Choir Report 2007

  Another busy year for the choir, as the following figures show. 

   ·   We sang for 62 services at St Mary’s, and 7 in other churches/cathedrals;

   ·   We sang Pergolesi’s “Stabat Mater” on Good Friday;

    ·     We learnt 25 new pieces of music;

   ·   We travelled 540 miles;

   ·   We provided 500 singing lessons.

In addition to all this

   ·  We recorded our first CD, “Prayers and Petitions” which many of you have purchased;

   ·    Two of our choristers, (Eleanor Cotterill and Lydia Marsden) passed external                         RSCM singing examinations;

   ·   We said “goodbye” to Meirion as he left us as sub-organist to go to Brecon Cathedral;

   ·     We said “welcome” to Judith as our new sub-organist;

    ·       We have, for the first time, a full complement of 20 trebles in the choir;

    ·      We still need another full-time tenor and another full-time alto;

   ·     In the summer we will be “Choir in Residence” at Peterborough Cathedral from 24th to 29th July

   ·     In September we will be singing Evensong at Baliol College, Oxford for the annual conference of the Anglican Association of Secondary School Headteachers.

I would like to pay tribute to the adult members of the choir, who so freely give of their time to ensure that we are able to sing in four parts.  Their commitment is significant because, particularly with altos and tenors, there are so few of them that any absence can cause real difficulties.  It is greatly to their credit that we are able to continue week by week singing full SATB anthems.  There are still vacancies for experienced altos and tenors, if you know anyone who could be persuaded, please ask them to get in touch.

We have more plans for the future, and hope to add some other mass settings to our repertoire and hopefully reintroduce our monthly Friday choral service.  We are also constantly looking for new repertoire, and would be happy to consider suggestions – if you have a favourite anthem we don’t sing, please let me know; whilst I can’t promise we can undertake all suggestions, we are certainly keen to know!

Finally my thanks to you all for your support and encouragement to us all, it makes an enormous difference to us all!

Tim Pratt – March 2008