Sinfonia Choir

Sinfonia consists of close to forty singers from the Civray area, who meet every Tuesday night, under the direction of our choir master, Hamish Good.  We have been singing since 1983 and participate in two or three concerts every year within the Vienne, as well as small events in local old people's and nursing homes and the 'Fête de la Musique' in June.

Among the 43 members of the choir in 2015, 12 come from various foreign countries (English citizens, Scots, Germans, Australians and Norwegians) and are now settled in Poitou-Charentes. The choir tradition is very strong in UK: this is probably why English speakers massively come and join choirs when living abroad. The fact that they prefer to share their passion with French speakers brings a true cultural wealth for the whole group, in spite of the language barrier.

 

Hamish Good

Choir Master

 

Our conductor has been living in Salles de Villefagnan for several years now. Hamish Good (Scottish nationality), was librarian at the University of Glasgow.

Throughout his life, he has always found groups of musicians and singers to conduct.  Following his training as conductor of a German orchestra, he has assumed a style both classic and modern.

He loves all kinds of music songs. His reputation in Scotland was based on well known music pieces. He has been managing Sinfonia choir since 2010 with both high standards and good mood.

Ian Cutting

President

 

Since he has studied at the Faculté de Poitiers, many years ago, the region of Poitou-Charentes is well known to him.  He taught for 25 years at a Lycée in England, during which he was able to develop a student exchange with a college in Angouleme.

His wife and him came to settle down permanently in France more than 8 years ago. He has been singing with Sinfonia since his arrival in Charente.

He took the responsibility of the group in 2010.