ABOUT US
The Maidenhead Community Choir is a friendly and inclusive choir for all singers, old and young, experienced and novices and from all musical backgrounds.
The choir meets each Tuesday night at 7.00pm at our new venue at the Maidenhead Salvation Army in central Maidenhead, for an hour and a quarter of music and fun. There are no auditions, no need to read music and the emphasis is on singing for the sheer joy of it.
The repertoire reaches from Gospel, Swing, Barbershop, Folk, and Musical Theatre to Pop and Rock. Although this is a light-hearted choral group there is also work on vocal technique, musicianship and performance skills.
We believe in keeping music live, so Joy Reibl, our professional pianist is proficiently accompanying the singers. The choir is run largely in the aural tradition, therefore much is learned by ear, though actual sheet music will be provided for more complex pieces.
Our Facebook group allows interactive communication between choir members and rehearsal tracks are often provided online.
St. Piran's is the ideal venue for the choir where we rehearse in the beautiful chapel hall with the opportunity to mingle in the pub afterwards and meet new people. It has free parking.
Every year Tina invites a choral leader of a renowned choir who runs a workshop with the us, culminating in a joint performance.
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In the past ten years we have shared concerts and workshops with many amazing guests and choirs, including Steve V. King from The Drifters, Howard Jones and his Glorious Life Chorus, Karen Gibson of Royal Wedding fame, singer-songwriter Charlie Dore, a charity concert with Tina May and Laurie Holloway, renowned Rolling Stones tribute band The Rollin' Stoned, the distinguished London Adventist Chorale under Ken Burton, Reading Christ Church Choir and Reading Community Gospel Choir and many more.
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Some of the wonderful venues we have had the opportunity to perform at include Windsor Castle, Cliveden, the Southbank in London, Taplow Court, the Old Court in Windsor, Songs of Praise, and a guest performance in the opera 'Too Hotel to Handel' at Windsor Theatre Royal.
In 2012 we won the Biggs Cup for Mixed Voice Choirs.
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After running several successful retreats in Spain and Turkey, we are planning a further choir holiday in Tuscany, Italy in 2023 – stay tuned!
We have got more exciting plans! Find out more on our 'Calendar' page.
HOW TO JOIN
The choir has gone from strength to strength since Tina founded it in January 2010 and has currently about 30 members. We have space for 50 singers and welcome new members warmly. Men are especially welcome! There are no age restrictions.
Term times are published on the homepage and you can join during the first three rehearsals. The first session is a free trial, after that we would like to ask you to commit for at least one term. Participation in our concerts is always a highlight of the term.
We record all our performances which are done with a professional accompanist and not with recorded backing tracks.
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WHY TO JOIN
Choral singing has become a very popular activity with many choirs being started in the area.
The Maidenhead Community choir has gone from strength to strength in the six years of its existence with numbers increasing each term. We believe in:
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Being fully inclusive
-nobody is turned away, everybody is made very welcome
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Making singing fun
- people leave the sessions with a smile on their face
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Enjoyable repertoire
- we have a varied and exciting repertoire of folk, jazz, blues, gospel and musical theatre
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Singing well
- each session starts with a warm-up part to teach actual vocal technique and help the choir achieve a lovely blend
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Keeping music live
- There are no backing tracks in our choir but a skilled accompanist to play for the choir
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Making new friends
- Our social activities twice each term give ample opportunity to make new friends
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Being affordable
- Compared with other local choirs we offer excellent value for money
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Prestigious events
- All our concerts and activities are being held in beautiful surrondings. In the past we have performed at Taplow Court, Cliveden, Windsor Castle, and the Southbank.
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YOUR CONDUCTOR
Tina Reibl has worked as an enthusiastic vocal teacher, musical animator, mentor and workshop leader for 25 years.
After working as an educational consultant Tina traveled throughout the UK as a Teacher’s Trainer since 2006, both for leading private training companies and Trinity College London specialising in accelerated learning and vocal and choral training courses. Tina has recently retired from Trinity College as a Rock & Pop examiner and has since published a book about choir leading called ‘The Ultimate Book of Choral Warm-Ups and Energisers'.
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Tina directs Maidenhead's large Community Choir as well as working internationally on cruise ships as a choir mistress. Her assignments on various cruise lines have taken her on 13 wonderful journeys across the seven seas so far. From the Amazon to the Caribbean across Africa and the Arctic, Tina has had the joy of seeing the world on the wings of music!
Tina’s music sessions are invariably cheerful, energetic, inspirational and enjoyable.
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SOCIAL LIFE
As a Community Choir we aim to make the choir a happy and inclusive place where people can come to make new friends and widen their social circle. Our central rehearsal venue is situated by a pub where people can have a drink and a chat after choir and our social committee organises various activities and outings on a regular basis.
We enjoyed a big Christmas party, have had meals out and enjoyed a walk. A wonderful picnic was held at Taplow Court this summer.
We have also organised a couple of fundraising events, 'Movember' was great fun with all the men growing mustaches for a good cause!
We also run occasional singing retreats for choir members each year, information about which can be found on the 'Singing Holidays' page.
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