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Canton Chorus Data Protection Statement
At our AGM in Oct 2018, Canton Chorus agreed this policy, in order to comply with the Data Protection Act 2018, which came into force on 25 May 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679.
We are publishing it here, in order to ensure that members and others with whom we have dealings can trust us to use the information about them, that we collect and hold, fairly and responsibly.
CANTON CHORUS DATA PROTECTION STATEMENT
Introduction
Canton Chorus is a registered charity. Its objects are:
- to advance, improve, develop and maintain public education in, and appreciation of, the art of choral singing and associated musical activity, through any means the Trustees see fit, including the provision of rehearsals under skilled guidance and public performance;
- to further such charitable purpose or purposes as the Trustees in their absolute discretion shall think fit, in relation to the practice of choral singing.
Canton Chorus is a membership organisation, open to any person interested in furthering the objects of the Choir. The management of the organisation is in the hands of the Trustees, who are elected annually by members at an Annual General Meeting.
Personal information is collected and held, with the consent of those concerned or such as is necessary in order to make or fulfil a contract, for purposes inherent in or closely connected with the objects of the organisation. The information is available to Trustees and to persons designated by the Trustees to hold or use the information.
Categories of personal information
The organisation may hold personal information in the following categories:
Members’ contact details, which may include names, postal addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses. This information is held primarily by the Part Representatives (one each for soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices respectively).
Information concerning the payment of subscriptions and donations, which may include names, payment records and bank details and, in the case of Gift Aid Declarations, postal addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and declarations of residential and tax status. This information is held primarily by the Treasurer.
Information concerning those with whom the organisation enters into contracts or has other business dealings, for example conductors, accompanists, soloists and other musicians performing at concerts, composers from whom work may be commissioned, persons or organisations from whom the Choir may buy or hire premises, equipment or services. This information is held primarily by one or more of the Treasurer, Musical Director and Librarian.
The organisation may also hold information concerning persons other than current members, such as former members or supporters of the Choir, who may wish to receive information about the Choir and its activities and who have given their consent for this purpose. That information is held primarily by Part Representatives or such other person or persons as may be designated by the Trustees.
Ordinary members of the Choir may from time to time receive information, such as contact details, about other members of the Choir. They shall be made aware that this information must be held and used solely for purposes of furthering the objects of the Choir and for no other purpose, except with the express consent of the individual or individuals concerned.
Consent, retention and deletion of personal information
All members and other persons interested in furthering the objects of the Choir (such as former members and supporters) shall be asked to sign a consent in writing to the retention and use of their contact details and other relevant information for the purposes of furthering the objects of the Choir, and undertaking only to use such information as they may receive about others for these purposes.
Persons designated by the Trustees as primary holders of personal information shall be responsible for seeing that it is accurate and up to date, and that consent is current. They shall take reasonable steps to ensure that information is held securely, whether in paper or electronic form.
Personal information shall be deleted when it is no longer required or relevant for furthering the objects of the Choir. Information shall be deleted upon withdrawal of consent or at any event no later than five years after consent was last given. In order to give effect to this, Trustees shall organise a full audit of information held every five years.
Our website address has been changed – it is now cantonchorus.org.uk – please read below
We had been notified that the registration of our existing website address would come to an end in January 2019 and because this part of our web administration was managed by Keith Underdown, his very sad passing in 2015 has left us unable to renew the registration. The new website address is http://www.cantonchorus.org.uk so please insert this into your smartphones, iPads, and computers as a replacement for http://www.canton-chorus.org.uk. The latter address will still work for a few weeks – and there is a chance we may be able to re-register it once we have lost it.
Website and internet administration is being looked after by Anna Brazier, Margot Henery and myself (Brian Morgan). We would really appreciate offers of help from other members of the chorus who have acquired skills in this territory.
