The Choir has always complemented its formal singing activities with social activities. Social Events are organised or co-ordinated by a Social Secretary who serves on the Choir Committee. Interested members are encouraged to propose and organise social events. There is no obligation on members to participate in social events, and some members come along solely for the singing.
Social events have included supper dances, pub evenings, socials, foreign holidays and shopping trips, barbecues, boat trips etc. One regular annual event is the "Hart At Home" evening, which is a concert with a party atmosphere where choir members individually provide entertainment for other choir members, family and friends, and some remarkable talent has been discovered at these evenings. The choir also arranges special social events whenever it is guesting a visiting male voice choir, or whenever it is singing at an away venue or competition. All choir rehearsals, concerts and competitions end with some social activity, even if it is simply a visit to a nearby pub, and one job of the Social Secretary is always to reconnoitre and recommend a suitable venue. After rehearsal, choir members are often to be found at The Lord Derby (North Warnborough). When performing near Aldershot, some members afterwards always head for the Red Lion, where they are sure of a warm welcome. In Farnborough, it is often the New Inn.
Family and friends of choir members are welcome at social events, and also encouraged to accompany the choir to singing venues both nearby and more distant. Away venues requiring overnight accommodation often take on a holiday atmosphere. Some away trips are principally for singing (concerts or competitions), and the social side although important is secondary. On the other hand, sometimes the reverse is the case, that is, choir members will decide to go to a particular place for a holiday, and if enough singing members participate, then a series of concerts is arranged. The choir has had such holidays in the Mosel and Rhine regions of Germany. Care is always taken to ensure economical travel and accommodation rates.
Choir members have formed groups within the choir for special social interest, and one group has formed for the purpose of playing golf. This group is known as "The Whacky Warblers". Other groups have formed for common musical interest.
Needless to say, whenever a few members find themselves together in a social setting a sing-song often ensues, and choir members have informally sung in a vast number of pubs, hotels and clubs in Hampshire, Surrey and London, and further afield both within the UK and overseas, usually to the surprise and great delight of any members of the public who happen to be present.
Such social singing can be quite impromptu. For instance, while one day in London, a group of choir wags, soon followed by the rest of the choir, lined up by the House of Lords, and sang the Peer's Chorus from Iolanthe to passing tourists. Another memorable moment occurred during an overseas trip when ferry passengers were enduring an interminable wait, late at night, in some vast ferry terminal. A group of HMVC began quietly to sing "Speed Your Journey", from Verdi's Nabucco, and as the strains wafted over that vast space, other members wherever they were joined in. At the end, a ripple of applause spontaneously arose from other travellers - Then some other distant travelling choir replied with their song!
During the choir's trip to Spain in 1997, a group of the choir started to sing in their hotel room on the 5th floor. The balcony door was open, and they noticed holiday makers in nearby skyscraper hotels appearing on their balconies to listen. Other choir members homed-in on the singing, and soon full sing-song was under way, with as many members squeezed out onto the balcony as it would take (to the consternation of the hotel management), the audience being a vertical arrangement of listeners on distant hotel balconies. Applause spread from high-rise hotel to high-rise hotel, and Union Jacks were seen to appear in the distance. This impromptu concert ended with the choir's rousing arrangement of "You'll Never Walk Alone", the like of which has never been heard at the Kop, which nearly brought the houses down, literally!
Especially good impromptu sing-songs seem to arise whenever the choir meets other choirs, either after a joint concert, or competition. The choir has sung many times in competition in Wales, and afterwards has had some most delightful encounters with off-duty Welsh choirs, which have lasted well into the night. It was said of the Boxer Jack Dempsey, that he may not always win in the ring, but put him in a closed room with anyone, and he would be the one to walk out. So it is with Welsh male voice choirs: they may not always win in competition, but their social "afterglow" singing can be pure magic, and an education for any aspiring English choir.
Copyright © 2008 Hart Male Voice Choir