The programme, written by Monday.
Welcome, director's note, a note on each piece, bios tidied. From your committee's notes. $49.
Before · the committee's notes
“Daniel Okafor organ - he hasn't sent a bio!! All I know: assistant organist at St Michael's, Durham organ scholar, accompanies us every term. Can you do something with that. … Faure Requiem - Thomas again + Ellie Marsh doing the Pie Jesu (she's one of our sopranos, 2nd year with us) … please no song texts, we had a copyright thing last year”
After · the programme copy
The performers
Daniel Okafor, organ. Daniel is Assistant Organist at St Michael's and was Organ Scholar at Durham. He has accompanied the Society's rehearsals and concerts every term since he came to the church.
Fauré: Requiem
The Pie Jesu, the short prayer at the centre of the work, is written for a single soprano voice; tonight it is sung by Ellie Marsh, a member of the choir.
Questions for the committee
Interval: twenty minutes is printed. Say if Catherine wants fifteen.
Sample programme · an invented society, from the 600-word email below
Three steps.
Send the notes
The pieces in order, the director's note as they sent it, the bios as they came (the long one, the missing one, the three facts), the thank-you list. The email you were going to spend Sunday turning into a programme is exactly right.
We write it
A welcome from the chair from your points. The director's note tidied in their words. A fresh note on each piece: what it is, when it was written, what the words are about, who sings it. Every bio to one length and one person. Thank-yous and the next concert.
Read the questions
A Word file, a text file and a PDF proof within two days, with a list of what we tidied and your questions: the orchestra's name, the interval, the charity number. One free round of changes within a week, so the late bio still goes in.
What you send, what you get.
Hi, programme copy for the autumn concert, as promised, sorry it's late, print deadline is Monday so anything you can do by then!! Concert: Sat 21 Nov, 7.30pm, St Michael's. Harbourside Choral Society Autumn Concert. Tickets £14 / £12 conc / under 18 free (on the door and from Jane). Pieces in order: - Parry I was glad (we open with this, organ) - Vaughan Williams 5 Mystical Songs - Thomas is the baritone - INTERVAL (wine and soft drinks at the back, 20 mins. or about 15? ask Catherine) - Faure Requiem - Thomas again + Ellie Marsh doing the Pie Jesu (she's one of our sopranos, 2nd year with us) With orchestra - the usual players, Catherine said to say "with orchestra", she'll confirm the name. Catherine's note (musical director) - she sent this, says tidy it however you like: "This is a programme about consolation, I suppose, though I didnt plan it that way, I chose the Faure first because we have never done it and the choir asked for it for years and then everything else followed. Parry because its the best possible way to start a concert in a building like St Michaels and because we did it at the 40th anniversary and people still talk about it. The Herbert settings I have loved since I sang them as a student, the fourth song The Call is the one everyone knows but Love bade me welcome is the heart of it. The Faure is not a dramatic requiem, there is no last judgement, it is quiet and it is kind. We have 62 singers this term which is the most we've had since before covid. Thank you for coming. Catherine" Bios: Catherine Alder MD - been with us since 2014, studied at RNCM, conducts the Westfield Singers too, teaches singing, was assistant chorus master at [opera …
Harbourside Choral Society · the programme copy
A note on each piece, written fresh
“It is a Requiem unlike the great dramatic settings of the previous century. Fauré left out almost all of the Dies irae, the long medieval poem of the Day of Judgement that gives Mozart, Berlioz and Verdi their most terrifying pages; only a few lines of it survive, in the Libera me, where the choir sings of the day of wrath quiet…” original, not copied
The director's note, tidied in her words
“The Fauré is not a dramatic requiem. There is no Last Judgement in it. It is quiet, and it is kind. We have sixty-two singers this term, the most since before the pandemic. Thank you for coming to hear them.”
What we tidied · questions for the committee
Eleven lines saying what was tidied, cut or written from three facts (the organist's missing bio, the 400-word baritone bio cut to 55, the interval set at twenty minutes) and seven questions your notes left open, each a one-line change. Nothing about a person is added that you did not tell us. nothing invented
An invented society and a 600-word email. Yours is written from your own notes: up to eight pieces, or one production.
Professional programme-note writers charge by the piece, commonly $75 a piece with the rights kept by the writer, so a three-work concert runs about $225 for the notes alone. This is the whole programme at one price, written from your committee's own notes, with every right kept by the society.
- Chair's welcome and the director's note, in their words
- An original note on each piece, or on the production
- Every bio tidied to one length; a missing one written from your facts and flagged
- Thank-yous, the society paragraph, the next concert
- A Word file, a text file and a PDF proof, A4 or Letter
- One free round of changes within a week
Send the notes.
Three questions.
What exactly do I get?
The words for your whole programme, within two days after payment, in programme order: the chair's welcome, the director's note tidied in their own words, the running order, an original note on each piece (or on the production), the performers' and committee's bios tidied to one length, the thank-yous, the society paragraph and the next-concert line. It comes as a Word file you can edit, a text file you can paste into your printer's template, and a PDF proof, A4 or Letter. With it: a list of what we tidied, cut or wrote from your facts, and a numbered list of the things your notes left open. One free round of changes within a week.
Where do the notes on the music come from?
They are written fresh for your programme, from the piece's history and from what your director told us about why it was chosen. Nothing is copied from sleeve notes, publishers' websites, other choirs' programmes or encyclopaedias, so there is nothing to credit and nothing to clear. The note names the movements, says what the words are about, how long the piece is and who sings it. Song texts, lyrics and translations are not included: printing those needs the rights holder's permission, and your director's texts sheet is the place for them.
Is this layout, or a printed programme?
Words only. No layout, no cover, no adverts, no print files: you or your printer place the text. The Word file uses plain headings so it drops into any template. Up to eight pieces or one production at this price; a season brochure, a second concert or a second language is a new order, and we say so before you pay.
Get the sample programme first
The invented Harbourside Choral Society programme, the committee's email and the finished copy as a PDF, and our one-page list of the nine things a concert programme needs and the order they go in.