Comments

BBC Proms 2009- Messiah

A huge well done to those of you who sang 'Messiah' at the proms last night, and all of you who came to sing in the afternoon. The whole afternoon was brilliant, and the chorus for Messiah was sensational - just google it to read the reviews! - Eleanor Duta

Many thanks for your comments

London - BBC Choir of the Year Winners

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Thanks to all our fabulous singers for rehearsing so hard.
Thanks to all the hardworking committee members.
Thank you to all those who travelled to London to support us and cheer us on.
Thanks to all the former choristers who have sung their hearts out to keep this choir going over 85 years.
Love to all Sue Hollingworth.

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A rather belated congratulations to you and the choir on your win at the Southbank in December. I wasn't able to be there for the real-time performance (frustratingly was working just 5mins away) but have heard your performance on the TV and again on iPlayer - yes, listened twice, it was fantastic!

Best wishes for 2009, and especially for anything that the Junior Choir get up to following their success1

With best wishes

Jim

(James Davey)

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Hi Sue,

I just wanted to say well done for Radio 3 Choir of the year! What a fabulous achievement & so well deserved... My mum called me to tell me you were on tv, so I managed to record it & Ive just watched it today!

A great performance....& you had some really good competition, so that makes the win even better! Some of the other choirs put up a good fight, but, as Mary King said, you were the best ad for the joy of singing she'd ever seen!

I have known Mary for many years & praise from her is as good as from anyone.. she really knows her stuff & has great ears!

I remember our concert together, 2 years ago with great affection & especially the sense of enjoyment that was there in all of your performances as well as the top class singing & also the attention to detail, not only in the singing but in the great choreography too!

I havent done a concert in Grimsby since then, as Id been doing them annually, more or less, for about 10 years & I felt it was time for a break.....but Im planning on doing a similar one in December 2010.

I dont know if I told you, but I was in the Swingle Singers for 6 years in the 1980s & I know about the discipline required in, but also the joy of singing together. In fact we used to sing Gaudete in our early music section for quite a while, so it was lovely to hear that again!

Scunthorpe Co Operative Junior Choir is an excellent example of making music at a high level & Im proud to have had you as my guests... I hope you will be willing to join me again in the future.

Very best wishes & many congratulations to everyone, especially to you Sue...success always comes from the shop floor, but is always led from the top.You so obviously lead with a strong hand but with a great sense of fun & great musicianship, which is rewarded with obvious respect & loyalty.

The choir is a real credit to you.

Happy Christmas & a very Happy New Year,

Michael x

www.michaeldore.com

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I have been living in Bristol since getting married in December 2005. I am teaching at Westbury Park Primary School and run a Year 1 and 2 choir. I perform in Bristol Light Opera Group and perform each year at the Bristol Hippodrome. I hold very fond memories of my time in the choir and want to thank Sue for being so inspirational!

Carol Horton

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I've just watched the choir's deserved victory on BBC4. Mixed choirs of young people are becoming increasingly rare. I work in music education north of the Humber, and your achievement is an inspiration.
Incredible.
David Wood

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I am a former member of the choir ( I joined about 19 years ago ) and was in the choir when they first entered 'Sainsbury's Choir of the Year' and remember the excitement as if it were just yesterday. You should be very proud of yourselves and we are all very proud to be associated with SCJC. My school choir are making their premier performance at the school Carol service on Monday so I will be singing your praises to them! Well done!
Carol Horton ( Nee Nightingale )
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We were absolutely thrilled to hear the choir's fantastic performance on the radio and overjoyed that you won the competition. "Gaudete" was electrifying. It is the most brilliant achievement and we know how hard you have all worked to get to the top. Well done to everyone and bravo to Sue, an inspiration to us all. We'll be glued to the TV on Friday for the "visuals". Scunthorpe should arrange a tickertape procession and you should be splashed all over the front page of "The Scunthorpe Telegraph".

