Sadly, this society has nothing to do with tea. The Cardiff University Purcell Society is a non-auditioning choir open to all students of the university.
We aim to provide a fun, relaxed environment in which students can make friends, sing choral music from Baroque to Pop and achieve a fantastic sound in our performances each semester.
TCUPS is now over five years old and has grown year-on-year. Last year more than 100 students signed up, though depending on the time of year rehearsal-attendance figures are usually in the 50-80 range. We divide the choir into the standard soprano, alto, tenor and bass parts, and would especially like to see more gentlemen join us this year. While rehearsals are primarily for working on the repertoire, we do encourage singers to get to know their fellow performers and we intend to run two socials per semester.
What music do we perform? Not just Purcell, certainly. Recent repertoire has also included Eric Whitacre, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Leonard Bernstein and Lady Gaga. Last year, we also began a collaborative effort with the Cardiff University Concert Orchestra (co-run by our director, Callum Nicholls) to perform a choral piece with orchestra at each concert. To date, we have sung QueenÔÇÖs ÔÇÿBohemian RhapsodyÔÇÖ and John WilliamsÔÇÖ ÔÇÿDuel of the FatesÔÇÖ from Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace; both performances were successes, and we aim to continue this joint venture. In addition to a formal concert each semester, we intend to go carol singing and get involved with the Go Global initiative, adding world music to our repertoire.
TCUPS meet weekly for an hour on Wednesday afternoons in the Large Lecture Theatre at the top of the School of Music on Corbett Road. Our first rehearsal/taster session will be at 7.00pm on Wednesday 3rd October, and we will probably pop over to the Woodville pub afterwards. The membership fee is £4 for one year (excluding the Guild Membership fee), which primarily goes towards the cost of music.[pullquote]Recent repertoire has also included Eric Whitacre, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Leonard Bernstein and Lady Gaga[/pullquote]
If you are interested in joining or have any questions, you can contact us via email at tcupschoir@gmail.com or by searching in the Cardiff University email directory for Callum Nicholls (Musical Director), Barnaby Willis (President) or Rosemary OÔÇÖReilly (Secretary).
We wish all our fellow students a good year, and look forward to hopefully seeing some of you get involved with the choir.
Rosemary O’Reilly
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