Only 5 more sleeps till "Singing in the Shed"

Many of the our blokes are very excited that it is now only FIVE more sleeps (excluding naps) until the inaugural midwinter BlokeSong gathering that is "Singing in the Shed".

Those due to be attending are very much looking forward to the experience of sampling more singing in the magnificent settings of our industrial heritage, as well as gathering together with a bunch of great blokes, many old friends and new faces.

Reports and pictures to follow as we continue to #getmensinging.

Magnificent Artwork gracing the mean streets of Cricklade

Eagle-eyed Magnificent-spotters of North, North Wiltshire have reported sightings of Magnificent Artwork appearing all over the ancient settlement of Cricklade, as evidenced by this snap of one said item in the Tourist Information centre.

We are very much looking forward to opening our Gig season for 2016 in this lovely local town in slightly less North, North Wiltshire, just down the Thames from our very own rural idyl that is Ashton Keynes.

Once again we have the great pleasure and privilege of performing with The Croutons so it promises to be another Magnificent evening's entertainment.

Tickets are priced £8 with profits to local charities "Open Door" and Swindon Therapy Centre for MS

Call: 07517 847816 

 or email: gigs@themagnificent47.com to book.

Magnificents on the radio again??

There is a rumour going round that The Magnificent AK47 may be on the radio again.  

Only one way to find out...

Listen here Meridian Radio from http://meridianradio.co.uk/.

#getmensinging - Singing in the Shed

It's not quite Mid-Winter, it's not quite BlokeFest so it is not "Mid-Winter BlokeFest" but a brand new exciting weekend to #getmensinging, in a MASSIVE shed!

Brain child of serial BlokeFest attendees, Phil Read and Dave Mountain, leader and member respectively of Oxford's wonderful ManChoir, plus their mate Ian Hughson, it features a series of workshops during the day and much other stuff at other times.

Singing in the Shed is a men's singing weekend led by three of the country's finest men's community choir leaders - Chris Samuel, Dom Stichbury and the aforementioned Philip Read.

It's open to absolutely all men: no need to read music and no prior experience is necessary: all you need is the desire to have a great weekend making music in an amazing space. 

More info can be found at https://www.facebook.com/singingintheshed

If you want to come along then you can still purchase day workshop tickets, but hurry, the full weekend has already sold out - email singshed@gmail.com before it is too late.

Howard Goodall's Choir Works

In case you haven't come across Howard Goodall's Choir Works, you might like to hop over to http://www.channel4.com/programmes/howard-goodalls-choir-works/on-demand and see, and most importantly, hear it in action.

The four episodes span the globe with the first show starting in Europe with a visit to Bulgaria for the reasonably well known style of Bulgarian folk singing, but the second part moves to Estonia for a fascinating few minutes about the history and importance of choral singing to that country.

There is a remarkable quote about 16 minutes through to illustrate just how important singing was during the Soviet era when Howard state "the simple act of singing banned folk songs allowed a whole people to find their voice".

And the fourth show features an English cathedral choir in Oxford with the men singers of the future in the shape of young lads venturing out on their early musical adventures.

You can find out more about this remarkable musician at http://www.howardgoodall.co.uk/works/tv-presenting/howard-goodalls-choir-works.

How very topical...

The Topical CartoonMeister Strikes again.  

Some of this is scurrilous bordering on libelous, some of this is statistically inaccurate, some of this is true - but which is which?

New Year's resolution to ...

Magnificent Seasonal salutations from all the blokes.

The message is clear, 2016 is the year to #getmensinging.

Make your New Year's resolution to join in and gain from all the benefits of lowering the tone of ensemble singing.

See where we will be doing it in private and in public on our Upcoming Dates page and we very much look forward to seeing you at some point during the year.