Saturday, 16th July 2011
JCR TODAY
No events today.
THIS WEEKNo events this week.
Mummers Drama Society
Contact: Catherine Owen
The St John's Mummers both fund student drama across the university and produce theatre involving St John's students. Recent in-house productions include David Greig's translation of Euripides' Greek tragedy The Bacchae (HT09), nineteenth-century Russian garden-play A Month in the Country (TT09), comic parody of in-yer-face theatre Bad Jazz (MT09), intensely lyrical problem play Stoning Mary (HT10), Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost (TT10) and Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (MT10).
Last summer, we performed a late-night production of Ubu, a new play conceived and developed by St John's students and inspired by Alfred Jarry's avant-garde classic Ubu Roi, as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
This term, Mummers will be performing Terence Rattigan's After the Dance. The performances will be taking place at 7.30pm on Wednesday and Thursday of 7th week in the Garden Quad Auditorium. Tickets will be available from the Porter's lodge later on in term. Don't miss out!
SJC Chapel Choir
Contact: [email protected]
Sir Thomas White, the founder of St John's, intended there to be six choristers, four singing men, and three chaplains, but the choir was abolished before the number of chaplains had risen beyond one, although there were certainly four singing men and six choristers when the choir came to an end. The choir was disbanded at the end of 1577 owing to a lack of funds.
The choir was revived on 9th June 1637 by the liberality of Sir William Paddy (King James I's physician). He established a choral foundation of eight singing men, four boy choristers, and an organist, to improve the worship in the Chapel. Changes in the political climate, however, resulted in the college spending 25s. to pull down the organ in the summer of 1651. Choral services were reinstated in 1660.
The present day choir continues in the time-honoured choral tradition and regularly sings services in Chapel during term. It is composed of undergraduate and graduate students selected by audition, and is directed by the undergraduate Organ Scholars.
Recent tours have taken the choir to many places of worship in England - including Westminster Abbey - and internationally to the USA, Sweden, France, South Africa, Italy and Germany. The choir have made a number of recordings, including a Christmas CD, Dormi Jesu, which is available from the College Lodge.
If you'd like to join the choir, contact one of the organ scholars, Max Barley (F4-1) or Richard Moore (N2-4).
Events in Chapel this term:
St Anne's and St John's Orchestra
Contact: [email protected]
Manager: Tristan Rogers
SASJO is the college orchestra of St Anne's and St John's, though we welcome players from all colleges. We put on one concert each term in the St John's Auditorium. The orchestra is non-auditioning, and has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Recent works have included Beethoven's Symphony No. 5, Grieg's Piano Concerto (with soloist Jeremy Evans from St John's) and Haydn's Symphony No. 103, as well as shorter orchestral pieces including Brahms' Variations on a theme by Haydn and Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture.
Our concert this term will be held at 8pm on 8th March. The programme will include the Hebrides Overture and Symphony no. 5 by Mendelssohn, and a new composition by Tom Gammage from St John's.
St John's College Music Society
Contact: Isla Mundell-Perkins
Bad Choir
Contact: Nyasha Weinberg
If you want to sing and you want to do shoo-wap-i-doo-ing dance moves, but you can't, then join bad choir. We want to bring the music to the people with no co-ordination, no pitch, no experience, no fear and no worries.
We will sing and dance to the songs you want, and will do it with such panache and charisma that we'll blow those anal ankle socks off the prissy church choirs who are scattered round oxford intent on ruining the singing ambitions of the less vocally talented of us.