Boost Canton Chorus funds through all your Amazon purchases
Please help boost choir funds by getting into the habit of doing your Amazon shopping (and persuading your friends and family to do same) through this link below:
This will take you directly to the Amazon website, where you can log into your own account and proceed to shop as usual.
Without paying any extra for your shopping, you will be boosting choir funds, through a small percentage commission paid by Amazon directly into the choir account. The contribution to our funding can be as large as 10% for some items.
Every single Amazon purchase made by our members, families and friends can potentially generate funds direct to the choir’s bank account. The addition of this funding option has come from enterprising research by Margot Henery, with thanks to the late Keith Underdown who discovered it originally. If any changes or improvements are needed to the way this has been added to this website, do please let either Margot or myself ([email protected]) know.
Feedback from Membership – Tell me about your experience of being in Canton Chorus.
Members will know I ( Anna Brazier ) have now taken over as secretary. Soon I will be reporting back to Ty Cerdd about our January performance. Feedback from membership and audience will be important, so please tell me about your experience of being in Canton Chorus. You can speak to me personally at rehearsals or ask me for my email address. I look forward to hearing from you. I joined a long time ago with no classical music background so it’s been an education in every sense of the word. I love it that we are relaxed about enjoying our music while at the same time work hard to bring fantastic choral works to our local area. Singing once a year with a large orchestra is still a real thrill for me.
(Footnote – congratulations and best wishes to Anna for taking on two rôles, secretary and a website administrator. Until we have worked out how to give Anna her own password she is using mine which is why my name appears at the head of the post not hers – she wrote it not me! BM)
Canton Chorus is now a Registered Charity
Our registration as a charity dates from April 21st 2016, but there is now further information for members, in that we can now benefit from increased revenue from any members who are UK tax-payers.
Any of our contributors who are in that category can help us reclaim tax on their membership fees by downloading and completing a canton-chorus-gift-aid-declaration Gift Aid form.
The forms can also be handed to members by our treasurer at a rehearsal.
Our Charity Commission registration number is 1166663.
The Secret Life Of Bach
Twenty of us joined early music group The Clerks for a multi-Bach-chorale session on the main stage at St David’s Hall on Sunday March 13th 2016. There’s a full write-up of the concert here from Wales Arts Review. My personal view (Brian Morgan) – well worth it – the rehearsals Ben Pinnow helped us with made such a difference – on that Sunday we actually knew what we were supposed to be singing and we were well up to the standards brought by the two highly respected other Cardiff choirs. Unfortunately no photos have emerged so far. Let’s have some feedback. You can check the two FaceBook pages too. Canton Chorus Canton Chorus 2
Audio Recording of a Folk Song arranged by John Abraham
Tum Balalaika is a folk song of Russian Jewish and Yiddish origin, which our conductor John Abraham arranged and we sang for the first time on Wednesday 10th February 2016. Brian Morgan recorded some of the rehearsal and this is the version John has agreed we can include on our website. The choir loved this version, we might perform it a bit better in due course.
Photographs from Summer 2015 Concert, by Noel Dacey
Until I’ve had a chance to pick suitable images to be shown larger here is the great set taken by Noel Dacey, passed to Margot Henery for me to upload. If anyone has specific choices do let me know – brianmorgan at ntlworld.com
Resources For Practising Between Rehearsals – collected by Margot Henery
Rehearsal resources for Stravinsky ‘Symphony of Psalms’:
A: for those who like CD’s or an mp3 download
Choraline have them for sale for each part
and so does Quintus Benziger at Saffron Choral Prompt
Website: http://www.saffronchoralprompt.co.uk/ Telephone 01799 586269 or e-mail [email protected]
B: for those who are happy using online resources (don’t forget to consider making a donation … details are usually easy to find on the websites)
or
The only help I found for the Madrigals and Part Songs so far is online at:
All the songs that John has mentioned as possibles are there … in fact, I think all the madrigals and part songs in our book are there.
