All the music societies your heart desires: vocal ensembles

In this series under the name ‘All the music societies your heart desires’, we set to introduce the societies at Warwick which are preoccupied with, you guessed it, music! From who they are, what they do to where they go out and how to join, all the information you need is collated right here.

OPERA WARWICK

For many, Opera may not be the first genre of music a student would chose to listen to. Often perceived as dated or inaccessible, it’s easy to be put off. However, Opera Warwick is a society which aims to present opera to the student population and demonstrate how wrong this can be. We aim to bring opera to a university setting in all its glory. We put on a number of performances across the year – small projects such as an opera specifically created to integrate freshers, to silly projects such as last year’s roaring success Jurassic Park the Opera, tailored to offer a new experience to those who are unfamiliar. Bigger projects, such as our fully staged operas put on in Terms 2 and 3 display the genre in its more original forms, yet with contemporary English translations and innovative student staging. Whether you’re interested in getting involved in our productions or are just curious to learn more and meet some great people we’d love you to come along to our events and auditions. Keep an eye on the Opera Warwick Facebook page for information about upcoming events and auditions.

This year we’ll be holding a fresher’s workshop on Sunday 8th October at 4pm in Avon Studio on the Westwood campus and would love to see as many new faces as possible! Even if you feel like taking part isn’t for you, come along and listen, and make sure to look out for our shows this year and immerse yourself in a different form of culture. If you have any questions feel free to message our Facebook page, or email us at exec@operawarwick.com; we can’t wait to see you at all our upcoming events.

 

 

UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK CHORUS

University of Warwick Chorus is the biggest choir on campus boasting around 200 members from the student body as well as university staff and members of the local community. Under the baton of the university’s Director of Music, we are a completely non-auditioned choir so new members, from any year, are welcome to come along and sing with us. Whether you sung at school or have never tried choral singing before, you are welcome to join us as we aim to provide a choir for all.
As well as weekly rehearsals, we perform in professional venues (such as the Arts Centre) at least once a term, socialise at the pub and we are also going on an international tour with the university’s Symphony Orchestra at the end of Term 2.

Student membership is FREE this academic year so why not come along to our first rehearsal of term: Thursday of Week 1, 7.00pm to 9.30pm in Westwood Lecture Theatre. You can then perform in the Music Centre’s Free Concert on Tuesday of Week 2 where Chorus will be singing some choral classics to open the academic year. Repertoire this term includes O Fortuna from Carmina Burana, a chorus from the musical Kiss Me Kate and Beethoven’s Mass in C in full.
Find out more about what we do as well as this year’s repertoire online at uowchorus.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date. If you have any queries, send us an email at uow.chorus@gmail.com.

 

 

MUSIC THEATRE

Hello there from Music Theatre Warwick, one of the biggest music and arts societies on campus! Contrary to popular assumption, MTW is not all Jazz hands and Melodrama; when it boils down to it, we’re just a bunch of people passionate about trying new things, making high-quality theatre, and, most of all, having fun. Whoever you are, whether you have never thought that musical theatre was the thing for you or if you’re an avid musical fan, MTW is the place for you. We pride ourselves on the fact there’s something for everyone to get involved with. Regardless of if you’re interested in performing, Music Directing, Stage Managing, Costume designing, Marketing, or, quite simply as a social member (which a lot of people do), everyone is a valued part of our society.

Some of our larger shows are auditioned, but we also have loads of un-auditioned opportunities to perform throughout the year; in our termly Weekend Shows and weekly all-inclusive Ensemble group which puts on showcases each term – for which we just won the ‘Warwick SU’s Best Production 2016/17’ Award. We are very proud to say we’ve had some great success over the years, with 5 star-reviews and sell-out shows in the Warwick Arts Centre, performing shows such as ‘Anything Goes’, ‘Follies’, and ‘Little Shop of Horrors’. This year, one of our biggest shows will be ‘Rent’, which will be performed in ‘The Goose Nest’ in February. We’d love for you all to get involved at the start of this term with our Freshers Workshop, Weekend Show & Family Social all fast approaching, but we would like to highlight the fact that you can join at any point throughout the year! For all the up-to-date info, check out our website, Facebook page and group. You can also contact us by email at exec@musictheatrewarwick.co.uk. You can become a member through the SU website, and you’ll get our weekly emails, plus a free MTW t-shirt. We can’t wait to meet you!

 

GLEE

Warwick Glee is a performance society full of harmonising voices, performance opportunities and friendly faces.
Our vision for music in Glee: It’s what you make of it! We hold weekly sessions on Thursdays from 6pm-8pm, each with a different theme where our members can perform in front of a group, learn vocal arrangements and have a brilliant time all year round. In the middle of term 1 we hold auditions for a national university show choir competition ‘Masters of Show Choir’, which is held on the West End. If you are interested in representing Warwick University on a national stage, don’t hesitate to get involved! Moreover, we perform on campus for various events throughout the year, so keep a lookout for us.

We also have plenty of socials such as movie nights, festive meals, tequila nights, or themed circles. We’re a fun, friendly bunch and love our purple as much as our karaoke nights. So if you join Warwick Glee for the music and talent, we bet you’ll stay for the friendships you make along the way. Find us on Facebook, like us for updates and join us for only £3.50 a year! We’ll be hosting taster sessions for anyone who wants to get a feel of the society and the work we do; feel free to come along!

 

CHAMBER CHOIR

The University of Warwick Chamber Choir (UWCC) is an student-run mixed choir that prides itself on performing challenging music to a high standard, whilst maintaining an ethos of friendliness and fun. Under the instruction of Paul McGrath, Director of Music and Lucy Griffiths, Assistant Director of Music, UWCC has gone from strength to strength, establishing a distinguished reputation. For the academic year 2017/18 James Ham will also be directing the choir, as he will be standing in as maternity cover for Lucy Griffiths.

UWCC’s wide ranging repertoire spans sacred, secular and folk music, performing everything from Byrd and Handel to Cole Porter with the same dedication and understanding. UWCC have appeared on BBC national television in the Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year competition, live television in Greece, on Central Television with Caliche with whom a CD of Ariel Ramirez’ Latin American Misa Criolla and Navidad Nuestra was recorded (the British première recording), and have given performances of The Messiah and the Mozart Requiem with world famous orchestras like the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Mozart Players. UWCC performs in a variety of locations, both in Warwickshire and further a field, with annual tour destinations including Spain, Germany, the Republic of Ireland, Belgium and France.

With competitive auditions at the beginning of each new academic year, UWCC attains this aim by maintaining a very high standard of talent as they welcome new singers. UWCC exists for its members and for the enjoyment of its audiences.
Info about how to join the choir, and the calendar for 2017-18 is here.