What a wonderful weekend Ocho spent in Krefeld! Not only were there two formal shared concerts but lots of 'informal' singing too! A number of months ago we were contacted by
silk-O-phonics, an a cappella jazz choir from Krefeld in Germany to see if we wanted to visit Leicester's 'twin' city and sing two joint concerts in the area. This was a lovely opportunity so after a few months of planning, on 1st December 7 members of Ocho and a few 'groupies' set off for Düsseldorf. Yes, just 7 of Ocho as Meg could not join us because of long standing musical commitments.
The silk-O-phonics made us very welcome and after an introduction to Krefeld Christmas market and a joint practice on the Friday evening, we visited the amazing Abbey at Kloster Kamp and what an amazing space to sing in with an unbelievable acoustic! There was a suggestion that there was an 8 second reverb in the beautiful abbey.
So Ocho sang, silk-O-phonics sang and we had also rehearsed some music which we could sing together ..... a joyous experience with a large audience in such a lovely setting.
Photo by Thomas Essler Photography, Krefeld Photo by Thomas Essler Photography, Krefeld
All of the time, our German hosts were showing us wonderful friendship and hospitality in welcoming us to their area. Something that Ocho will never forget!
After some free time on the Sunday morning, we prepared for our second concert in Krefeld itself .... at Pauluskirche. An even larger audience were present here with over 300 attending to listen to the concert.
The concerts were a mixture of sacred Christmas and modern Christmas songs and I thinks its fair to say that the two vocal groups enjoyed each others music as well as singing together!
From 'Carol of the Bells' and 'O Holy Night', to the wonderful 'Es kommt ein Schiff geladen' and the atmospheric 'Es Ist Ein Rose Entsprungen'
Monday morning brought a trip to Düsseldorf before the return flight home.
Ocho was extremely grateful to our hosts for their warmth and generosity and we were sure that some lifelong friendships were made. A HUGE 'Thank You'
to silk-O-phonics ! Photo by Thomas Essler Photography, Krefeld
So now we move on to our final sing of the year ...
a return to the wonderful church of St Margaret's Crick on Tuesday 12th December (7.30pm). Tickets available online at www.ochosingers.com or can be reserved by messaging Derek on 07769 226650 or take your chance at the door on the night!