Dear Singer,

Thank you for signing up to sing in our performance of the Brahms Academic Festival Overture, the Bruckner Te Deum and Parts II and III of Gustav Mahler’s Das klagende Lied. This is the final Newsletter before our Tewkesbury Abbey concert on Saturday 4^th July 2026 as part of the Cheltenham Music Festival, we will be conducted by Adrian Partington and accompanied by the British Sinfonietta. There will be four soloists in the Bruckner and three soloists in the Mahler.

TICKETS
I have a number of concert tickets available for sale. These are priced at £42 (44), £32 (28) and £15 (28). Numbers in brackets are the numbers of seats in our allocation. We have a large orchestra and the four front rows have been removed and the rows have been re-numbered so that the front row is now I.
£42 seats – I7,  M1-4,  P12-15, Q1-2, R12, S1-4, V1-4, W12-15, X4, Z1-2, Z14-15, BB9-10
£32 seats – DD10-11, EE2, GG8-11, HH3-6, KK1-6, LL10-12, MM2-3, OO9-12
£15 seats –these are aisle seats and unnumbered, state whether you prefer south or north aisle. On the seating plan that is attached available seats are marked with an X
You can also look on the Cheltenham Festival website. As I sell tickets I will update this list so that it is current when I send it out. Seats are also available from the Cheltenham Festival Box Office at cheltenhamfestivals.com/booking.
Please note that all unsold tickets will be returned to the Festival on Wednesday 1^st July to be added to the Festival’s tickets. They will no longer be available from myself.

BUSES
We will be running buses from Thornbury to every Gloucester, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury rehearsal and the performance. These will leave from outside Aldi in Thornbury which has two car parks adjacent to it. The cost will be £20 per trip and the 33-seater coach will be operated by Mike’s Travel. Booking forms are available on the SCBSG website bigsing.org, from myself or can be sent electronically.. It is very important that singers complete and return the forms to me as we anticipate that there will be much demand particularly for the Tewkesbury runs.

CONCERT FOLDERS
We will be using maroon concert folders courtesy of Thornbury Choral Societies. As there are several different colours involved in the scores we are singing from we are very keen to use folders to give a uniform appearance. Folders will be on your seats when you arrive on Saturday 4^th July. After the concert please remove your scores from the folders and place the folders in the boxes provided..

SCORES
The only score that singers have hired is the Peters edition of the Bruckner Te Deum and there will be boxes for these to deposit your hire scores  in on either side of the staging. If you have purchased the Peters score of course these do not have to be returned. The Mahler scores are all paid for and are your own property.

CONCERT DRESS
For ladies – black top with at least three-quarter length sleeves, long black skirt or trousers.
For gentlemen – white shirt, black bow tie and evening dress trousers. Unless it happens to be very cold on 4^th July we will not be wearing dinner jackets. We will be changing in the Green Room and will be able to leave our smart clothes there for the rehearsal, the concert manager will lock the suite when we are rehearsing.

WATER
If you feel that you need to take a bottle of water in to the concert please can you take as small a bottle as you can manage with and keep it out of sight, both when taking your seat and also while sitting down. It is essential to stay hydrated while we sing as we do not want any cases of heatstroke.
For the rehearsals on 3/7 and 4/7 pm we will not be having a juice break after an hour or so as this will mean dismounting the staging which takes time. Please bring any liquid refreshment that you require for those  rehearsals. Non-alcoholic, of course!

PROGRAMMES
We have produced a 28 page programme with details of the orchestra and conductor, lists of the orchestra, singers and most importantly a write-up on the works that we are performing together with the librettos where we are singing. At 4.45pm on the 4^th after the afternoon rehearsal we would like a number of singers to help by putting a programme on each audience seat, also the soloists, singers and orchestra seats. The boxes of programmes will be stored in the Cathedral and the authorities are going to lend us a trolley to shift them.

WEEK 5

Wednesday 1^st July – local rehearsal from 7.30pm-9.30pm at Tabernacle URC Church, Parsonage Street, Dursley GL11 4BJ. This will be taken by Steven Kings and accompanied by Alison Howell. The church is situated on the street leading into Dursley from the A38. There is very limited parking at the church and these spaces are reserved for the conductor, accompanist etc. but there is a large car park at the leisure centre (Swimming pool) which is 50 yards further on and more parking at Sainsbury’s (with a 2 hour maximum).

We are not running a bus to these four Dursley rehearsals. The following have agreed to drive and offer lifts, please contact one of the specified drivers and arrange pick-up points with them and offer payment for petrol.
Mike Elcock (07979 700340)
Jos Gregson (07974 049406)
Caroline Stoner (07720773301)
Tessa Sullivan (07771 904670)
Lyn Summers (07866 992133)

Directions to Tabernacle URC, Parsonage St., Dursley, GL11 4BW
Travelling from Gloucester
Follow the A38 south to Slimbridge Roundabout.
Turn left along A4135 for 3.5 miles/5.2 km.  The church is on your left just before the roundabout in the centre of Dursley.
Turn left at this roundabout for Parking at the Swimming Pool or in the centre of Dursley or turn right to park opposite the Old Spot Inn.

Travelling from Thornbury
Follow the A38 north to Berkeley Road Junction.
Turn right along B4066 through Cam to the roundabout junction with the A4135. 
Turn right towards Dursley for ¾ mile/1.2km.
The Tabernacle Church is on the left just before the roundabout at the centre of Dursley.
Turn left for parking at the Swimming Pool or turn right for parking opposite the Old Spot Inn.

