Step into Christmas 2023

What a fantastic concert. Nicola told us to have fun and enjoy it and we did! Judging by their response the audience did too. Thank you too, to the pupils from Holmfirth High School for their festive contributions to a very enjoyable occasion.

Christmas singing

Choir members have been singing Christmas carols around Holmfirth in support of the local community. Lots of us came along to sing at the Civic Christmas Fair, and small groups took turns to sing in the Co-op on Saturday 9th December. The money raised was shared between two charities: Holme Valley Mountain Rescue and Bernado’s. Choir members are also had a lovely time singing carols at the Christmas meeting of Square Peg in Holmbridge on Wednesday 20th December, and at the Fleece, Holmbridge on Friday 22nd. Thank you, Shirley for the splendid supper afterwards.

Christmas Wreath making

On 28th November 25 members of Vocal Expressions and guests gathered at New Mill Club for a demonstration of sustainable Christmas wreath making by Helen Green, an experienced florist, now based in the Holme Valley. Helen took us through the stages of wreath making, using locally foraged greenery, and recycled materials, and produced the beautiful example (the one with the large red ribbon) pictured here. Wreath making kits were for sale including everything needed to make your own wreath at home, with proceeds going to St David’s Church organ restoration fund. Some of those produced by members are pictured here.

After the demonstration refreshments were served and there was great support for the Christmas tombola, raising a combined total of £103 for VE’s charity ‘Holme Valley Mountain Rescue’.      

Sing Your Heart Out!

Our first ‘Sing Your Heart Out!’ evening, last Thursday - a free session open to any ladies who wanted to come along and sing with us - was a great success. So many turned up that we ran out of chairs and music, and nearly didn’t have enough refreshments to go around! It was wonderful to see such enthusiasm.

What a fantastic evening! It was uplifting to hear so many voices just singing together for sheer enjoyment, and as usual Nicola made it great fun. Everyone left with a smile on their face, and some people enjoyed it so much that they are coming back to a proper rehearsal this Thursday, and may decide to join Vocal Expressions. We hope so.

We will be holding more ‘Sing Your Heart Out!’ evenings in 2024 ( March and June), so keep an eye on this site and our Facebook page for further dates.

Bengal Spice Social & Fund Raiser

It was good to get together on October 10th and enjoy an excellent meal at Bengal Spice, Holmfirth. As well as being a very good social evening, the event raised funds for choir, and proceeds from the the raffle raised another £74 for our chosen charity, Holme Valley Mountain Rescue. Many thanks to Bengal Spice for delicious food and donations a prize for the raffle. Thanks also go to the choir social group for organising this enjoyable event.

Wedding 27th August 2023

Ten members of Vocal Expressions were delighted to join with the congregation, singing the hymns, at the blessing of the marriage of Gillian and Danny at Hepworth Church. A super couple and a lovely wedding. We wish them every happiness for the future together.

Gillian and Danny are making a donation to VE’s chosen charity this year - Holme Valley Mountain Rescue - in recognition of our contribution to their wedding.

The choir has raised £1, 046 so far this year and there are a few more fund raising events to go.

Concert, Cake & a Cuppa

What a lovely, entertaining afternoon. This was our first concert with our new MD, Nicola Mills. A baptism of fire for us all, as Nicola only joined us 5 weeks ago! Everyone rose to the occasion; the choir sang really well, Nicola performed some solos (wow what a voice) and Lloyd played too (he’s so good) and there were splendid solo and group performances from choir members. All this and delicious cakes and tea to follow. The hall was full to bursting and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make the afternoon a great success and to everyone who came along to this enjoyable event.

Goodbye Kate

On 25th May Vocal Expressions said a sad goodbye to Kate, our Musical Director, for the past 4 years. We would like to thank her for keeping us going through lockdown, working hard to help us improve as a choir, and introducing us to some lovely new music, by young female composers, which we really enjoy singing.

We wish you a very happy and successful future, Kate.

Sing into Spring - May 2023

Our final concert with Kate at the helm was a great success. Our guests the Mastersingers were fantastic, the audience was both numerous and appreciative, and VE rose to the occasion, putting on a fine performance. The concert raffle also raised £251 for Holme Valley Mountain Rescue. Thank you to everyone who contributed beforehand and on the night, and a special big thank you, Kate, for working so hard to improve our singing, for seeing us through lockdown, and for the beautiful music you have introduced us too. Good luck in everything you do in the future.

Residential Workshop February 2023

The choir held its annual workshop at the Red Lea Hotel, Scarborough on 10th-12th February. as you can see we worked hard to learn some lovely new music selected for us by our MD, Kate. As usual we also enjoyed socialising together in the breaks and at our Saturday evening dinner, when we were entertained by choir members and played some hilarious games. Thank you to our Social Secretary, Sandra, who once again organised everything impeccably so that we could have a productive and fun weekend.