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From Thursday May 19th until Sunday May 22nd the Reading Male Voice Choir (RMVC) from Reading (west of London) will be visiting the Spiritual Singers again. The ties of friendship with this choir go back to May 1989 and since that time both choirs visited each other several times. This time the RMVC will come to the Netherlands on behalf of their fourtieth anniversary.
Also for the Spiritual Singers it will be a special moment. During the visit of the RMVC the new cd of the Spiritual Singers will be presented. The arrangements for this cd were made by the conductor of the RMVC (Gwyn Arch) and he also co-operated the recording being the pianist. Therefore he specially came to the Netherlands in March.
Among other activities both choirs will also give two joint concerts in May. On Friday May 20th, 20.00 hrs, there will be a joint concert in the Bethelkerk, Groen van Prinstererlaan 2 in Barneveld. Also the Barneveld male voice choir “De Schaffelaar” and youth choir JKD from Driebergen will join this concert.
On Saturday May 21st, 20.00 hrs, the Spiritual Singers and the RMVC will give a second joint concert in the Ontmoetingskerk, Bentincklaan 7 in Doorwerth. During this concert the new cd of the Spiritual Singers will be presented.
Further information about both concerts will be published by the media.
During both concerts many visitors are to be expected.
Approximately 10 times per year, the Spiritual Singers perform in churches both in and outside The Netherlands. Many people find the style and content of their songs highly inspiring, making the Spiritual Singers a very special choir. In recent years, they have taken part in more than 1,200 religious services in The Netherlands, England, Germany, France and Romania.
The Spiritual Singers, who are based in Renkum, near Arnhem, are a non-profit organisation, charging only the amount necessary to cover costs . They have about 35 men and women members, all performing in distinctive blue gowns.
Their repertoire mainly consists of Negro spirituals, originally sung by black slaves in North America.. The Singers do not attempt to imitate their manner of singing, however the style does provide a source of inspiration for the members of the choir and their conductor. All songs are sung in the original English. The choir believes strongly that translating them would diminish their character, particularly as words and melody are so interwoven. To bring out the spirit and atmosphere of the songs as well as possible, the choir learn them by heart.
The fourth CD of the Spiritual Singers, which is called 'Hear Me', was recorded in the spring of 2007. The title refers to the character of this album which includes prayers and hymns sung with quiet reverence. It also contains Christmas carols and some very exuberant songs from the rich American gospel and spiritual tradition.
Email: contact@spiritualsingers.nl
@Spiritual Singers, Webmaster J.
de Boer 