Photos Graham Turnbull

We sang carols in Mare Street on 18th December at a Winter Festival event organised by Hackney Council.

Ben Saul conducted and it was a good opportunity to hand out flyers for our carol concert!

Some members also joined Islington Amnesty group for their fundraising carols at Highbury and Islington on 17th December.

The Christmas produce sale on 11th Dec 2008 was well supported.  A sumptuous array of specially made cards, jams, allotment honey, plants and mincemeat were brought and sold and £275 was raised for choir funds. 

Many thanks to all those who gave their time and produce, and to the enthusiastic members who came early for the best selection!

25 singers attended the workshop with Ben Saul on 28th June 2008 in Worthing.  It was a fun event for members and friends with all sorts of different music from Haydn to African rounds.  Some visited the sea in the late afternoon and stayed over for a walk on the Sunday.

The cold did not dampen the enthusiasm of the Hackney Singers in Trafalgar Square!  We sang carols for Sense, the national charity for the deafblind on Dec 19th 2007.  Members also sang carols for Amnesty International and at Homerton Hospital carol service.

St Peter de Beauvoir was overflowing for our carol concert on 16th December 2007 conducted by Dan Ludford-Thomas, and we made a  collection of £896 for the church's cold weather shelter.  The concert was followed by an enjoyable social in the church hall.

Rehearsing with EMFEB and conductor Ben Ellin for our performance of Vivaldi Gloria at St John at Hackney on 15th July 2007.  The performance included the London Premiere of a Thomas Hardy Song cycle written by Owen Bourne, creative director, and a member of the Hardy Society, Bernard Palmer, read the poems before each song. 

Our colourful stall at St John at Hackney fair on 07/07/07 was visited by pearly prince Alfie, Deputy Speaker Faizullah Kahn, the Reverend Rob Wickham and MP Meg Hillier among many others who bought our home made jam, cakes and renowned allotment honey.  Our display stand was on show in the church and we raised £164 for choir funds.  Many thanks to all who made produce and helped on the day, and to Jemma for organisation. Photos: Imogen Radford 

We performed Mahler's 3rd Symphony with the Forest Philharmonic at the Walthamstow Assembly Hall on Saturday 1st July 2007 under the mighty baton of Mark Shanahan.  What a tremendous piece!  Hackney Singers may just be spied at the back of the stage behind the huge brass section. 

For more see the Forest Philharmonic website.

Our new display stand is touring local libraries to generate publicity for the choir. 

It was on show at Wood Street Library, Forest Road, Waltham Forest from 18th-23rd June 2007, ahead of our concert with the Forest Philharmonic, and attracted attention at our recent Spring Concert.  It then moved to Homerton Library on 25th June 2007, and to St John's for our concert with Emfeb.

On March 15th 2007 our music and books sale raised £272 for choir funds.  Many thanks to all who brought and bought.  The surplus books were donated to the St John at Hackney Summer Fair.

The produce sale at the rehearsal on the 7th and 14th December 2006 was very successful raising over £380 for choir funds.  Many thanks to all those who brought produce and helped on the stall.

On 18th December 2006 we sang carols in Trafalgar Square from 6-7pm to raise money for deaf blind charity SENSE.  It was a fun event raising over £200 and apparently the sound we made was very good.

We provided an "infernal chorus of the spirits" for the English Touring Opera production of Monteverdi's Orfeo at the Hackney Empire on 6th October 2006. 

"I worked them hard in a very short period, and they gave 110%.  I couldn't have asked for more." ETO Conductor, Rob Howarth. 

"I loved the contribution of the amateur singers in the theatre balcony, who suddenly and joyously added a new dimension to the sound world as Orfeo crossed the Styx"  Richard Morrison, the Times. 

"There is a lovely moment when amateurs rise in the auditorium to add their antiphonal voices to the great chorus as Orfeo crosses the Styx" Rupert Christiansen, the Telegraph  Press Release. 

The Deputy Speaker Councillor Faizullah Khan buying jam at our stall at St John's Church Fete on 22nd July 2006.  Repeat visitors included the Pearly Queens and Meg Hillier MP, who came for the special allotment honey. 

We sold home-made jams and fresh wild cherries from Suffolk, which went down very well, and £60 was made for choir funds.  Thanks to Imogen Radford for organising the stall.   

Our Christmas Concert on 10th December 2005 took place in the stunning surroundings of St Mark's Dalston, a wonderful Victorian Gothic experience (right).  The concert was skillfully conducted by Dan Ludford-Thomas and accompanied by Ben Saul, and raised £400 for the Red Cross Pakistan earthquake appeal. 

Much of the 200 plus audience joined us for our Christmas party in the church hall, with live music by "The Drawbacks" featuring members of the choir.  It rounded off a busy end of term season during which we sang carols in Trafalgar square for Sense (left), and held our Christmas produce sale raising £365 for choir funds. 

The Hackney Singers' stall selling jam and other goodies is becoming an annual event at the St John at Hackney Church fete. This year the stall was visited by the Pearly Queen and Princess of Homerton (the Queen's aunt and uncle came last year), by deputy speaker Councillor Afolasade Bright, and by Hackney South and Shoreditch new MP Meg Hillier.

Many thanks to those who braved the cold and came to the garden party on Saturday 11th June 2005 and especial thanks to those who helped with the tombola, the jam stall, the plants, the teas and the door. 

The Carol Concert at St Peter's de Beauvoir on Saturday 11th December 2004 was very enjoyable and marked Dan Ludford-Thomas's first performance with us as associate conductor.  We raised £363 for Project Dost, based at the Trinity Centre in East Ham to help child refugees in London. 

Warm weather helped attract the crowds to our spot singing carols in Trafalgar Square on 15th December 2004 when collections were for the deafblind charity Sense.  Thanks to Andy Storey for conducting us. Photo by Zita Lloyd

In the summer 2004 we took a stall at the St John at Hackney church fair, to publicise the choir and the autumn concert. The choir has strong links with St John's which has been a favoured venue for our concerts for several years.

The pearly queens of Islington and Hackney, star attractions at the fair, admiring and buying the marvellous array of jams, chutneys and preserves made by choir members.

Thanks to Imogen for organising the stall and to everyone who contributed produce, time, energy and help. The stall was very popular, we sold lots of jam and raised £182 for choir funds.  Photo: Imogen Radford