​We strive to ensure that our members feel energised and valued as part of the choir. Our Voice Representatives, who are part of the Membership team, act as a liaison between choir members and the committee. 

General Members Information

Attendance
We ask Members to sign in each week on the registers. As we live in the real world we recognise that not everyone will always be able to commit themselves to every single concert. However if wishing to sing in a concert we ask that Members endeavour to attend a minimum of two thirds of the rehearsals for that concert. The rehearsal on the Friday evening before a concert and the rehearsal on day of the concert are compulsory.

Subscriptions
At the beginning of each season all subs are due for current members and friends. The Subs due for the 2024-25 season are £217 for members, £50 for members aged under 25 on 1st September and £20 for members aged under 18 on 1st September.  At any point during the year, new members will need to pay subs proportionate to the point in the season. Please refer to the Subscriptions Protocol for details of the amounts to pay and the ways and means of paying. If you are a taxpayer then gift aiding significantly increases the benefit of your subscription to the Society.  All you need to do is fill in a Gift Aid form and submit it to Treasurer Gill. 
​Gift Aid Form
HCS Subs Protocol
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Concert Dress
In addition to subscriptions members are asked to purchase the necessary items to fit in with our dress code. Ladies normally wear a pair of smart full length black trousers (not jean style or cords or skinny legged) or an ankle length black skirt (ankles being no more than 2 inches above the ground!) with a long sleeved round necked plain black top. When we sing in Ripon Cathedral or a church (in cold weather) additional warmer black layers are allowed. Ladies also wear a choir scarf, red or blue, members own both and the colour for any one concert is announced in plenty of time. For gentlemen concert dress is normally a pair of black trousers with a black shirt or, occasionally, a white shirt. Usually worn with an HCS tie (red or blue to match the ladies), sometimes open-necked. More information will follow in advance of each concert. You will be required to buy both HCS scarves/ HCS ties once you have had a successful voice assessment, they are available from Louise (Alto 1).  Also, when we sing in the Christmas Concert, gentlemen wear a plain but brightly coloured shirt and ladies wear a shirt style blouse in a plain bright colour ideally with full length sleeves (but 3/4 length sleeves are acceptable).

All choir members also need to have a black choir folder, please purchase one from the librarian team once you have passed your voice assessment.
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Poppies may be worn, should members wish to do so, at any concert in the period from eleven days before, and including Remembrance Day or Remembrance Sunday, whichever comes later, in line with the national custom and practice.​

Music Scores Generally

Music for each concert is available to hire to Members for each concert for a reasonable fee. Alternatively you may wish to purchase your own scores. However please note that currently we perform Messiah every year, and also often perform Carols in the period running up to Christmas. We do not offer for hire copies of either Messiah (Watkins Shaw) or 100 Carols for Choirs, unless you are a potential new members who has not taken your voice assessment.  We do suggest that potential members wait until you have successfully passed your voice assessment before actually buying.  We have also used regularly in the past "The Greatest Choral Classics" edited by our President Brian Kay, most existing choir members own one. For all these books we recommend looking at Ebay and Amazon as used copies in very good condition can be found there.  The librarian team do keep a small stock of new copies for sale- please ask for what we have and prices.

Member Suggestions for Future Repertoire

In the past we have had a book where Members could suggest works for future concerts - this included info about works which had already been suggested and were in pending or had been deemed unsuitable.  The book is now put out every week for you to add your ideas, a list of these suggestions is considered by David and the Artistic Management team regularly.
New ideas are always welcome but we ask that Members check the list of works which have already been suggested  and also the list of all the works we have ever sung (by date  or by composer) in case your suggestion has been sung recently before adding new ideas.
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Learning the Music / Scores etc etc

If anyone needs rehearsal files they are often available on Cyberbass. With the latest version of Cyberbass these files should play on any computer, including Apple devices and tablets. 
Alternatively have a look at www.johnfletchermusic.org which also contains many helpful files for helping you to learn various works we are performing. You may need to pay a subscription to use this site. ​
​In addition we have various in house pdfs and midi files for works which we have performed over the years. If you are interested in any of them please ask.  If there are midi files relevant to a current work being learned they will either be published here or emailed to you.
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Publicity (Radio) Opportunities for HCS Members
Why not contact Classic FM with a music request, as a means of publicising our concerts? Weekdays from 1 - 3 pm they will play music suggested by members of the public so any choir member could help publicise our events by linking it to a music request, it can be done in one of three ways:
  • email your request via the Requests Form
  • call 0845 749 1812 during the show
  • text your request on 61812
Have a go...it's so easy and a great way of promoting our events. Good luck!
BBC Radio 3 will also play listeners requests if you send them a tweet!

Newsletters

As most day to day matters are now sent out to choir members in the Sunday email the newsletter has been remodelled (with effect from November 2017) as mainly a newsletter for Friends which will be sent out about three four times per year. The original newsletter was first published in October 2001, the most recent ones are here. Older newsletters available at all times on request - just send a request.
Friends Newsletter #20 - May 24
Friends Newsletter #19 - Jan 24
Friends Newsletter #18 - Sept 23
Friends Newsletter #17 - Feb 23
Friends Newsletter #16 - Aug'22
Friends Newsletter #15 - Jan'22
Friends Newsletter #14- Oct'21
Friends Newsletter #13- Jan/Feb'21

HCS Annual General Meeting

The 2024 AGM was held at 7.00 pm on Wednesday 3rd July 2024, 
The minutes  remain in draft until approved at the next AGM which will be held on 2rd July 2024 
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HCS Constitution and Rules

​Now that HCS is a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organisation) we have updated our Constitution and Rules and created various policies to ensure our governance is fit for purpose. Please click on any of the links below to access the relevant document.
HCS Constitution
​HCS Rules​

HCS Policies

Please click on the files below to access the relevant policy
Child Safeguarding Policy
Code of Conduct, Disciplinary and Complaints Procedures.
Conflict of Interest Policy
​Contingency Plan
​Data Protection..
Privacy Statement
​Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Financial Controls Policy
Health & Safety Policy
Records Management Policy
Reserves Policy
Risk Management Policy
Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults Policy

Finally....keeping everything up to date...
It is also important that  Choir's Member records have the correct phone number and address so that Members can be contacted if we have to cancel a rehearsal - as we did during the winter because of snow. If you are in any doubt then have a word to check what info is on file.