A Bass Blog

Having stood in front of Cairn Chorus rather a lot during this year’s

rehearsals, I thought I’d better introduce myself properly. My wife, Lyn, and I moved to D&G from West Cumbria in 2017, singing with Kirkcudbright Choral Society having been part of choral groups in Cumbria. We gradually realised that we wanted different challenges musically and, after listening to a Cairn Chorus concert, thought that was what we would like to do.

We joined Cairn Chorus just before covid, not very auspicious timing! Since then, I’ve sung with the bass section, trying to pronounce unfamiliar languages whilst following the bass clef music. During the 2022-3 season it was suggested that a group of us went to the Street Choirs Festival 2023 in Kendal. We went, we enjoyed ourselves, and it was suggested that we should explore the idea of bringing the festival to Dumfries. Those of you that remember Lyn will know how enthusiastically she embraced this idea, and I was swept up into helping

on the committee. I’m still not sure how, or why, I ended up as chair of the committee. The

committee gradually developed the plan, involving Cairn Chorus, Catstrand Singers and

SongWave as lead choirs, to bring the 2026 edition to Dumfries. And so it happened, not

without a few interesting twists and turns, and it turned out to be a superb event centred

around Easterbrook Hall, with Kate leading the 860 singers in Dock Park. What a spectacle.

The feedback from the visiting choirs extolling the volunteers, the Crichton

campus, Dumfries, and the Easterbrook Hall and staff has made the last months well worthwhile, so a

BIG thankyou to all of you. Even if you were unable to take part, the support from the choir

putting up with the disruption to the normal choir events was of vital importance.

With much relief I will now disappear back into the basses, growling as Kate tries to get us to

sing ‘above the stave’ and working towards our Christmas concerts, and bringing my dairy

free, sugar rush flapjack along to boost half time energy.

Paul