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Sadly, the decision has been taken to postpone Requiem to Cancer 2020, originally planned for the end of September this year. We are working to arrange a suitable alternative date in late September next year 2021. As soon as we have a confirmed date we will let you know.
We are sure that all singers, friends and supporters will appreciate why we have had to do this, especially as, even with a gradual return to ‘normal’ life, it looks as if choral singing in large numbers may be one of the last group activities to return where everyone would feel comfortable participating in them. For sure this decision has not been taken lightly as we want to continue to support Cancer Research UK and to honour our commitment to Simon. For those of you who have already registered and made a donation to CRUK in anticipation of participating this year, be assured that your registrations will be carried forward automatically to next year and you will have a place. Meanwhile, if you would like to register for next year or make a further or new donation to CRUK then please use the Apply link above or the Donation link on the Home Page respectively. Thank you for your continuing support and we look forward to meeting up with you all when we can. Ruth, Michael & Neil
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You are now cordially invited to register your participation in Requiem to Cancer 2020. The APPLY page is now visible on this website (see at the top). We look forward to seeing you in September!
We can now reveal that the music for RtC 2020 is this wonderful selection. The first main session will kick off with Cecilia McDowall's fabulous new 'Da Vinci Requiem' that was commissioned by Wimbledon Choral Society and received its world premiere in the Royal Festival Hall in May 2019. This is a very accessible work and will be directed by Neil Ferris. To guide us through the early hours and morning of Saturday, Mark Jordan will add his personal touch to the sublime Mozart Requiem so that we can do justice to the work, albeit after a long night and probably a good breakfast! At some point we'll also fit in a run-through of the Fauré for some light relief, which Mark will also lead for us. And finally to finish off the whole session (and probably finish us off as well), Jeremy Jackman will light the boilers under the Brahms 'Ein Deutsches Requiem' and we'll give every last breath we have left to deliver this one as well.
So, something new, something(s) familiar and something big. Oh, and don't forget we'll also have Janet Wheeler's new life-affirming anthem as well. Will this all work for you? We do hope so. 🙂 Applications for participating in RtC 2020 will open shortly. We are almost ready with the website and linking up with Cancer Research UK. Watch this space! 27 Feb 2020
We are delighted to announce the music director line-up for this year's event. Neil Ferris and Jeremy Jackman have been with us since the first event in 2016 and we are very grateful for their continued support. The new boy on the block is Oxford-based Mark Jordan, to whom we extend a very warm welcome. We look forward to him keeping us awake overnight! For the specially commissioned anthem for this year's event, we are so pleased that Janet Wheeler has agreed to write this for us, following those from Cecilia McDowall and Will Todd in previous years. We will reveal the music content for RtC 2020 and open the doors for applications very shortly. We are just tidying up a few things with Cancer Research UK then we'll be ready to get things really going. 😁 Simon's family is organising a remembrance/memorial service for him on Friday 13th March 2020. All are welcome. It will take place in St Paul's Church in Covent Garden where the RtC events take place.
Please see the page titled 'Simon's Memorial' for further details. We are delighted to announce that Requiem to Cancer 2020 will proceed in accordance with Simon's wishes.
The dates are set as Friday 25th & Saturday 26th September 2020 and we'll be back in the same venue of St Paul's Church, Covent Garden as before. Please put the dates in your diaries now and start to build up your stamina! We are still in the process of deciding the programme and getting the various professional musicians on board and we'll announce all this in the latter part of January when we hope everything will have been settled by then. The website is undergoing a refresh of the content and will be updated during December & January. Please keep popping back to see how we're doing. Our first running total is £19,813.17. That is what we have confirmed and banked. It includes totals from three JustGiving sites setup by participants which adds £2261 to the total. It does not include some outstanding payments, in particular it does not include the Microsoft donation matching. If I include all known pending payments we get to £27,955.17. I will keep you updated as the total changes.
Well, we did it again. Who would have thought there were enough people daft enough to do it once, let alone twice. It was good to see old faces as well as new. Thank you all so very much for taking part. I don't have a total raised for you yet and I do not want to take a guess at the amount raised. Suffice to say it will be a significant amount, well worth the effort of putting on the event. Clearly, there were many highlights. Having Bill Ives turn up to hear the runthrough of his Requiem was good and clearly appreciated by many of you. I was not able to give you a heads up as I was sworn to secrecy by Jeremy. Similarly, Bob swore me to secrecy about having a band for the Rutter runthrough. Neither of these things was down to me, they are an example of the generosity and enthusiasm of the people I am lucky enough to be involved with in this event. When you have the likes of Jeremy, Neil and Bob involved it makes the whole thing a lot easier to organise. A personal highlight for me this year was the runthrough of the Fauré. Dedicating it to those currently dealing with cancer (in which some of the participants are numbered) added an extra poignancy to it. I struggled to sing it in places because of the emotion it stirred up, and I was not the only person affected. I can't sign off without once again thanking all of the musical staff, some of whom stepped in at short notice. What a fantastic job they did. How can it not be a success with people of that talent involved. And the catering staff, what a bunch of heroes. Anyway, enough rambling. Keep an eye out for posts about the amount raised. It is my plan to get the church booked for the 2020 event in the next week or so, so keep an eye out for that as well. Again, a huge thank you to everyone involved in whatever capacity. Can't do it without you.
As some of you will be aware, Katherine Dixson did a post a little while ago about her thoughts prior to taking part in Requiem To Cancer 2018 (https://www.waybeyondwords.co.uk/singing-for-a-great-cause/). That was the before post. She has now done an after post. Take a look at https://www.waybeyondwords.co.uk/the-morning-after-the-24-hours-before/
There is an optional percussion part in the Will Todd Anthem. I am very pleased to announce that the part will be played by Tristan Fry in the world premiere of the anthem. Take a look at his really quite impressive biog on the biographies page.
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