RECENT EVENTS
Merel conducting the choir at TfL's International Women's' Day event on Thursday 5 March 2020
The Choir at St Mary's, Eversholt Street, last Christmas. Photos - Paul Bigland
That was a busy week ...
Thursday 19 December - Railstaff Carols - St Mary, Eversholt Street
Wednesday 18 December - Carol Singing at Westminster Underground Station
Monday 16 December - Carols at Palestra - TfL staff event
CAROLS AT UNDERGROUND STATIONS - MONDAY 9 DECEMBER AT SOUTHWARK
Our last concert of the 2018-19 season was a farewell event at St Mary Magdalene Church in Welwyn Garden City. We sang a variety of music.
We sang at the TfL Bus Awards - at Stratford on Friday 21 June, singing two sets including Bus Stop, Moon River, the ABBA Medley, Some Enchanted Evening, Stand by Me, Transport of Delight, This is me, Waterloo Sunset and Uptown Funk.
We also sang at an International Women's Day private event at City Hall on Monday 4 March.
Our repertoire was Stand by me, the ABBA Medley, We will rock you, Proud Mary, Blame it on the Boogie, Stand by me reprise
CHRISTMAS 2018
OCTOBER 2018 CONCERT - AND A TOUR OF LONDON FOR OUR FRIENDS FROM BRUSSELS AND PARIS
THREE CHOIRS SANG TOGETHER IN LONDON
Concert 5pm Saturday 6 October at St John's Wood Church, St John's Wood Roundabout, London NW8 7NE
Our repertoire included:
AkoeSTIB (Brussels) The Rose; When You Believe
Navigavoce (Paris) La la la ... je ne l'ose dire; Dona Ubense; Echenique; Weichus
London’s Transport Choir. If Ye Love Me; Fields of Athenry; Pastime in Good Company;
Uptown Funk
All Requiem - Faure; All Aboard; La Mer; Ode an die Freude
CANARY WHARF CONCERT ON THURSDAY 21 JUNE
We performed for TFL and commuters in the Make Music Day at Canary Wharf Jubilee Line Station on Thursday 21 June from 7pm.
We sang the following songs, conducted by AmyBeth and accompanied by Kat Herriott on the Jules Holland piano - she also sang Alto when we were singing unaccompanied! Our best sound was produced when we sang Pastime with Good Company but our most popular number was Uptown Funk. That one is definitely going to stay in our repertoire.
The Continental Railroad - Henry C Work
Pastime with Good Company - Henry VIII (attrib)
Fields of Athernry - St John arr Raven
Uptown Funk - Ronson
Going Underground - Anon
Linden Lea - Vaughan Williams
Now to the Banquet we press - Gilbert and Sullivan
Proud Mary - Fogerty arr Shaw
Bring me Sunshine Kent arr Hussey
We are singing ... Van Tonder
The pictures below are of the piano at Canary Wharf which we used, though we didn't see Jools Holland that evening.
The Choir sang at the TfL International Women’s Day Event at TfL Offices, Endeavour Square, Stratford at 7:30 on Wednesday 7 March.
We sang the following:
First Half
Blame it on the boogie
Uptown Funk
California Dreaming
Abba Medley
We are singing ..
Second Half
Proud Mary
Living on a prayer
Fight song
Don’t stop believin’
We are singing ...
We ran a Workshop on Saturday 27 January at 1445 for 1500-1800 in Conference Room 1, Ground floor, Palestra House, 197 Blackfriars Rd, London SE1 8JZ.
We sang the following:
First Half
Blame it on the boogie
Uptown Funk
California Dreaming
Abba Medley
We are singing ..
Second Half
Proud Mary
Living on a prayer
Fight song
Don’t stop believin’
We are singing ...
We ran a Workshop on Saturday 27 January at 1445 for 1500-1800 in Conference Room 1, Ground floor, Palestra House, 197 Blackfriars Rd, London SE1 8JZ.
Christmas December 2017
Friday 8 December - 13:15 Carols at TfL's Palestra offices.
This was a private event when we sang carols to colleagues in their workplace - and hopefully recruited some new singers.
Monday 11 December - 17:15 Carols on the Tube at Southwark Station
We have sung at Tube and railway stations for many years to gladden the heart of home-bound commuters.
Wednesday 13 December - 19:00 TfL Festival of Carols at St Martin-in-the-Fields
Our traditional big event of the year is always packed and entry is by programme on the door. Carols and readings (by industry leaders and workers) alternate, preceded by the industry bellringers. This year we sang a 16th Century introit 'Rejoice in the Lord alway' a first for us. As always the event is sponsored by TfL and organised by our friends from the Transport Benevolent Fund who were collecting for charity. It was great fun - and our 'congregation' said it was a great success.
Monday 18 December - 17:30 TfL Archives Event - Carols at TfL's 55 Broadway offices
This was another private event for TfL staff. We planned to raise our profile - we're always looking for such opportunities. It was really interesting to hear details of past Christmases and how they were celebrated by London Transport etc.
Tuesday 19 December - 18:00 Carols at Lower Marsh, Waterloo
For the second year running we were part of the local community at Lower Marsh - behind Waterloo Station , where we were one of a number of choirs joining individual singers for a rousing round of carols. Lots of yummy refreshments were offer and some really engaging late evening market stalls.
Wednesday 20 December - 17:15 Carols on the Tube at Westminster Station (free event - collection)
Another commuter special. Seems to have been well received!
Thursday 21 December - 12:30 Railstaff Carols, St Mary Eversholt Street, NW1 1BN
A long-standing event where we join the wider railway community and Transport Benevolent Fund to sing carols and listen to familiar readings in the final run-up to Christmas 2017, followed by mince pies and liquid refreshments. Another great success and an enjoyable way of meeting old friends and singing to them. And they joined in too, of course, for most of the familiar carols.
Patronal Festival, St Mary's, Welwyn Garden City, June 2017 Southwark Station, Christmas 2016
Other concerts in 2017
In 2017 we enjoyed a variety of singing events, leading up to our Christmas Festival. On 7 March we sang a selection of mainly transport songs at a reception organised by the Women in Transport network at City Hall in London.
Following our previous visits to Paris to sing with the RATP Choir we were invited to participate in singing at the world premiere of Musique en liesse, a songfest of regional French songs with five French choirs and the Orchestra of the French Air Force. This event took place at the Cite de la musique in Paris on 4 June. Preparations included a visit by the chorus master to one of our rehearsals at Palestra - and we had a jolly meal in Paris before our return home on Eurostar.
We were invited back to sing again at the Patronal Festival at St Mary Magdalene in Welwyn Garden City on 15 July. Our music included the first movement of Vivaldi's famous Gloria and a selection of songs from Mamma Mia by Abba. This was a lovely evening and we enjoyed a super tea before car-sharing and train-travelling home.
We promoted our own Remember Remember concert at St James's Church in Bermondsey on 5 November. We sang even more of the Vivaldi Gloria and songs including Surfing USA, California Dreaming, Africa by Toto, the Abba Medley, Fight Song by Rachel Platten, ending with a rousing duet (for choir and tenors) of the iconic Flanders and Swann 'Transport of Delight'.
Taste of London Concert in Brussels Regent Street Bus Cavalcade