Caroline Clemmow and Tony Goldstone

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I had a fabulous day on Sunday. The standard of competition was strong but SCJC were amazing. Well done everyone!
Joanne Blades

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Well done to all of you. Your performance was stunning both on Sunday and on the Radio. I'm looking forward to Friday to seeing it all over again without the nail biting! Also a big thankyou to Sue and the Committee for all the hard work and dedication in giving our children the most amazing experience that they will always remember and cherish.

Jill Galloway

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Congrats from a Voice Squad supporter..

Well done, if it wasn't going to be us, I would have voted for you.

It's great to see a choir win that looked fun to be in !!!!

Richard Slade

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I am one of the 'Mrs Cottontowners' so was in the audience on Sunday supporting our guys. I'm not in the least surprised that you won because your performance was outstanding! Congratulations to you all, you are very worthy winners.

Our mens and ladies barbershop organisations also promote singing for young people so you might like to see what our girls and boys are doing too. There are links to their sites on the Cottontown website.

Good luck to you all and have a wonderful 2009 !

Catherine Gregory

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Another message from a Cottontowner! Many congratulations Super performance and result for all you young guys. what a fantastic auditorium and occasion it was for all the choirs to perform. when you've finished with the waistcoats perhaps you'ld let us know. we could get them altered and freshen up our black tuxedo's. (Ok, no smart remarks about the lack of material to cover us older singers!!)

Enjoy your rein.

Kind regards

Mike Blundell

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As a patron of the choir I am delighted at your well deserved success. What a privilege to be in London and share in the occasion. I have followed the choir's activities since my daughter was a member and will always treasure the memories of the choir trips to Australia and Canada. My late wife he was a Committee member and instrumental in organising both visits. Sadly she died in 2005 but I know how thrilled she would have been at Sunday's outstanding performance. A wonderful achievement by all concerned! Mr Richard Faulkner

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What a wonderful achievement, well done to all concerned,your performance was brilliant and unique, as a grandmother i am obviously proud but also very impressed.
Sue I take my hat off to you,to coordinate and train 85/90 youngsters and achieve that performance is in this day and age a truly brilliant achievement.You all deserve a Civic Reception to honour the sucess and achievment. Well done so good to see them all so happy and proud at such a young age and so well behaved. Excellant!! Bravo!!
Diane Miller

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I have just read the article in today's Scunthorpe Telegraph and would like to add my congratulations to Scunthorpe Co-operative Junior Choir on being crowned BBC Radio 3's Choir of the Year 2008.

Seasons Greetings to you all.

Councillor Liz Redfern
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Hi- just wanted to say a huge congratulations to you all for your win on Sunday. You must have been tired but you lot from sunny Scunny lit up the stage. You were outstanding and I only wish I could have sung with such a choir when I was your age... but I don't think they had them in the stone age.
Well done - you were fabulous!
Duncan Smith (a singer with Cottontown Chorus).
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Tremendous; a brilliant performance by one and all all the hard work paid off [looking forward to Christmas for a rest]

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What a great contest, it was wonderful to hear so many young children enjoying music and song.

They were a real pleasure to listen to.

I send my congratulations to you all.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a Happy Christmas and continuing success in the New Year.

Your in Harmony,

Tony Smyth, Treasurer,

The Cottontown Chorus

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Well done on a magnificent performance. Thoroughly enjoyed watching you on stage and you proved worthy winners!

Keep up the good work

Alasdair Rankin

Cottontown Chorus

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Congratulations for yesterday - you were absolutely stunning. You've all worked so hard and after 14 years of trying have finally won the competition, so well done! So many people who used to be in the choir are really proud of you. Really looking forward to seeing you on TV on Friday!

Grace Hollingworth
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Congratulations on a truly stunning performance at the Choir of the Year Grand Finals yesterday. You were worthy winners and I know my chorus enjoyed watching you immensely. Keep up the good work and we look forward to seeing and hearing you again soon.

Neil Firth MD Cottontown Chorus

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Well done everyone! We all had a fabulous time at the Festival Hall. Thankyou to Sue and all the helpers. It was a brilliant performance,pity the green eggs and ham thing went on for so long! Well done!

