Wayns Augmented - October 2024
Wayns Augmented - 2024
Welcome to the Wayns Augmented October ’24 blogpost!
We have had a great beginning to the new choral year. Firstly, we are delighted that the happy occasion of the wedding of Andy Lumsden and his bride Leona Mani took place last weekend- many congratulations to you both from us all! Those of us who decided to turn up on the day to witness the ceremony were treated to a feast of glorious music, the choir conducted by David Hill, and a beaming couple who clearly couldn’t be happier.
We are also celebrating a fantastic “autumn harvest” in the form of our eight new members- welcome to you all!!
Our new members have been kind enough to tell us a little about themselves:
Grahame Edmonds B2
My wife and I moved from Warwickshire in March this year and have settled at a new home in Overton. Before retirement my career was with IBM UK as a systems engineer. I have sung choral music for the last 35 years, latterly in the chamber choir of The Collegiate Church of St Mary, Warwick. My first association with Winchester Cathedral dates from 1992 when my son, who now sings regularly with the Cathedral Choir, first sang as a visiting chorister. Taking his advice of the best group with which to sing was The Waynfletes, happily, I survived Andrew’s audition and joined at the beginning of October. I am looking forward to an eclectic programme of concerts and singing again in a large choral group.
Rose Evans, A2
I moved to Sutton Scotney several years ago from Reading where I sang with the Reading Phoenix Choir and for the last few years I have been singing with Southern Voices. I am very pleased to be joining a high performing, large choir like the Waynflete Singers and am looking forward to my first concert!
Paul Sherrington B1
I'm absolutely delighted to have been accepted as a member of the Waynflete Singers and am really looking forward being part of this choir. I'm from Basingstoke where I've run my own accountancy practice for 18 years. Like many others I sang at school but joined Basingstoke Choral Society in 2011 after a 28 year break from proper singing and as I always say am now making up for lost time.
I also sing with Overton Choral Society as part of the Hampshire Choral Festival in May every year - next year it's the Verdi Requiem in The Anvil in Basingstoke so that will be two Verdi Requiems in successive months and three Verdi Requiems in 18 months for me-in November 2023 I sang it with BCS in The Anvil without the score!
Georgia Wyatt S1
I have recently moved to Winchester and joining the Wayns has provided me with a very welcome opportunity to distract myself and decompress from my final year of studying for a doctorate in Clinical Psychology!
Its been great to feel a part of something again, as my Romsey Abbey chorister days are long behind me (15 years a go!) I am looking forward to getting to know you all.
Guy Milton T1
My wife and I recently returned to the UK on retirement after 30 years living and working in Brussels. We now live close to the centre of Winchester and are enjoying exploring the city and the surrounding countryside. I sang at both school and university, but then found that my career and family responsibilities left me with very little spare time. About 12 years ago I took up singing again when I was asked to join the choir of Holy Trinity church in Brussels, which involved contributing to regular services and singing at special events.
Kayla Ellington, A2
I am currently a final-year Primary Education student at the University of Winchester. I am a student leader for one of the two choirs I am part of there, called Show Choir. Show Choir recently performed at the Theatre Royal, which re-ignited my love for concert performance. My background is a real mix of styles - I have had a great love for music for a long time, both as a violist and a singer, having been part of several choirs at St Catherine's School, Bramley. Singing and conducting have been such an important part of my university life, and I am very much delighted to have an opportunity to be more embedded in the Winchester community as a part of The Waynflete Singers!
S1 Vicki Platt, S1
We - my husband and our two children (age 4 and 7) - moved to Chandler's Ford last year from South West London, seeking a bit more green and a little less grey! I still work in London and commute in a couple of times a week. I specialise in developing and running business operations and currently work for a corporate research and business intelligence consultancy, leading their business services team.
As I'm sure many of us did, I started out singing in my local church choir as a child. Following a detour into musical theatre at school, university and shortly afterwards, which included a stint at the Minack Theatre in Cornwall, I returned to choral music when I joined Thames Philharmonic Choir. With TPC, I sang at Southwark Cathedral and Cadogan Hall. Most recently I sang with our local church choir (much easier when the children were very small!). I am delighted to be back with a large choir and one the calibre of the Wayns, and I'm looking forward to my first chance to sing in the Cathedral.
We extend a very warm Wayns welcome to all these singers, and also to new S2 Alison Maxwell!
We have also been tapping into our own riches this term as rehearsals have begun of the carol written by one of our very own second tenors, composer Tim Cain. Tim has added a sprinkling of autumn gold to our blog in the form a fabulous interview which you can read in the next blog post!
Let’s hope we all enjoy a well deserved autumn break filled with fire-coloured leaves and warm pumpkin spice, ready to continue our musical journey to Bethlehem next half-term!
The idea behind our Wayns Augmented blog is to help keep us connected as a choir, to share our knowledge and experiences and to boost our musical camaraderie! If you have an idea for a future blogpost then please don’t hesitate to contact Sarah Jones or Jacki Donnellan!