Travelling from Bristol
Follow the M5 North to J14 (Falfield) and come off left towards the A38 along the B4509.
At the A38 traffic lights turn right towards Dursley.
Follow the directions above from Thornbury.

Thursday 2^nd July - rehearsal 7.30-9.30 at St John’s Northgate, Gloucester GL1 2AN to be taken by Adrian Partington accompanied by Steven Kings. Please attend if you possibly can. Please use the St John’s Lane entrance, not the Northgate Street entrance as this will facilitate checking in. We will be serving water and orange squash at around 8.30. There is a bus from Thornbury to this rehearsal.

Follow A417 towards Gloucester. At the first roundabout, take the 2^nd left (A417). At the next roundabout take 2^nd left (Corinium Avenue). At the next roundabout turn right along Barnwood Rd. At the *next roundabout turn right onto Estcourt Rd. At the next roundabout follow Estcourt Road (straight on). At the next roundabout turn left into Kingsholm Rd (A430) and follow the A430 to the Gouda Way T junction and turn right. Turn left into Park St/Hare St car Park.

Walk south along Hare Lane and turn right into Northgate Street. Turn right into St John’s Lane to Church entrance.

One of our members warns as follows:-
London Rd is closed westbound at Great Western Rd.
It's a long term closure for the cycle track from Bishop's Cleeve to Stroud. People from Cheltenham and other places east of Gloucester probably use the ring road and approach Hare Lane car park from St Oswald's Rd. That's what I would do but there may be some who come in on London Rd and need to turn right at Black Dog Way. This is impossible now.

Here is an article from Gloucestershire Live with details. 

https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/news/gloucester-news/one-way-system-place-gloucester-11000491

Please note it is easier to travel into Gloucester via J11A rather than from J12 if travelling from the South, although you could follow the A38 to Cole Avenue and turn right onto the A38 Southern and Eastern Avenue to Barnwood Rd Roundabout, turn left onto Barnwood Rd and follow instructions above.

Friday 3^rd July rehearsal - 7.30-10.00pm at Tewkesbury Abbey, Tewkesbury GL20 5RZ to be taken by Adrian Partington and accompanied by Jonathan Hope. This is the rehearsal where we are told where to sit by Trevor Bartlett, the concert manager. If you cannot attend at this rehearsal please get a neighbour to reserve you a place.

There is no parking available at the Abbey. Public parking is available at Vineyards and Meadow car parks. (GL20 5PG and GL20 5QB)
Please arrive by 7.15pm and be seated by 7.25pm.
Please enter by the North Door. Seating plans are available and the concert managers (Trevor Bartlett and Andrew Woodhall) will be present to assist you. PLEASE NOTE THE SEATING PLAN IS DIFFERENT TO WORKSHOP AND REHEARSAL SEATING.
At the end of the rehearsal please stay seated until after the concert manager has issued gathering, mounting and dismounting instructions for the next day. We will dismount from the stands TOP row first.
Unless instructed otherwise your rehearsal seat will be your seat for the rehearsal the next day and the concert.so please make a note of who is standing beside, in front of and behind you.

Saturday 4^th July afternoon rehearsal - Please be at the Abbey by 1.15pm and seated by 1.35pm. Assembly instructions and mounting plan will be announced before rehearsal starts. The rehearsal will start promptly and will end at 4.45pm prompt. There is a service starting at 5.00pm so please clear the area quickly.
Green Room facilities have been arranged in the Meeting Room adjacent to the Abbey Café. This will be open from 12.30pm and closed at 1.30pm. Changing facilities are available behind screens in the meeting room. The Green room will only have seating for approximately 60 people due to fire regulations. The room will be secured at 1.15 and opened again at 4.50. One of the concert managers will have the key.
The Green Room can be used after the rehearsal and before the concert (4.50pm to 7.10pm) however it is maximised at 60 persons. PLEASE NOTE the Green Room will be supervised or locked between 5.00pm and 6.15pm whilst the concert managers have a meal break. After 5.00pm seating in the Abbey Café can be used. PLEASE NOTE. The café will not be open and no food or drink will be available. If you take in your own food please be responsible for clearing away any rubbish.
Before 4.45pm the Café and the toilet facilities are open to the general public. Toilet facilities are limited to say the least.

Saturday 4^th July Performance - At 7.00pm please start to assemble in the transepts as instructed at the rehearsals. Seats 1-8 in the north transept and seats 9-16 in the south transept. Please stand quietly and follow the instruction of the relevant concert manager.
At 7.15 the choir will mount the staging, starting with the front row. Please remain standing until all are in place then upon signal from one of the tenors (TBA) take your seats. All rise as Adrian enters and remain standing until Adrian signals to be seated.
There will be a short interval after the Bruckner Te Deum. Please remain in your seats if possible but remember to stretch and take on some water.
At the end of the concert and after the applause, encores and presentations (if any) please dismount in an orderly fashion from the top row.

The green room will be opened by the concert manager but will be only open for a short period of time until the keys have to be handed back to the verger.

A38 Roadworks
NB Please be aware that the A38 between Almondsbury and Grovesend/Thornbury has roadworks until at least October 2026 and parts of the road may be closed or reduced to one lane after 8pm. If you are coming from Bristol or Bath etc. it is probably best to use the M5.
The road works are open during the day (6am – 8pm).
For further information please see www.southglos.gov.uk/a38-bsw-active-travel

If you have any queries at all please contact me at any of the contact points at the head of this Newsletter. I will be attending all rehearsals.

Jos Gregson

Chairman, South Cotswold Big Sing Group