Verdi Requiem Rehearsals
Please note that the rehearsal on Tuesday 16 July will be in Malvern College Chapel, College Road, and the rehearsal on Thursday 18 July will probably be in Big School, Malvern College, College Road. Both rehearsals will start at 7.00 pm not 7.30 pm.

Summer Concert 22 June

• Music Folders: None of the music we are performing fits in the old MFC smaller folders so please do not try to stretch the elastic loops around hired scores as this will damage them. Please only use the new MFC larger folder or no folder. Everyone sitting in the front row must use a new folder. These are available from Bridget.

• Cleaning Scores: Please let Bridget know if you are able to help cleaning hired scores. If you are singing Verdi's Requiem in Birmingham, this would be the easiest way to return cleaned scores to Bridget.

• Concert Day Arrangements: Please be in the auditorium for the dress rehearsal by 2.00 pm. The rehearsal should end around 4.30 pm. Please be in the upper bar of Malvern Theatres by 7.00 pm for a warm up prior to the performance. Bridget has MFC scarves and bow ties for anyone who needs one.

End-of-season Social - Wine and Cheese Garden Party
This will take place on Saturday 27 July at 6.00 pm at Bridget Corlett’s, Deblins Green. Bridget has a marquee so the event will be weatherproof! Volunteers to help erect the marquee would be welcomed. The event is for all MFC members, their family and friends and is an opportunity to meet other choir members in a relaxed, social situation. Tickets are £10 which includes the first two glasses of wine or soft drinks and a generous selection of cheese and other nibbles.There will also be a raffle, bottle tombola and sale of cakes and books. Donations for these can be given in advance or brought on the day. Tickets are available from Bridget at rehearsals or via e-mail: bridget.corlett@btinternet.com or moss.thomas@btopenworld.com. It would be very useful to know numbers by a week before, for catering and seating arrangements.

Come and Sing event, Saturday 7 September, Great Malvern Priory

• Thank you to everyone who has taken registration leaflets to pass to friends and members of other choirs. Please take more!

• Our first rehearsal of the 2019-20 season on Tuesday 3 September will be an Open Rehearsal and we will be rehearsing the works to be sung at this event, so please encourage visiting singers to come and join us on this date.

• The cost of the event for MFC members is £5.00. Please register with our Treasurer, Mike Tweedie.

• We will be hosting an afternoon tea for all singers between the rehearsal and the concert and would be most grateful for contributions, anything from home-made cakes to a punnet of cherry tomatoes. Bridget has a list of suggestions and would be delighted to hear from you either at rehearsal or by email bridget.corlett@btinternet.com.
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​​​​​​​AGM
Because the first rehearsal in September will be an Open Rehearsal, the AGM will take place on Tuesday 10 September 2019 at 7.00 pm, followed by a normal rehearsal. Further details will be sent out via email during the summer break.

Centenary Season 2019-20
Please look out for emails during the summer break as we will be keeping you updated with our plans for our Centenary year. Please also keep visiting the website as this will be the best place to find the latest information.

• History of Malvern Festival Chorus: Marion Couston has been writing an update to the original history of the choir from 1980 to the present and we are hoping to publish this as one volume from 1919 to the present in the autumn term as part of our Centenary celebrations.

• Next Season Brochures​​​​​​​​​​​​​​: Brochures for our Centenary season are now available and will be handed out with the concert programmes on Saturday. They will also be available for members to take and give to friends and people who may be interested in joining the choir or our audience at concerts.

If you have any suitable contributions for the weekly raffle, please could you bring them to the dress rehearsal on Saturday.

Rehearsal Venue
Please note that with effect from Thursday, 20 June, all remaining rehearsals will take place in St Edmund's Hall, Malvern College, rather than in the Chapel. The start time remains unchanged at 7.30 pm. Please ensure that you park on the road, not in Malvern College grounds.

June Concert Programmes
Programmes for our June concert will be on sale at next week's rehearsals, price £3.00.

Come and Sing event, Saturday 7 September, Great Malvern Priory
Registration forms for the first event of our Centenary Season, our Come & Sing, are now available. Please could you distribute as many as possible to your singing friends or members of other choirs you belong to before the summer break.

Bring and Buy, 21 May
This event raised £107.80. Particular thanks go to Bridget and Marion for setting up the event and to everyone who brought and bought.

