. The 75-minute concert was conducted by Simon Mercer, with a choir of children from Hathersage St. Michael's C of E Primary School, three soloists, two grand pianos, and six percussionists.
After a two-year Covid-imposed hiatus, the choir was once more rehearsing for a concert, to be held on Sunday 15 May 2022. We performed Brahms' Ein Deutsche Requiem, the work that was programmed for the cancelled concert in spring 2020.
Rehearsals began on 7 January for our Spring Concert, originally scheduled for Sunday 5 April 2020.
Rehearsals began on 3 September 2019 for our Spring Concert, to be held on Sunday 12 December 2019.
Rehearsals began on 8 January 2019 for our Spring Concert, to be held on Sunday 7 April and to feature Mozart's Ave Verum and 'Great' C Minor Mass.
The following review of our last concert appeared in a recent issue of the parish magazine:
We've been delighted by the reaction to our Christmas concert, our first under Simon Mercer, featuring the Bach
Magnificat in D and Morten Lauridsen's
O Magnum Mysterium. Thanks to our fabulous young soloists and orchestra, and our audience who braved the snow and contributed to some of the heartiest congregational carol-singing this side of the Albert Hall.
We took part in St Matthew's Carol Service on
Sunday 17th December, and carol-singing around the Hayfield village pubs on
Tuesday 19th December.
Change at the top
We'd like to thank our departing Musical Director,
Lindy Tennent-Brown, and wish her all the very best in the future. At the same time, we're delighted to welcome her successor,
Simon Mercer, who took over in October. Here they are pictured together after Lindy's final concert, with our Associate Musical Director Roger Briscoe (right).
Social events, summer 2017
Our Social Secretary Pete Webb () has organised the following events for this summer's "close season" (dates provisional, times to be confirmed):
- Thursday 25th May: the ever-popular Hayfield Singers Quiz
- Friday 23rd June: local walk from a Hayfield hostelry
- Friday 28th July: our annual summer party at chez Webb
Spring season 2017
Rehearsals began on Tuesday January 10th for our Spring Concert, held at St Matthews, Hayfield, on Sunday 9th April. Sadly this was Lindy Tennent-Brown's last term in charge as she was returning to London for personal and professional reasons. However, we were delighted to announce that Simon Mercer had agreed to take over as Musical Director of Hayfield Singers from Autumn 2017.
Autumn season 2016
Rehearsals began on Tuesday September 13th for our Christmas Concert, held at St Matthews, Hayfield, on Sunday 11th December, under the baton of our new Musical Director, Lindy Tennent-Brown. We were delighted to announce that our outgoing MD, Jonathan Holland, had been made an Honorary Life Member of the Hayfield Singers.
Spring season 2016
Rehearsals began on Tuesday January 5th for our Spring Concert, held at St Matthews, Hayfield, on Sunday 24th April, featuring Mozart's Requiem.
Autumn season 2015
Rehearsals began on Tuesday September 8th for our Christmas Concert, held at St Matthews, Hayfield, on Sunday 13th December.
Hayfield Singers Quiz 2015
Tuesday 12th May 2015, 8pm: Quiz Night at the Royal Hotel. £4 – price includes chip butty supper.
Spring season 2015
Rehearsals began on Tuesday January 6th for our Spring Concert, held at St Matthews, Hayfield, on Sunday 26th April.
Summer Social Events 2014
Tuesday 20th May 2014, 8pm: Quiz Night at the Royal Hotel. £3.50 – price includes chip butty supper.
Spring season 2014
Rehearsals began in January for our Spring Concert, held at St Matthews, Hayfield, on Sunday 13th April. We performed contrasting requiem masses by the French composers Maurice Duruflé and Gabriel Fauré. We intend to reprise the Fauré at Spring Bank Arts on the afternoon of Sunday 21st September.
Dates for your diary
- Thursday 10th April, 8pm at St Matthews Church, Hayfield: Extra rehearsal
- Sunday 13th April, at St Matthews Church, Hayfield: Dress Rehearsal and Spring Concert (7.30pm
- Tuesday 9th September, 8pm at St Matthews Church, Hayfield: Rehearsals begin for Autumn term
- Thursday 18th September, 8pm at St Matthews Church, Hayfield: Extra rehearsal
- Sunday 21st September Rehearsal (11pm) and Afternoon Tea Concert (2.30pm) at Spring Bank Arts, New Mills
- Sunday 14th December, at St Matthews Church, Hayfield: Dress Rehearsal and Christmas Concert
- Sunday 26th April 2015 (provisional) at St Matthews Church: Spring concert featuring Beethoven Mass in C
Spring season 2013
The second concert of our 20th anniversary season, on 28th April, commemorated the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation with music with royal connections from Handel, Britten, Purcell, Parry and Mozart.
Autumn season 2012
Rehearsals began in September for our 20th Anniversary Concert, held on Sunday 2nd December. The programme included excerpts from Handel's Messiah. We reprised excerpts from this programme at Chinley Chapel on Tuesday 4th December.
In October 2012 we performed at the Opening of Spring Bank Arts (formerly St James the Less) in New Mills.
Spring concert 2012: Rossini Petite Messe Solennelle
On the evening of Sunday, April 22nd the rafters of St Matthew's Church, Hayfield, rang with the music of Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle. The Hayfield Singers were in particularly good voice for their spring concert and the soloists, from the Royal Northern College of Music, were exceptional.
