2008
In February of this year the choir will be five years old. The five years have seen the choir grow in strength, both in the quality of the singing and in numbers. We all hope that the next five years will be as happy as the first five, and welcome new members to join us in the pleasure of singing.
Monday March 10th Thirty members of the choir attended the choir's annual lunch which was held at the Golden Lion in Settle. It was an enjoyable social event which gave members time to socialise as well as sing.
2007
20th December About fourteen members of the choir and friends did the Settle Voices annual fund raising carol sing. This year the route covered Mill Close and Kings Mill in Settle. The collection raised £80.00 for the 'friends of Chernobyl's Children' and will go towards covering the costs of bringing some children from Belaurus for a holiday in Settle. Many thanks to the choir member who dispensed energising hospitality prior to singing. It really was a bitterly cold night for the event.
16th December The choir took part in a Christmas concert at the Parish Church along with other choirs and ensembles from the Settle area. The concert was well attended and enjoyed by all, although once again space was at a premium for Settle Voices. The choir appreciated Janet's presence for the event which is now becoming a tradition in the area.
3rd November The choir sang for Austwick residents aged 80 and over at the home of Nick and Lindsay Smith who provided refreshments. The choir sang a selection of seasonal songs including carols with the audience joining in. Although it was a tight squeeze the choir members were able to see Janet conducting and the choir's contribution was wnjoyed and appreciated.
15th March Following the sad death of Len Moody, a member of Settle Voices, his family invited the choir to sing at his memorial service in Settle Parish Church. Over twenty members of the choir were able to attend and to sing Len's favourite song 'How Can I Keep from Singing' which is a Shaker hymn arranged by Lesley Lear and also 'Keep You in Peace' a song based on a Celtic blessing and written by Sarah Morgan.
2006
16th February 2006
AGM held at the Friends Meeting House in Settle at 8.00pm. Having had a busy year in 2005 the meeting decided not to undertake any performances until the end of May.
20th March 2006
Annual lunch held at the Golden Lion Hotel, Settle.
May 29th
Despite poor weather the Austwick Cuckoo Fair was busy as usual. The choir sang to appreciative audiences in the church and in the village hall.
July 1st
The workshop and concert at the Blackhorse in Hellifield were most successful. The events were well attended even though there was competition from World Cup Football, and the quality of the singing was magnificent in spite of the heat of a glorious summer day.
9th December
The choir sang two sets during the course of the morning which saw a number of visitors to Settle Station enjoying the festive cheer supplied by Foscl.
16th December
This was busy day for the choir. The performance at the Victoria Hall was appreciated by both the audience and the organisers of the event.
The evening performance in the church was very successful and the choir enjoyed the opportunity to listen to other choral groups from the Settle area.
21st December
This year's carol singing was particularly successful raising £100.00 ffor Yorkshire air ambulance.
2005
31 January 2005
Annual lunch and sing along at the Old Station Inn, Giggleswick.
17 February 2005
AGM held at the Royal Oak, Settle, where we reviewed the lottery project and planned the list of events for this year.
19 & 22 April 2005
Two sesssions for local community events at Greenfoot residential care centre on 19 April and the Age Concern lunch at St John's Hall on 22 April.
30 May 2005
Two performances at the Austwick Street Fair: in the church to a packed audience and then later in the Village Hall whilst people enjoyed lunch.
26 July 2005
Concert in Townhead Court, Settle, 7pm, for residents and friends. We performed a variety of songs from the Dales, New Zealand and some Music Hall favorites for the audience to join in. The audience said that they had enjoyed the evening and hoped that the Choir would return later in the year.
Summer break until 12 September The choir has grown over the year to over twenty members on a full turn-out. New members are always welcome as this increases the range of songs that we can tackle. The choir does get involved in performing for community events but this is on voluntary basis - new members shouldn't feel obliged to get involved in this aspect of the choir 's acitivity.