Verdi Requiem Rehearsals
Rehearsal dates are given under Notices 19 March 2019 below. All rehearsals will be in Malvern College Chapel. The Chapel is accessed from College Road and is located at the far end of the campus from St Edmund’s Hall. We have been given permission to park in the parking area to the side of the chapel.

All rehearsals will start at 7.30 pm but scores will be given out from 7.00 pm at the first rehearsal on 6 June.

The first rehearsal after half-term on 4 June and all those for the remainder of the season will be in Malvern College Chapel.

• Concert Tickets: Heather will have tickets for sale for the June concert at next week's rehearsal. Please try and sell as many tickets as possible.
• Concert Posters: Posters publicising the June concert are now available at rehearsal. It would be good if these could be displayed in as wide an area as possible to encourage potential new audience members. Please take some to help publicise the event.
• Rehearsal Schedule - The list of pieces to be rehearsed at each rehearsal from now until the concert is given on the Rehearsal Schedule webpage. To access it, click on the green Rehearsal Schedule button at the bottom of this webpage. Please use this to consolidate what has been rehearsed and to practise what will be covered at the next rehearsal, as well as to catch up if you miss a rehearsal.

• Heartstart training: There are still places available for anyone interested in learning to use a defibrillator and associated skills. Training will probably not take place before September. Please sign the list on the Notice Board table at rehearsal or let Edwina know if you would like to be included.
• Bring & Buy: There will be a bring and buy of, primarily, plants and produce in aid of choir funds before rehearsal on Tuesday 21 May at The Chase School. The event will start at 7.00 pm.
• ​​​​​​​End-of-season Social - Wine and Cheese Garden Party: This will take place on Saturday 27 July at 6.00 pm at Bridget Corlett’s, Deblins Green. Bridget has a marquee so the event will be weatherproof! Volunteers to help erect the marquee would be welcomed. This is an opportunity to meet other choir members in a relaxed, social situation. There will also be a raffle and sale of cakes, plants and books
• Rehearsals after half-term: All rehearsals in June and July for both the summer concert and the NSSO concert in Birmingham Symphony Hall will be in Malvern College Chapel, College Road. Rehearsals will start at 7.30 pm as usual unless advised otherwise. Details of how to access the Chapel will be given nearer the time.

• Centenary logo: Thank you to everyone who submitted ideas. The Committee have made their decision and a graphic will be made up from the sketch. The logo selected uses our current MFC font style with the “100” added.

Extraordinary General Meeting, Tuesday 26 March
In a secret ballot, members voted unanimously to appoint Jonathan Brown as Musical Director now that he has completed a one year mutual trial period.

Centenary season membership / sponsorship drive
As mentioned in Notices on 19 March, a member list has been circulated for you to tell us about any organisation/school/business where you have a contact. We’re looking for sources of potential members and / or sponsorship. For example, they may have employees or colleagues that they would sponsor as members, or they may offer to sponsor us in exchange for concert tickets and publicity. Please add any information against your name if you can help.

• Thursdays 6, 13 and 20 June - time and venue to be confirmed
• Tuesdays 25 June and 2, 9 July - time and venue to be confirmed
• Tuesday 16 July - with piano and other chorus - Malvern College, time to be confirmed
• Thursday 18 July - with concert conductor and orchestra - Malvern College, time to be confirmed

• Chorus rehearsal - 11.00 am to 1.00 pm
• Concert start - 4.00 pm
• Verdi Requiem start - 5.00 pm
• Concert end - 6.30 pm

Centenary Season - 2019/20
Plans are well under way for our centenary season which starts in September. Here is a taster of ideas and events:

• Centenary Logo - Calling all artistic choir members, families or friends. The Committee would like to have a special centenary logo to use on all publicity material during the season. It will be used in a variety of formats and sizes. Please submit your suggested designs to our Secretary, Barbara Moss, in the next fortnight
• Open rehearsal, Tuesday 03 September 2019 - the centenary season will start with a rehearsal which is open to anyone who might be interested in joining us. Please encourage family and friends to come along and give us a try.
• Come and Sing, Saturday 07 September 2019 - following our very successful event in 2017, we will be holding a Come and Sing Faure's Requiem and Vivaldi's Gloria. More details to follow.
• Carols for All - our annual charity event will take place as usual in Great Malvern Priory on 28 December 2019.
• Worcester Cathedral - our spring concert will be a performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion in Worcester Cathedral on Saturday 14 March 2020. An event not to be missed!
• Gala Concert​​​​​​​ - our centenary season will culminate in a Gala Concert in Malvern Theatres on Saturday 27 June 2020.