News
10th June 2008
EXCITING NEWS...
...about brand new Workshops for Singing and Writing, details of which can be found on the Workshops and Classes and Dates for your Diary pages!! Don't miss them as places are restricted! Please also see new poems for June
20th May 2008
Our Concert to raise funds for the Kenya Projects...
...in support of FolesHillfields Vision on Thursday May 1st raised £816.29 and a generous donor made it up to £1000.00 on the night, so CONGRATULATIONS to one and all!!
What a memorable evening it proved to be too!!
With the rousing harmonies from One Voice and the delicate harmonies from No Strings, all the hard work paid off and I’m sure you all felt pleased with the response from our audience who packed the hall and cheered us on in appreciation!
Thank you to you all for all your efforts and hard work. I feel very privileged and proud to be leading you.
Our thanks also go to Free Harmony for their generous support and to International Fusion who are a group of musicians and singers from our city who put together songs from Scotland, Nigeria and China, especially for the occasion, all performed by artists from those countries.
Cyprian Onderi also treated us to two songs from Kenya joined by Heather Parker for one song and the audience for one song, and this added up to a beautiful International fusion of performers and sounds all on stage together. Thank you to you all; you were amazing!
Here’s to the next one!
All the very best
Chris
1st April 2008
One Voice and No Strings
We are pleased to announce that One Voice and No Strings now have their own web page, so do check in with them from time to time to see what they're getting up to!
29th March 2008
The Community Choirs Festival
is taking place on Saturday April 19th at Warwick Arts Centre. This is an amazing opportunity for our groups to take part in workshops, learn new songs and meet with other Community choirs and sing with up to 400 voices.
For more information about the day please go to http://www.communitychoirsfestival.co.uk.
17th March 2008
To Grace The Earth
We are pleased to announce the publication of The Natural Voice Network's new collection of songs called 'To Grace the Earth'. It is the very first Natural Voice Practitioners' Network collection of short songs. It especially pleasing that one of Chris's rounds has been chosen to be included in the collection. Please contact Chris by email for further information or if you wish to purchase a copy of the collection. More information can be found on the Song Writing page.
To Grace the Earth - A collection of short songs and rounds published by the NVPN - includes 'Can you see the new moon Rising' - written by Chris
Short songs are a valuable staple of Natural Voice work - simple to teach and to learn, easy to remember, ranging from the very funny to the very moving, they are a fantastic way to unite any group of singers. Ideal for use as warm-ups; for improvisation; for opening, closing and punctuating workshops; or simply singing in the car or over the washing-up, the short song is the nugget of gold which can always be relied upon to get you singing.
The 64 songs in this mouth-watering, inspiring compilation have been sent in by Natural Voice Practitioners from all over the UK and pay tribute to the hugely rich diversity of our expanding network. Some have been shared between us over the years, and are tried and tested by singers in far-flung places, but here, for the first time, is an opportunity for all of us to mine this rich seam of resource material, both in score and CD form, and ensure that we keep passing around those little gems which are just begging to be sung and sung again ... and again.
17th March 2008
Internet Radio Broadcasts
Internet Radio Station, Audio Book Radio, will be broadcasting some of Chris's work from Monday 17th March at 7.36am and pm for one or two weeks
Apart from being able to hear some great work from established authors, the station is promoting 'new writers' work and also other dramatic work from the West Midlands region.
Enjoy the broadcast and feel free to spread the word!
http://www.audiobookradio.net/index.php
11th March 2008
New Performance!
Check out details of the next performance by Free Harmony, No Strings, One Voice and others by checking out the Dates for your Diary page.
11th March 2008
See Feedback...
See feedback from Free Harmony's latest performance by checking out the Free Harmony page.
28th February 2008
New Free Harmony Information!
Check out the Free Harmony page for information on upcoming performances, new sound clips and even a lovely new photo!
Also added recently are new Dates for your Diary and Workshops and Classes
.11th February 2008
New RSS Feed!
We are pleased to announce that the chrishoskins.co.uk website now has it's very own RSS news feed. That means that you can subscribe to the site, and every time we add something new, whether it's a poem, a sound clip, a piece of news, anything really, your RSS reader will let you know. Hoorah!
You can subscribe by clicking on the link in the menu. If you don't know anything about RSS feeds, you may find this BBC article on RSS Feed basics useful.
