It has been an extraordinary couple of years with total lockdown and In Flagrante not being able to meet in person in an unknown world. The ever-resourceful Eamonn O’Dwyer https://www.eamonnodwyer.com introduced us all to Zoom where we were able to meet and sing virtually. He still put us through tongue circles, warm ups and tongue twisters. We even learned new material and sang along to specially made backing tracks while Eamonn conducted us. A strange experience for us all, with us singing to ourselves at home and Eamonn conducting us from his flat, in silence, as we mouthed the words to him.
Amazingly, our choir grew during this period while so many other choirs dwindled and faded away. We were able to include members from around the UK and abroad.
Then we had a window of opportunity of being able to meet in person in a covid secure venue. Unfortunately, St Anne’s couldn’t accommodate us, but Royal Mid Surrey Golf Club (RMS)https://www.rmsgc.co.uk, very kindly offered us a very large, well-ventilated room with WiFi, so the Zoomers could still join us. This was followed by a second lockdown and our hearts sank and we were all back to Zoom. So hard after having sung together in harmony.
We continued to meet either on Zoom or in person throughout the whole of the summer with no break and In Flagrante survived! An amazing achievement and we are now back to meeting regularly at RMS and the bonds of our choir community has grown
This week we celebrated our survival, led by Amir Schoenfeld https://www.amirshoenfeld.com, continuing on with The Rainbow Connection
and looking forward to gathering Lilacs in the Spring. With a party atmosphere we had a break with wine and canapes and then sang some Christmas songs (it won’t be long until the festive season is here!) We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Eamonn will be back with us on 11 January 2022, and we look forward to working towards a concert on 03 March 2022. Come and join in the singing and fun and camaraderie.
The Parting Glass is a Scottish traditional song often sung at the end of a gathering of friends. It has also long been sung in Ireland, enjoying considerable popularity to this day. It was purportedly the most popular paring song sung in Scotland before Robert Burns wrote Auld Lang Syne. It has been sung by Ed Sheeran, Pierce Bronson, the Wailin’ Jennys , Sinead O’Connor and many more, including In Flagrante choir.