The Lieder
Newsletter for the Christchurch Liedertafel Male Voice Choir.
Issue 8
February 2025
Editorial
We are rocking into 2025 and things are going well at practice. The new rooms are working well and at a greatly reduced cost. Please be mindful that with the great acoustics Thomas can hear everything but amplified. Yes, even practising your tenor part when he is taking the basses. Please refrain from talking during these sectionals as it is also loud and off putting, if not downright rude and disrespectful to the MD.
The choir is going through a tough time financially and strength-wise. We have been lucky to gain 4-5 new members and this has been a great help. A few of the Board have been working hard to get us back up out of the mire and have committed many hours in pursuit of this. There are now between 30 and 40 members and this is your choir so please stand up, help out and contribute. Whether it be helping to get our tickets designed, printing done in a cost-effective manner, distributing flyers, ideas to reduce our costs, selling the idea of subscriber to a friend, bringing along a potential singer, taking more than four tickets to sell for the concert, or even sending me something to put in the news letter - everything helps. If nothing else, stop sitting on your hands doing nothing, get them dirty and lets get this Choir back up where it used to be. Share the load by giving us a hand. Thanks.
MM
Dates for your Diary
- 10th March Sing along night. Everyone bring along a friend who might be a potential singer, or perhaps a concert attendee or subscriber.
- Concert dates 2025
- May 3rd, Aug 10th and Nov 30th (this one to be confirmed)
Choir Profiles
Richard Burtt joined the Liedertafel Choir fifteen years ago. He sang in the Christchurch City Choir some years earlier and the Liedertafel gave him the opportunity to enjoy regular singing, good manageable music , great company amongst the members and pleasure from the three public concerts the choir gives annually .Singing is good for everyone's phycological, mental and physical health and the music, changing as it does for each concert, provides him interesting challenges and exposure to new thinking, cultures and covers life's experiences and richness. He sees that the Liedertafel Choir is open to anyone wanting to have these good things.
Notes from the Podium
Our rehearsals in the new venue are going really well, and it's been great to hear the energy and enthusiasm in the singing of our repertoire for Encore! One piece that stands out is The Impossible Dream, a song that embodies perseverance and aspiration, originally from Man of La Mancha. The arrangement we’re singing is beautifully crafted for choral voices, allowing the harmonies to swell with a sense of grandeur and purpose. The choir sounds fantastic on it—it really plays to our strengths, with a rich, expressive sound that captures the heart of the piece.
And speaking of theatrical flair—I recently performed as Ernesto Goat in The Billy Goats Gruff for Toi Toi, which was a delightfully chaotic experience! Performing in the open-air setting of the Arts Centre Quad added an extra layer of fun, and the joy of introducing young audiences to opera made it all worthwhile. Whether in Man of La Mancha or as a melodramatic goat, the magic of music remains the same—it’s all about storytelling, connection, and a bit of theatrical energy.
Teaching could be considered a performative art, and I’ve been settling into teaching at St Andrew’s College, which has been really rewarding so far. Working mostly with Year 9 students (3rd form), there’s something special about introducing music to students—whether it’s rhythm games, singing, or more practical music-making. I’m enjoying the challenge of making music accessible and enjoyable for them all, and I’m looking forward to seeing their confidence grow throughout the year.
Regards
Thomas
On a side note.
The Liedertafel Board
You will probably know that the choir has a group of members that looks after the governance of the choir but you may be interested in how that all works.
Under our constitution, the board is elected at each annual meeting. Thomas is a member of the board as of right, by virtue of being our musical director, and the elected members are Colin Heinz (president), Mark Mulholland (vice president), Lindsay Strang (secretary), Chris Carter (librarian), John Yates(treasurer), John Dunford and Andrew Earl. There are regular monthly meetings throughout the year and occasional informal huddle meetings, normally at our half-time breaks, when something needs immediate consideration.
The constitution needs to be very formal and is lodged with Charities Services. We have a Certificate of Incorporation that is issued by the NZ Companies Office. As we changed our constitution during last year, we have a new certificate dated 30 October 2024.
There are various powers and responsibilities that the constitution prescribes, such as looking after the choir’s assets and enabling it to engage in leases. In terms of assets, we own our piano, have cash in the bank and a stock of music that is housed in a storage area in Riccarton. Magically, our concert staging arrives at each concert on our trailer that is also housed in the storage unit.
Most meetings follow a standard format with reports from each board member on their particular area of responsibility.
With recent concerns over the choir’s income versus expenditure, there has been emphasis put on increasing our profile and looking towards new members. The new web site (www.liedertafel.nz) and Facebook page are pillars of the marketing effort along with the invitation for us to bring a mate to our special guest night in March. Our move away from Rangi Ruru for rehearsals is also financially driven.
If you have any questions or suggestions then please approach any one of the board listed above. We are there to try and achieve the best for the choir.
JY
Humour
A doctor that had been seeing an 80-year-old woman for most of her life finally retired. At her next checkup, the new doctor told her to bring a list of all the medicines that had been prescribed for her. As the doctor was looking through these his eyes grew wide as he realised Grandma had a prescription for birth control pills.
"Mrs. Smith, do you realise these are birth control pills?"
"Yes, they help me sleep at night."
"Mrs. Smith, I assure you there is absolutely nothing in these that could possibly help you sleep!"
She reached out and patted the young doctor's knee and said, "Yes, dear, I know that. But every morning, I grind one up and mix it in the glass of orange juice that my 16-year-old Granddaughter drinks. And believe me it definitely helps me sleep at night.
An elderly, but hardy cattleman from Texas once told a young female neighbour that if she wanted to live a long life, the secret was to sprinkle a pinch of gunpowder on her oatmeal each morning. She did this religiously and lived to the ripe old age of 103. She left behind 14 children, 30 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren, five great-great-grandchildren and a 40-foot HOLE where the crematorium used to be.
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