Settle Voices Repertoire now includes
Settle Voices Project Songs
See the 'Songs and Poems' section of this website.
Songs from around the World:
Tuay tuay, Shewawa, Si,si,si,si dollahdah, Tula Mama, Siya Hamba, Nyaningbo, Salaleo, Soualle, Humba lu lu, Somagwaza, Setma loey joreydos. Taku mana, Pokare Kare, Ad Atat Mili, Plovi Barko, Das Orchester, How Can I Keep from Singing, Farewell My Friends.
Miscellaneous Songs
The Road to Dundee, Steely Water, I am a River, View the Land, Dona Nobis Pacem, For I see a Heart, At Dawn when the Sun, Morning Glory, The Cuckoo, As I me Walked on a May Morning, Summer is a'cumin in, Laughing, laughing, For all life is holy the poet once said, If you can walk then you dance, Listen to the Rhythm, I open my arms wide, Underneath the Sea, It's Time to say Goodbye, All I want for Breakfast, Chuffa, chuffa chuffa chuff, steam train, The Cockle Gatherers, Wimoweh.
2004
January 2004
January 8th 2004 and it is Settle Voices’ first AGM. The mood of the meeting is happy and buzzing, a stark contrast to the gloomy feelings in the summer of 2003 when there were grave doubts about the survival of the choir.
A publicity campaign has successfully increased membership of the choir to twenty plus, the creative genius of some members of the choir has come to the fore with the writing of some new songs and we have a website up and running. It’s a good start to the New Year.
February 2004
The choir moves to Settle Social Club for rehearsals as our venue at The Friends’ Meeting House is closed due to building work.
March 2004
Sunday 7th March - the choir meet for a five hour practice session and to learn some of the skills of conducting and leading the choir. An exhausting but very rewarding experience.
Monday March 8th - the choir gather for lunch at the Dales Field Centre organised by Pat Smith, and enjoy a happy social occasion, followed by singing some of the songs which we gathered for our repertoire in the early days of the choir.
October 2004
Settle Voices celebrated the completion of the 'Singing the Craven Dales' project by hosting a free concert in the Victoria Hall Settle on Saturday October 9th. An enthusiastic audience enjoyed listening to, and on occasion joining in with, songs telling of life in the dales. Songs from further afield, which are also part of the choir's repertoire were also enjoyed.
December 2004
On Thursday 21st December Settle Voices sang carols in Upper Settle raising money for charity. Many thanks to all those who donated so generously.
2003
February 2003
First meeting of Settle Community Choir in the Friends Meeting House, Kirkgate, Settle. Thanks to a grant from Craven District Council (Arts) we are able to begin meeting regularly.
May 2003
First public performance at Settle Sheep Shambles. It rained (of course)but we soldiered on and were pleased with our performance.
July 2003
Money running out! Numbers, although healthy for a new group (c. 15 regular members) are not enough to enable us to cover our costs. Have applied for an Awards for All Lottery grant for a project based on collecting and disseminating local songs.
September 2003
Lottery grant for £5,000 awarded! Craven Herald article and much panicky planning begins!
October 2003
We ran a Ceilidh with a choir performance in Austwick to raise some funds (organised before we knew of our success with the Lottery funding. We did – over £500 – and had great fun too, thanks to Peter’s band Pigjig who performed and led the dancing.
November 2003
Members of the choir start seeking out songs which are suitable for the project, contacting accessing folk song collections from a number of libraries and listening to several hours of tapes. Availability of songs will not be a problem but selection from such a wide choice of lovely songs could be problematic. Janet Russell our leader arranges some songs and we start rehearsal, while our chairperson writes one of her own.
December 2003
Research, arranging and singing go on at a great pace and on December 23rd members of the choir tour upper Settle on a very successful carol singing mission raising a goodly sum of money for charity.
2002
Autumn 2002
Free courses run by Craven College in the hope of enticing people into free computing courses?! No, we wanted more singing …….
