About Our Choir
A Community Choir in Rural Aberdeenshire!
Notes from Torphins Community Choir was formed in early 2013 by a sulky mother who felt hard-done-by as her children were receiving all the musical opportunities and she wasn't!
Carole Elrick our founder and president was brought up playing music from an early age with musical parents. However, as the responsibilities of adulthood and being a parent took over her time, she found music had slipped from her priorities. As her children entered school and began coming home with recorders and showing an interest in playing piano, she wondered what she could do musically that she would have time for, and singing seemed the best option. She could sing in the car, in the shower, whilst ironing - it wouldn't take up too much time, would it? But all the local choirs were either singing church music or required auditions and travel to other towns and villages. So, thinking there was a gap to be filled by an informal choir in her own village, singing the kind of music she enjoyed, she approached her daughter’s then piano teacher, a young student of music and education, to find out if she knew of anyone who might be interested in working with her on the music side of a choir - if Carole looked after the organisation side of things - and Notes from Torphins was born!
What Is Notes All About?
From day one, we have tried as much as possible to be a democratic choir, with music, performances, social events, logos, dress code and even our name being chosen by our members. We have grown steadily from those early days from around 12 in number to an average turnout of about 40 each week, with over 70 members on our list.
We have performed at a range of events, from our local Christmas market & annual village Gala to being invited to Guild nights, 60th & 90th birthday parties and even a wedding! Recently, due to our physical size, we have taken the decision to hold our own performances rather than be invited to perform, so twice yearly we will perform a concert for charities of our choosing.
Our musical family includes a number of husband & wife teams as well as a sprinkling of mothers & daughters. Perhaps someday we may have a father & son combo...or even a complete Family Von Trapp! We have always tried to be inclusive, never requiring an audition (although we are happy to help in finding a suitable section for any voice), encouraging those who can’t read music as much as those who can. This we do safe in the gentle tutoring hands of our Musical Director Sara Bell, herself a music teacher at our local secondary school.
For Anyone With a Song in Their Heart!
Our aim is to provide a forum for anyone with a song in their heart to let it out and hopefully in the process, produce a sound that is pleasing to all, both singers and those listening. Our members range from age 17 to age 85, from all backgrounds in our locality. We turn away no one. Our ethos is to sing a range of music in a relaxed environment; always supported by laughter & cake!
Privacy Policy
Website Privacy
Notes From Torphins is committed to protecting the privacy of our website users. In this policy we set how we will deal with your personal details.
Any information collected and stored, including cookies, will be of the following kind:
Your visits and use of our website.
Information provided for the use of registering and/or subscribing to our website service.
Contact details provided in the course of downloading or requesting information (for example, events)
Website Visits
We may collect information about your visits to our website such as IP address, location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of page views. This information may be used to improve our website's usability. This data is not personally identifiable.
Cookies are used on this website.
Some of the services we use such as Clicky Analytics and addThis set cookies to allow us to gather anonymous data about your usage of our website.
A cookie is a text file sent by a web server to a web browser and stored in the browser. The file is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server. This enables the web server to identify and track the web browser.
We may send a cookie which may be stored by your browser on your computer’s hard drive. The information we obtain from the cookie could be used to improve the website’s usability. We may also use that information to recognise your computer when you visit our website, and to personalise our website for you.
Browsers usually will allow you to refuse cookies but this could have a negative impact on the usability of many websites.
Terms and Conditions
Terms and Conditions
The terms and conditions below will govern your use of our website. You must accept these terms and conditions in full; if you disagree with any part of these terms and conditions please do not use our website.
Intellectual property rights
Unless otherwise stated, we own the intellectual property rights in the website and material on the website.
In respect of all material that you post on our website, you grant to us a worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, reproduce, adapt, publish, translate and distribute such material in any media, together with the right to sub-licence such rights.
Licence to use website
When using our website you can view, download for caching purposes, and print pages, however, there are conditions:
Material from this website must not be republished in any form or reproduced or stored on any other website. (Public or private retrieval system).
Without our express permission (written) you must not copy, sell, resell or otherwise exploit our website for commercial purpose.
