing so uplifting to the spirits! More photos can be found in the Gallery.
Convention 2007
At the end of
October Gem were thrilled and proud to become the 4th placed
chorus out of 32 choruses at our annual LABBS competition in Bournemouth.
This was our highest placing ever and with positive and encouraging comments from the judging panel we are determined to work hard during the coming year to try to improve our scores in 2008. We have two weekends of coaching booked for the start of the year and plans for more to follow.
Listen to
our performance
Love Eyes Medley
If I Give my Heart to You
More convention photos can be found in the Gallery.
May 2007, Derby Arts
Festival
A polished performance by GEM Connection
On May 12th this year Gem were the proud
winners of no less than four cups at the Derby Arts Festival.
In the Barbershop class we were awarded
the Watkins Harmony Cup and given a distinction by the judge, Julia Dewhurst,
who was impressed by our “impact in energy and the smooth roundness of our
velvety sound”, She commented that “not only did our vocal performance
glitter but the stunning costumes too.”
In the Ladies Choir section we won the May Selby Memorial Cup and were
commended for our “professionalism and our sense of total artistic abandon
and platform poise from start to finish”.
We were awarded the Miriam Harding Memorial Rose Bowl for our Concert class performance, where we gained 88 marks, putting us once again in the Distinction category. And finally, the Joyce Wardle Memorial Trophy was awarded to us for our ‘outstanding’ category mark of 90, the highest of the day. The judge, who had a good understanding of Barbershop performance, said that we demonstrated “visually and orally impeccable work…and an infectious sense of communication.”
Two of our newest members performed with
us for the first time at the festival and were awarded their sparkling GEM
brooches, as is our custom. It was a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding day
for us all. see
more pictures
For details or enquiries about any of the above please contact a member of the committee.
2006
Gem Connection placed 6th at
National Barbershop Convention
GEM Connection competed in the annual Barbershop Convention in Harrogate on
November 11th this year and were proud to be placed 6th out of 21 choruses,
receiving their highest scores ever. Listen to our
performance.
During 2006 we also:
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performed at a range of sing outs and have more planned
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starred in our own very successful show, entitled Feel the Love
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received some high quality coaching from an American Barbershop Chorus Director … and are working hard to achieve a good placing at our Convention in Harrogate in November.
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2006 has also seen the re-launch and updating of our website.
2005
In 2005 we recorded our first CD , competed and came
second in our category, at the
International Eistedfodd in Llangollen and had our amazing singing trip
to Buffalo, New York .
Gem Connection
sweep the board at Selston music festival
On Saturday 27th November 2004, Gem won first place in the choir challenge
as the most outstanding choir. We then went on to compete against the most
outstanding pianist, instrumentalist, soloist or duetist and were awarded
the Frank Whatton Memorial Trophy for the most outstanding competitor.
Gem
come fifth at LABBS convention
2004
Gem competed against 38 other LABBS choruses in Harrogate on Saturday 13th
November 2004 and were placed fifth best chorus in Britain.
Triple triumph
at Derby arts festival for second consecutive year!
Gem Connection competed in the Derby Arts Festival on Saturday 22nd May 2004
and came away with a handful of trophies for the second year running!
Gem collected the "Watkins Harmony Cup" for Barbershop Class; the "Miriam
Harding Memorial Cup", for the Concert Class; and the "Joyce Wardle Memorial
Trophy", for the choir gaining the highest total mark of any class in the
Adult Choir section. Despite a slightly depleted audience due to the FA Cup
Final, a great day was had by all, and congratulations all round.
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