A tip for using online resources:
for those who want to slow down the speed, I’ve discovered you can slow rehearsal files down if listening to them on the computer through Windows Media Player (so this doesn’t apply to music files on John Fletcher’s website)… see:
(or search there for an equivalent page if you’re not using Windows 7)
which says:
“Play a file, and make sure you’re in Now Playing mode.
If you’re in the Player Library mode, click the ‘Switch to Now Playing’ button in the lower-right corner of the Player (the ‘button’ is a little symbol: 3 little blue squares and a blue arrow)
Right-click an open space in the Player (such as to the left of the Stop button), point to ‘Enhancements’ and then click ‘Play speed settings’
Move the Play Speed slider to the speed at which you want to play the file, or click the Slow, Normal, or Fast links”
& re recordings of Stravinsky
I don’t know if (any of?) it would be helpful, but I found the notes below on the OU choir’s wiki page.
Symphony of Psalms
There are numerous recordings, several with downloads available. The following is only a selection.
The recording which is probably most accessible to most of you is Robert Craft’s (2001) on Naxos 8.557504 because, as well as being the cheapest CD to buy, I presume it will also be available online to members of OU staff and members of Bucks County Library. This has been praised for its accuracy to the score, and particularly to Stravinsky’s metronome markings. The choral singing is indeed accurate and good, and it’s particularly clear in the second movement and the fast sections of the third movement which, for different reasons, present the greatest challenges. I do, however, find the choral-orchestral perspective sometimes surprisingly odd for a modern recording, and the overall pacing slightly pedantic.
I can see why the 1966 recording by Karel Ancerl held its place in the charts for so long: his forthright approach and the strong choral sound serve Stravinsky well. The 2003 remastering of this Supraphon recording has also been highly praised. SU 3674-2 211.
The recording by Westmminster Cathedral Choir under James O’Donnell on Hyperion CDA66437 was widely applauded at the time of its release in 1991 and justifiably so. This really is a very good performance, and stylish, and seems to me to indicate two things: firstly, that performances of this piece and in this style are now coming of age; and second, how healthy and sophisticated the British choral tradition is. My only reservation is that a combination of a slight English sweetness and perhaps the very resonant acoustic occasionally take the edge off the clarity required in this particular piece.
Pierre Boulez astonished audiences in the 1970s with the accuracy and polish of his performances of twentieth-century repertoire. His complete Stravinsky recordings are available on Deutsche Gramophon 477 8730 at the bargain price of £19.17 for 6 CDs (from Presto Classical, currently offering 40% reduction on boxed sets). I would call his reading of the Symphony of Psalms a composer’s performance – not completely transparent in every detail but beautifully paced and persuasive as a whole. It seems to me to be lovingly performed – it’s as though he has got beyond all the technical and practical obstacles and to a place where he is contented and relaxed with the piece.
It is always worth hearing Stravinsky’s recordings of his own music. He recorded this piece three times and his Feb. 1931 recording is available as part of a 3-CD set from Andante SC-A-1100. This recording is remarkable for having been made just two months after the premiere, and by different performers. It’s of considerable historical interest as an insight into the composer’s interpretative intentions, although of course that depends on whether he got what he wanted out of the performers. I wouldn’t recommend it as a model of choral tone, but on the other hand it does have a wild, granitic primitiveness which is not inappropriate. And some surprising speeds.
I have been given a loan of a recording from the BBC Music Magazine Collection (BBC MM299) by the BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra conducted by (I think) Andrew Davis (the sleeve is somewhat confusing about attribution). It’s a live performance from the Barbican, slightly rhythmically unstable at first but excellently sung throughout by this amateur chorus – British again. In the middle of the second movement it finds its focus and the third movement is very good, the final peroration masterly. I’m uncertain whether it’s available to buy.
Richard Seaton has found, on the Naxos website, a performance by Herreweghe with Collegium Vocale Gent which he says ‘sounds lovely and is a modern full sound which is exciting to listen to’.”