9th February 2008
Poetry has been Promoted!
The poetry section has been "promoted" to be its very own section and you can now visit the Poetry of the Month page each month to see what's been added. We've also included links at the bottom to previous pages, so if you missed January's Poetry of the Month - don't panic! You can still have a look!
We're constantly trying to improve the appearance of the site, so please let us know what you think!
30th January 2008
We are delighted to announce...
...the publication of Chris's poem Never our Skin in The Dawntreader. Go to the Poetry page to have a look!
The Dawntreader is a quarterly literary publication that adheres strictly to publishing high quality poetry with the theme of the mystic, landscape, myth, nature, legend, spirituality and love/concern for the environment. It attracts an international readership.
The Dawntreader issue #3 is now available from http://www.indigodreamspress.co.uk
28th January 2008
New content...
...on the A'cappella Songs and A'cappella Arrangements pages.
14th January 2008
In 2007 Chris was commissioned...
...to work with the Story Telling company Annamation. This exciting and dynamic trio take story telling to a new dimension, weaving a'cappella harmonies throughout their stories, making them compelling to hear and see.
You are invited to a FREE PREVIEW OF:
ANNAMATION'S NEW SHOW TONGUE & GROOVE!
7.30pm Wednesday 23rd January 2008
The Library Theatre, Paradise Place, Birmingham B3 3HQ
Ancient to Urban. Classic to Contemporary. Tales that travel through time and space trip off the tongue and slot into the soul. Traditional tales with a triple twist - the new generation of storytellers has arrived!
It is said that the power of life and death is held in the tongue. A curse has been spoken. Can it be undone? Directed by storyteller Xanthe Gresham Tongue & Groove is a fast moving poetic flow of stories that takes you from the forever old into the here and now. Experience the power of words for yourself through tales of loss and love, wisdom and folly, humour and passion. Incorporating Greek myths and Russian, Iraqi, and Jewish folktales this unique fusion of a' cappella harmonies, poetic storytelling and an interactive physical style guarantees a spine-tingling energy through sound and song.
To reserve your FREE place call 07908 017 897 or email info@annamation.co.uk. ALL ARE WELCOME.
10th January 2008
The Poetry section is changing!
At the top of the Poetry page you can now find the 'Poetry of the Month' section. Further down is the Poetry page as you know and love it, which we will also continue to update. Keep an eye on the News page for new content and updates!
9th January 2008
In 2007 Chris's poetry and or short stories were accepted and published...
in the following publications; Aesthetica Magazine, Transmission magazine, Dawn Treader Magazine, The best of Warwick Words publication, and also a poem published on the Symphony Hall Birmingham web site.
She was commissioned to write for Poetry on Loan Birmingham and her poem When I go to that Silent Place seeking Solitude was published by them and produced on post card and is available at libraries throughout the West Midlands. She was the winner of the Lyme Regis radio Haiku writing competition.
One of her songs composed for Round singing was accepted for publication and will be on sale this Spring through NVPN.
One of Chris's short stories, Falling from Grace, along with others, was adapted for a stage play The last Gasp and was staged for two nights in London by the theatre company Cockandbull productions.
7th January 2008
Formerly Singing for the Terrified, now One Voice...
held their first ever public performance with an amazing concert in aid of The Meningitis Trust at The Cheylesmore Community Centre, Cheylesmore, Coventry on December 13th 2007.
Supporting acts a’cappella trio Free Harmony and Singer Song Writer Ian Abbot completed the line up and performed to an audience of 200 people who were enthusiastic and supportive to say the least! With outstanding unsolicited feed-back and emails of congratulations we were truly overwhelmed by the support and the reception we were given. It was heartening to see so many young people in our audience and to know that they too enjoyed our repertoire of world music and original songs.
We raised £868 for the charity and One Voice really did themselves proud. I congratulate them all for their tremendous efforts and for an outstanding year of progress and achievement! Thank you to one and all!!
Chris Hoskins Musical Director.
Following on from our concert, the following week One Voice held our Christmas celebration and took over the whole of the top floor of the Sarogoan restaurant in Cheylesmore on December 20th. What an evening that was!! We were made so welcome. The food was outstanding and the spontaneous singing was a joy......(even the waiters joined in!!) and I didn’t even need to give any starting notes!!!! What a long way we have come in such a short time. The evening ended with an unexpected ode and a gift for yours truly!! For those who weren’t able to come... maybe one or two, here’s the ode, but this is also my opportunity to thank you all for your VERY generous gift!!! THANKYOU
An Ode to Chris H.