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What a excellent day we had on Sunday. It was a brilliant day and the children sang their hearts out. Sue deserves all the credit for her hard work, it all paid off.

The children would like to thank Lesley for the pizzas, potato salad and coleslaw which turned up for lunch.

The children are a credit to the choir and also the parents.

We will be catching up on our sleep all week.

Ann Wood

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I was one of the many who traveled to london yesterday to support the choir and I must say what a brilliant day it was, not only their performance which was fantastic but their behaviour was excellent, despite the hard and tiring day.

Well done you deserve it for the hours of rehearsal you have put in, also the hard working committee not forgetting Sue Hollingsworth for her leadership.

I have two grandaughters in the choir and I feel very proud of them.

Congratulations.

Beryl Heaton

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Just wanted to say congratulations on the results yesterday at the Royal Festival Hall - you did a fantastic job and were great to watch. I was in the audience there with the rest of the Cottontown Chorus. We really enjoyed our day, and I'm sure you enjoyed yours! I'm now looking forward to hearing it again on Radio 3 tonight and watching us all on telly on Friday.

Simon Pedley, Cottontown Chorus

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A big well done to all connected with the No 1 choir in the country.

Thoroughly deserved.

Regards Cll Tony Gosling
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Hi, I just wanted to say congratulations for winning the choir of the year. You all deserve it so much. Well Done. I am really pleased for you.

Clare Wheat (now Gooing)

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CONGRATULATIONS!!!! BBC Radio 3 Choir of the year!!!! How does that sound? Yet again you were all absolutely fantastic in every way and once again a credit to all!!!The audience loved you and obviously the judges too!!Congratulations to Sue, you've waited a long time for this, to all the young people in the choir, to the committee for their work behind the scenes and a big thank you to all those who came to support us!A fantastic day with some treasured memories!!!

Maggie Doherty
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All our congratulations on winning today the BBC choir of the year competition. We are so proud of our 2 girls and of the whole choir. Our deapest thanks to Sue to have guided and nuture all our children. This is an acomplishment that will stay with them for ever.

Alexis Demaude

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Liverpool - BBC Choir of the Year Open Category Winner - November 2008

A big thank you to all our choiristers!After an extremely early start and very long day they all performed brilliantly and were a pleasure to be with. Their behaviour all day was exceptional and they were a credit to their choir, their town and their parents.Thank you also to Sue for her unstinting effort in all this and to various committee members who have spent weeks behind the scenes organising the trip.These events do not just happen without this sort of committment and support.

"CONGRATULATIONS" to all! I am sure these young people had a fantastic day!

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Huge congratulations on winning Open Choir of the Year! I was at Liverpool on Sunday, and thought that both your performance and the piece you had devised and obviously worked so hard on were wonderful.

I saw in your biog in the programme that you're planning to do Noyes Fludde next year. Please could you let me know when and where? It's a work that I love (and haven't seen - I sang it in Chester when I was 10), and I have a feeling yours is going to be fantastic!

Best wishes for the Grand Final!

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Congratulations to everyone that was involved with the choir of the year on Sunday. I was one of those parents/chaperone that went on that early bus and the kids were a credit to everyone and the parents should be so proud that they performed the way they did after being up so early. I am just glad that i am involved and will be able to enjoy the atmosphere with them at London. We are a good crowd and it will take some beating.

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What a shear delight the choristers were on Sunday. They were so well behaved they were a credit to all. They did not moan despite having to walk around Liverpool in the cold and rain. They put their hearts and souls into the day and came up with a performance that had me and others around me in tears. They were perfect, listened to everything that had been said and nailed their performance which left the judges not knowing what else to say but that they were "perfection". The hall erupted when they were announced as winners and rightly so they thoroughly deserved it, head and shoulders above everyone else - and that is not just bias it is the truth. Many congratulations to Sue who has given her life to getting them ready for this competition.

Now we are going to go to London and god willing we will nail that performance to. The choir deserves it. Again WELL DONE and CONGRATULATIONS to all choristers, Sue and the Committee for all their hard work.

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