The music was performed with its original accompaniment, for piano and harmonium. The piano part is enormous and plays almost without a break. Sadly the newly restored harmonium developed a high-pitched, continuous squeak and couldn't be used. Electronics came to the rescue in the form of a keyboard, programmed to a harmonium sound (as near as possible) but without the characteristic wheeze!
The music is neither 'petite' nor 'solennelle' (so said Napoleon III) in the modern sense. Its style is operatic and full of good tunes which go round and round in the head long after the last notes of the Agnus Dei, one of the few subdued movements, have died away. It was evident that everyone involved was having a great sing and the audience responded with enthusiasm.
The piece is Rossini's final great work, written in 1863 when the composer was over 70 years old. He wrote very little after the success of his opera William Tell in 1829, and retired to a life of good food, good wine and visits from the musical world at his villa at Plassy, outside Paris.
The Hayfield Singers will be celebrating their 20th anniversary in a concert in Hayfield on December 2nd. The programme will include music from Handel's Messiah.
Before that, the choir will be singing at Spring Bank Arts, the newly converted centre in the old church of St James the Less in New Mills, on Sunday, October 21st.
Christmas concert 2011
Tricia writes:
Well done everyone! You rose to the occasion wonderfully and we gave a good concert. I don't know what Jonathan put in your pre-concert drink.... I know there were a few blips but there were also some magic moments and our dynamic range was much better, i.e. the Tchaikovsky song. Thank you for all your hard work. We had a large audience and there was a terrific buzz in the church.
Spring concert 2010: Dido and Aeneas
Tricia writes:
What a concert! Thank you all so much.
You sang with confidence – mostly! – and the sound was very full and very good and well in tune on the whole. Once again, not using music was good: it gives more freedom and confidence – thank you to everyone who was able to memorise Dido and to all who tried to. Having said that, the Finzi was wonderful – full of brightness and joy.
It was all excellent and a great credit to you all. I've had loads of complimentary remarks. Several people commented on the sound. One person said it was the best concert ever!
The Lament was heartbreaking – and after it the applause felt so enthusiastic. Our wonderful soloists loved performing with us and I know they would all come again.
I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
I'd like to thank those of you who helped with all the arrangements – furniture shifting, food, loos, refreshments, programme collating/setting/printing, ticket selling, poster distributing, tea making, bouquet buying, etc., etc. – the list is endless and I hope I've not missed anything.
and of our "reprise" in St James the Lesser, New Mills:
I have been waiting for 'the dust to settle' in my mind before writing this in order to be able to stand back and assess last Sunday's concert. The feeling I have is a very happy one: we really made music that night and it was hugely enjoyable. It has left a warm glow! The unison Britten arrangements were especially beautiful.
Congratulations to you all! Thank you for all your hard work.
Barn Dance
Around 30 members and friends enjoyed an evening of dancing (and tasty hotpot) on Friday 26th March. Thanks to everyone who turned up, to Alison the caller and the Barnstormers, and to the Royal for their excellent hospitality.
Our caller Alison with The Barnstormers |
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Christmas concert 2009
Tricia writes:
Lots of 'thank yous'!
Thank you all so much for a splendid concert. You rose to the occasion and sang as well as you've ever sung. The sound was rich and well-blended. I think the first Bach movement was the best you've ever sung it — it sounded like 'a multitude of the heavenly host' — at last! There were some magic moments too.
I enjoyed the concert enormously and it looked and sounded as if you did too. All that hard work was worth it in the end — I hope you all feel that too.
The audience was large — thank you for getting 'bums on seats'. Thank you to everyone who put an advert in the programme or who asked other people to put one in.
Thanks too to the stage management team for setting up so efficiently.
Thank you very much for your generous gift: I greatly appreciate it and will spend it on singing lessons.
Dave writes:
Thanks to everyone involved for making our last-minute transfer to St John's go so amazingly smoothly. In my first concert as Chairman I quickly learnt how much goes on behind the scenes to make our concerts happen: thanks to everyone who worked so hard in preparation for the evening and "backstage" on the night. And thanks for indulging me by singing my carol arrangement...it was lovely to hear it sung so well (and I'm looking forward to hearing it on the recording that was taken). And I had shivers running down my spine during "He, watching over Israel" too.
Spring concert 2009: Haydn's Creation
For those of you unable to attend, our Spring Concert was somewhat eventful, with our soprano soloist Jennifer France being taken ill at literally the last minute, having sung beautifully in rehearsal. Tenor soloist Graham Wili sight-read one of the soprano arias brilliantly (to a spontaneous round of applause) and Tricia took the soprano part in various duets and trios (while continuing to conduct). Jennifer was able to return to sing towards the end of the piece, again to generous applause.
Tricia writes:
Thank you very much for your generous gift—it will almost pay for 3 singing lessons and is much appreciated. What a good idea of someone's! I'm still in a daze and last night is a bizarre blur which I find difficult to evaluate. What I do know is that the choir's performance was excellent: you knew the music, you sang with confidence, your rhythm never let you down—and you rose to the occasion and dealt with the strange situation brilliantly. Thank you and congratulations! And isn't the music wonderful! Thank you to Jonathan and Andrew for all their help—and Dave Hoult (from the back row!
Linda Whitaker writes:
I just want to say how much I enjoyed singing The Creation on Sunday night and to congratulate Tricia on coping so well with such a difficult situation. Not only singing some of the soprano parts but conducting at the same time—brilliant! Then all the rearranging for the second half, well done everyone who helped. I thought all the singers and musicians did well in the circumstances and hope Jennifer is OK now.