Material on our website must not be edited or modified in any way.
Limitations of liability
All information on this website is given free-of-charge, we cannot be held liable in respect of the information given on this website.
We will make every effort to ensure that the information on our website is correct, however, we do not guarantee its entirety and accuracy.
We do not guarantee that our website will remain available or that all the material used is kept current.
We exclude all representations, warranties and conditions (including, without limitation, the conditions implied by law of satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and the use of reasonable care and skill) to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.
We will not be liable for direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising under these terms and conditions, whether arising in tort, contract, or otherwise, including, without limitation, any loss of profit, contracts, business, goodwill, data, income, revenue or anticipated savings.
We will not be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage arising under these terms and conditions or in connection with our website.
However, nothing in these terms and conditions shall exclude or limit our liability for fraud, for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for any other liability which cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.
Restricted access
Access to certain areas of our website is restricted. We reserve the right to restrict access to areas of our website, or indeed our whole website, at our discretion.
ID and Password Usage
If at any time we provide you with a user ID and password to enable you to access restricted areas of our website, you must ensure that that user ID and password is kept confidential. You will accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your user ID or password.
We may disable your user ID and password if you breach any of the policies or terms governing your use of our website or any other contractual obligation you owe to us.
Bulletin board / chat room / comments
You must not use our website in any way that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or harm the usability of the website.
You must not use our website in any way which is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity.
You must not use our website for any purposes related to marketing without our express written consent.
You must not use our website to copy, publish or send mass mailings or spam.
Illegal use of website
You must not use our website to copy, publish or send material which is illegal or unlawful, or material which could give rise to legal action under English, Scottish and other applicable law. All material you copy, publish or send via our website must not be defamatory, obscene, indecent, hateful, discriminatory or inflammatory; such material must not infringe any person’s intellectual property rights or rights of confidence, impinge upon any person’s privacy, or constitute incitement to commit a crime; further, material must not be misleading, deceptive, sexually explicit, threatening, abusive, harassing or menacing.
We reserve the right to edit or remove any material posted upon our website.
We may take such action as we deem appropriate to deal with the posting of unsuitable material, including suspending or cancelling your account, restricting your access to our website, or commencing legal proceedings against you.
Policy amendments
We may occasionally update this privacy policy by posting a new version on our website. It is in your interest to check this page regularly to ensure you are comfortable with any changes made.
These terms and conditions, together with our privacy policy constitute the entire agreement between you and us in relation to your use of our website, and supersede all previous agreements in respect of your use of this website.
Join Us
Becoming a Member of Notes From Torphins
If you're interested in becoming a member, please inquire first, using the form on this page. We're not currently taking new members, but at the start of each term, we welcome new members from our list as numbers allow.
Joining Dates - January and August
We have two terms beginning in January and August. These are the times when we “start over” with new music, so we are literally all on the same page.
We welcome folk from all walks of life and all musical abilities. Being able to read music is not essential; if you are between secondary school age to as old as you can think and you fancy joining us, you can come along. No audition is necessary, but if you’re not sure where you might fit in, Sara, our Musical Director, will be happy to help you find your voice.
When We Meet
We meet on Wednesday evenings during school term time at 7.30pm and we sing until 9pm with a break at around 8.15pm. As we generally stand it's best to wear comfortable shoes; but there are no rules on this count and you can take a seat if you'd rather!
Where We Meet
We meet at Mid-Deeside Church, Torphins in one of their beautiful modern spaces. It's perfect for us and it's warm and welcoming too.
Payments
The first session is completely free; thereafter, if you decide you want to join the fee is £8 a month or £96 annually. We spread the cost over the whole year to make it easier for members to manage. The fee is payable by standing order. This includes all your music and cake (cake is very important to us!) and pays for our lovely venue. Social events are also a big part of our ethos, and we try to organise a couple of these each year, such as visits to the theatre (most recently to see Mamma Mia and Sunshine on Leith) and social nights. In February 2018, we celebrated our 5th birthday with a Pot Luck supper and Karaoke night! A perfect way for a choir to celebrate!