To become a member of ‘Singing For The Terrified’
One doesn’t need to be scared, or particularly wild eyed
That applies to all of us,
and non that we know, are officially certified
Our weekly routines start with odd sounding noises
not anything like you’d expect from our voices
We flap our arms and, kiss the ceiling
desperately hoping normal folk aren’t peering
Now we are a well behaved bunch
but sometimes things just come to a crunch
Quiet! and shush! are loudly called
calm and decorum once again restored
Achievements are not in the least bit lacking
our teacher won’t stand for any slacking
We’ve (David’s) learned to count and divide by three
that’s the only way to sing harmony
We’re taught to breathe and when to pause
all this results in, great applause
A debt of gratitude we now owe
to the person who shaped us so
She booked us in for surgery
and improved us all, immeasurably
Now indentured, we made the right choice,
it lead to promotion, we’re now called ‘One Voice’
So please join me as I know you all will
To say a heartfelt thank you – and cheers to this girl
This is an unsolicited letter of congratulations we received following our concert!
Dear Chris,
I was at the performance on Thursday (I am Carole and Keith's daughter) and wanted to send my congratulations to yourself and the whole group on the high standard of the whole evening. If I had not known beforehand that this was a group of people who not so long ago were terrified to sing, sometimes even in the privacy of their own homes, I would never have guessed it from the standard of the performance. It was clear how hard the group had worked, the diction was really clear and everyone was obviously listening to each other and watching you closely, I know from personal expereince it is no mean achievement to get a group of more than 30 people all singing in time and sounding consonants together. The programme was varied and well rehearsed. A great achievement all round and the fact that you were also raising money for such an important cause was a bonus too.
One piece of information that may be of interest: there were a couple of songs you were unable to credit the origin for, one of which was "Every part of the Earth." I know this song, in German, from a CD called Healing Journey by an artist called Amei Helm. The text is taken from a speech credited by Amei and also another source I can't remember, to Chief Seattle in 1854: don't know which of the Native American peoples he belonged to. She credits the melody to Stefan Vesper.
Congratulations once again to yourself, all the members of One Voice and everyone who contributed to the success of Thursday evening.
All good wishes,
Ange
These are extracts from unsolicited letters of congratulations we received following our concert!
From Lynne's family:
All enjoyed ‘One Voice’ – particular compliments on Hamba Natil, Noyana, Soyilwela and Yon Do. Compliments too for Free Harmony, especially the first half - unfortunately I missed this bit but I am told it was well sung and dynamic (by separate commentators who had not conferred and don’t know one another).
From Jane's family
My family thoroughly enjoyed it, and my daughter was full of compliments for all of us. She commented on what a wonderful atmosphere there was and I agree. I think One Voice is a very special group, not just the singing but the friendship and good humour too.
From Jean's family
Hello Chris finally found time to sit and email you some of the comments from my friends who were at the concert Thursday evening.
They thought the choir was wonderful we sang some amazing songs and they loved the harmony, and they also realised how much effort and time had gone in to making us sound so good. They loved Free Harmony for the refreshing songs they sang and hadn`t heard before, and in particular one friend liked the last two songs. They noticed we all seemed to be happy and enjoying ourselves, but acknowledged the reason why we were there and thought Leona was brave, it was a lovely evening enjoyed by them all and hoped it raised loads of money for The Meningitis Trust. They also thought it was too cheap!
Nuneaton Group!
On December 11th the Nuneaton Group, only formed earlier in 2007 performed to an audience of 50 + friends and relatives at the lovely Holy Trinity Church Hall, Nuneaton. They too did themselves and me proud to have performed after such a short time of being formed!! Although nerves and colds were floating around, the group really performed to their best and the audience loved it and were full of praise and positive comments and really enjoyed our repertoire. It was a lovely relaxed evening and afterwards we were all treated to drinks and Christmas goodies. So I congratulate you all thank you for an inspirational evening. The only way is up!!
ps.... we’re looking for a name.. Any ideas???
Here’s to another successful year for us all!!!
Chris