skirtcafe.org

I have a sneaking feeling the committee didn't spot this. My choir's brochure for this session has a picture of us, of course. It was taken while we were having a quick warm up before a concert in Edinburgh one sunny afternoon. (Probably looking at the bits that had gone wrong the previous evening haha!) Some of us hadn't changed into our black concert outfits, and if you look very closely at the man in the stripey shirt, you can just see what he is wearing on his bottom half.

http://glasgowchamberchoir.org.uk/wp-co ... e_Back.png

Next time I will have to be in the front row!

Definitely try to be in the front row next time, I wouldn't have noticed if you hadn't pointed it out.

Reminds me when I was a member of a community chorus where I wore denim skirts to the rehearsals. . For some reason the men usually wore shorts and the women wore long trousers as a matter of habit. I didn't get a reaction, much less a remark for wearing the skirts. Then there was a cold snap and on that day I wore trousers. I got razzed for wearing trousers from a fellow bass singer.

My guess is the wearing of the skirt was noticed but since some members were still wearing street clothes the picture was approved anyway.

John

John, you may well be right. I always wear skirts to rehearsals, so they know fine what I was wearing. Must have decided I was not noticeable to the untrained eye.

But it's good anyway.

Alastair, do you happen to sing second bass as I do? I'm curious.

John

I would imagine if they don't have a problem with you wearing a skirt to church/choir/whatever, they don't have a problem including that in photos. What stood out more was that you were one of two people in a non-conforming top half. It was like the world's easiest "Where's Waldo" puzzle. They should have waited on the publicity photo until everyone was in performance outfits.

Will you be wearing trousers to match the men or a black dress to match the ladies on the actual performance? I'll be VERY impressed if they are OK with the dress.

Ralph wrote:I would imagine if they don't have a problem with you wearing a skirt to church/choir/whatever, they don't have a problem including that in photos.

And why would they?? All one would have to do is point to the obvious top center image depicting a fair number of men in... "dresses"....

John, I'm on second bass at present, though it's not my natural habitat. Some seconds left and I was shifted down from first, on account of my low E being less feeble than the other firsts. I've a low D on a good day and a low C after a good night! It's pretty much useless though.

In our last concert we performed Svyati by John Tavener, and the bottom (fourth!) bass line is a low E drone for about 12 minutes. I was glad to dodge that one.

Ralph, I can't remember the last time I went to a rehearsal in trousers, concert day warm-ups excluded. There were quite a few raised eyebrows in the choir when I first turned up in a church in a skirt - "what will the minister think" etc etc - but when nobody seemed to mind, that faded away.

A skirted concert is a "success not yet achieved" lol.

The photographer should have waited until we had all changed into black. He has learned his lesson: we were all told to turn up in concert attire for the warm-up before our last gig, specifically so he could take new photos.

Funny thing is, the ladies don't match even though they are all in black. The men, we match perfectly: long sleeves, no patterns, no flourishes, low heels. But the women! Skirts, dresses, trousers; fitted or baggy; matt, shiny or sparkly; boots, shoes, sandals; heels all up and down. But that's OK, obviously, even though they are about as varied as possible while still wearing the same colour. A previous conductor tried to get them to look uniform, and they mumped and moaned until they could wriggle out of it.

skirtyscot wrote:John, I'm on second bass at present, though it's not my natural habitat. Some seconds left and I was shifted down from first, on account of my low E being less feeble than the other firsts. I've a low D on a good day and a low C after a good night! It's pretty much useless though.

In our last concert we performed Svyati by John Tavener, and the bottom (fourth!) bass line is a low E drone for about 12 minutes. I was glad to dodge that one.

Aye, several drams of Scotch does wonders to extend the low range of one's voice. If I do that the next morning I can sing G below the bass staff. A normal low note for me is low C. But the price of such a deep voice is D above the bass staff is not easy for me to sing. And I hate the bass part of Handel's Messiah since it is so high.

JohnH wrote:...Aye, several drams of Scotch does wonders to extend the low range of one's voice. If I do that the next morning I can sing G below the bass staff. A normal low note for me is low C. But the price of such a deep voice is D above the bass staff is not easy for me to sing. And I hate the bass part of Handel's Messiah since it is so high.

Ah yes, Scotch Whisky the universal elixir, suitable for any occasion, definitely loosens one's lips.