A third season to add to the set for Sing United…
As we say goodbye to 2018 and a big hello to 2019, we look at the year ahead with such excitement! Just what will Sing United’s #greenheartarmy be getting up to this year? With two sell out shows under our belts we now have a whole host of new music to learn and venues to discover. Added to that more exciting plans to announce over the next few months! There certainly won’t be a dull moment that’s for sure.
Introducing… This Land Is Mine!
Looking ahead to our first show of the year on Friday March 22nd at 7:30pm in our adopted performance venue, the People’s Theatre. Once again over 140 singers will unite for ‘This Land Is Mine’ honouring those who work the land.
The fascination with mining our land for what lies beneath the surface dates back longer than any of us can remember. Throughout our history people have worked hard on the land their whole lives and often in dangerous circumstances. Many, many songs have been penned telling the stories of those who worked in mines all over the world. Whether in Tennessee or Tyneside, we’ll be telling the stories of many friends and families from mining coal to precious diamonds.
This Land Is Mine: The Songs
Welsh stories will be represented by the incredibly catchy “The Colliers” by Seth Lakeman. This song tells the tale of the Gresford Disaster in 1934. “Take Me Home is a spine-tingling song originally written for the London Welsh Male Voice Choir by Edwards Hands. Songs by Sting (“We Work The Black Seam”) and U2 (“Redhill Mining Town”), will see Sing United pay tribute to the importance of the history of the British coal industry, and the often highly emotional personal stories of the people connected with it. We’ll tell you what it’s like to “owe my soul to the company store” in the classic Johnny Cash song “Sixteen Tons”. And it would be impossible to sing the stories of mining communities without telling the tales of our region. So we will include the Geordie singalong “The Collier Lad”.
Sing United Supports (with a twist!)
In our previous two concerts our ‘Sing United Supports’ campaign has centred around fundraising. Some much needed cash for two incredible causes in our region. The RNLI, Blyth Lifeboat for our ‘River’s Pride’ show and more recently The People’s Kitchen, Newcastle as part of our ‘Power to the People’ show.
This term is going to be a little bit different. Sing United is made up of a band of wonderfully generous people. However, we can’t expect you to keep digging your hands into your pockets at every rehearsal. This term we’ll be exchanging time instead of money. We want to give something back to the communities connected to the theme of our show.
Meet the Singers, it’s back!
There will be an opportunity again for members of the Sing United family to share their special stories in our third ‘Meet the Singers’ series. We expect there will be lots of tales to tell due to the region we call home where a large proportion of the choir grew up. Do any of you or your family have a history connected to working the land? Was your mother, father, grandparent, auntie, uncle or cousin part of the north east’s mining heritage? Start digging out those old photos and papers to uncover the amazing stories we know you’ll be itching to share!
Another challenging show, some ‘old’ favourites and plenty of new music to soak up. Over the coming weeks we’ll be delving deeper into the stories behind the songs we’re singing. We’ll have some amazing opportunities to volunteer in the local communities for our ‘This Land Is Mine’ project. Plus an exciting opportunity to perform at Woodhorn Colliery on Saturday March 16th. More announcements and non-venue venues to unveil! It’s time to get this show on the road!
Sing United the challenge has been set. ‘This Land Is Mine’ is all yours. Let’s do this!
