Membership information
Up-to-date concert, music and other important information can be found on the noticeboard.
Rehearsals
Rehearsals are at St. Cyprian’s, Glentworth Street. The Church is at the northern most end of Glentworth St, which runs parallel to Baker St and opposite Francis Holland School. The nearest tube station is Baker St. Buses 139 & 189 pass close to our door. There is very limited on street parking.
Please do not come to a rehearsal if you feel unwell. If possible let Harry and Ley know.
Rehearsals start at 18.35 and finish at 21.20.
Refreshments are now available again. Sometimes there is even cake! Please bring your own mug for tea.
Preparation for rehearsals
Please make every effort to be ready to sing at the start of each rehearsal. The Musical Director has asked that every member takes a degree of personal responsibility for learning the music.
If you miss a rehearsal, please get any markings from another choir member singing your part. Look at the schedule on the Noticeboard to ensure you practise any pieces you have missed. This is to make best use of subsequent rehearsal time and to be fair to your colleagues who have attended and do not want to go over the initial learning stage of a piece again.
Commitment
The Musical Director needs to plan the best use of rehearsal time and check the balance of the choir for each concert. This means that we need accurate, up to date information about who will be attending rehearsals and concerts.
Please update your commitment on the website form before the start of each term. You can always add comments and make changes later.
If on a particular Monday you find you cannot attend the rehearsal due to unforeseen circumstances, please send an email to the Musical Director and your part-rep. This also applies to the rehearsal on the day of the concert. Contact details of part-reps can be found on the who does what page.
Members are expected to miss no more than a quarter of the rehearsals (usually about three) for a concert to be eligible to sing in that concert. If you are likely to be in that situation, please consult with the MD who will decide whether or not you qualify.
Subscriptions 2023-2024
As usual the subscriptions are designed to fully cover our costs of rehearsals and other fixed costs. As a result of moving to our rehearsal venue at St Cyprian’s, we have to deal with increased market- level rehearsal venue costs. The subscription rates for the 2023-24 season are as follows:
- Full rate: £300 (if the subscription for the full year is paid by 31 Oct 2023, this is reduced to £285)
- Senior Citizens (aged 65+): £225 (if paid in full for the year by 31 Oct 2023, reduced to £213.75)
- Unemployed or student: £150.
Please if possible could you pay your subscription for the full year no later than 31 October 2023, as this helps the choir’s finances.
Payment Method
Members may pay by cheque, or online transfer. If you wish to pay by online transfer, please note the following EBC account information:
Account Name: English Baroque Choir Ltd
Account Number 00434566
Sort Code: 30-12-34
Ref: Your name and “Sub”.
If you are paying by cheque, please make your cheque payable to “English Baroque Choir Ltd”, and send the cheque by post to Ray at the below address, or give it to Ray at rehearsal:
Ray Carlson
35 Cleveland Gardens, Barnes London SW13 0AE
Tel: 020 8878 7157
Gift Aid
Members who are taxpayers are encouraged to sign a Gift Aid form (available from the Treasurer) as this allows the choir, as a registered charity, to claim income tax back on the subscription without any additional cost to the member. This is useful incremental revenue for the choir, which provides us with additional funds towards our running costs.
Ray will be happy to answer any questions you have concerning subscription payments. You can also email Ray.
Scores
The necessary scores for each concert will be on the Noticeboard well before rehearsals start. To keep your costs to a minimum, some editions will be downloadable with links provided.
Please print these scores in advance of rehearsals.
Where this is not possible, please use the edition specified. You can purchase this from our Music Purchases representative via the music order form (at a discount), or independently.
If you decide to use a different version or edition, it is your responsibility to ensure that any differences are changed, and bar numbers added or changed as required. This is, once again, to save rehearsal time.
Concerts
The Concert Manager will provide details of concert dress, rehearsal times etc. There is always work to be done at the venue in terms of setting up, helping with refreshments, and clearing up afterwards. Please be ready to volunteer and not leave everything to the same people. Many hands really do make light work.
Contact details
The email addresses for the roles specified above can be found on the Who does what page.
Social media
We have a whatsapp group for EBC members, which is mainly used for sharing events, photos etc. related to EBC or music that may be of interest. It is not one of those groups that pings constantly, so please join!
In order to join, please contact Krys or Kerstin and they will invite you.
We have two presences on facebook:
Internal private group for EBC members only: https://www.facebook.com/groups/49962054170
Our external facing facebook page. Please like and follow this page (if you haven’t done so) for maximum exposure: https://www.facebook.com/EnglishBaroqueChoir
The English Baroque Choir
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@EngBaroqueChoir