THE MAYOR OF GUILDFORD’S
CHRISTMAS
, CONCERT
Conductor:
Jeremy Backhouse
-,
/in aid of the
MA’YOR S LOCAL
p‘lsmsss FUND
PR
-
Ve
SUILRFORD
SR
Surrey Advertiser
:
3
:
A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR OF
GUILDFORD
Councillor Nikki Nelson-Smith
|
Christmas is a magical time for many
families,
but as we sit back and enjoy tonight’s
fabulous
programme and the busy lead
|
|
|
.
up to Christmas,
we should also remember that there
are many
people in our local community
who will not
find it easy to celebrate Christmas,
due to
difficult circumstances of many Kinds
.
We are therefore very fortunate
that in
Guildford there are a number
of charities
working hard to meet the needs
of these
individuals and families, who migh
t otherwise
struggle to enjoy such special times
=
of the year.
By attending tonight, you
are supporting one
such charity ‘The Mayor of Guildford’s
Local Distress Fund’, which
provides small sums of money to
ease the strain of providing essen
tial
items during times of genuine finan
cial and personal difficulty.
My very special thanks go to the
Rotary Club of Guildford and The
Vivace Chorus, the choir that I am
proud to say I used to sing in, for
once again presenting ‘The Mayo
r of Guildford’s Christmas Concer
t’.
I am also extremely grateful that
they will be holding a retiring
collection for my other chosen charit
y, SATRO. This wonderful charity,
formed 30 years ago in Surrey, uses
a bank of industry specialists to
provide workshops in and out of
schools that encourage young peopl
e
into science, technology, engineerin
g and maths - the areas in which
nationally we suffer a skills shortage.
They encourage young people to
meet their potential and they sit very
comfortably with my theme of
showcasing local innovation to
help “Inspire Guildford’s Future
Innovators”.
I'am truly humbled that tonight's conce
rt is being put on in my honour
as Mayor of Guildford and I hope
you thoroughly enjoy this evening's
feast of seasonal music, sung by the Vivac
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and
Councillor Nikki Nelson-Smith
Mayor of Guildford
e Chorus.
a Happy and Peaceful
New Year.
TONIGHT'S CHARITY
THE MAYOR OF GUILDFORD'S
LOCAL DISTRESS FUND
-
<
Established in 1971, the fund was originally known
as the Mayor of Guildford's Christmas and Local
Distress Fund.
It is a registered charity with a clearly-defined
purpose : to provide financial assistance to the
needy within Guildford Borough, particularly at
Christmas time.
The fund receives requests from all areas of the community and has
helped individuals and groups with a wide variety of needs.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE BY HELPING THOSE WHO
CANNOT AFFORD THE BASICS.......... such as..........
e
Buying shoes and clothing for children from very poor families
e
Washing machines, Fridges, Cookers, and Kettles
for those unable to afford such necessities
e
Playgroup fees for less advantaged children
e
Modest holidays for families, following a trauma
Requests for assistance should come from a third party, such as a
Borough Councillor, Housing Officer or an official agency, like the
Citizen's Advice Bureau, Community Health or Social Services.
This helps to ensure that your donations are spent wisely and that
assistance is given only to deserving cases.
WITH YOUR HELP, WE REALLY CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Registered Charity number : 258388
THE MAYOR OF GUILDFORD'S CHRISTMAS CONCERT
featuring THE VIVACE CHORUS
Conductor : Jeremy Backhouse
Organist : William Nicholson
THIS EVENING'S PROGRAMME
Audience Carol
(arr. H.J.Gauntlett, arr.David Willcocks)
Solo
Once in Royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild
Jesus Christ her little child.
Choir
He came down to earth from heaven
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable
And his cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and meek, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Saviour Holy.
All
And through all His wondrous childhood,
He would honour and obey,
Love, and watch the lowly maiden,
In whose gentle arms he lay:
Christian children all must be
Mild, obedient, good as he.
And our eyes at last shall see him
Through his own redeeming love,
For that child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heaven above;
And he leads his children on
To the place where he is gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see him; but in heaven,
Set at God's right hand on high;
When like stars his children crowned
All in white shall wait around.
Sussex Carol
Coventry Carol
Reading
Audience Carol
(English trad, arr. Bob Chilcott)
(arr. Martin Shaw)
'The Big Day' by St Luke
Read by Robin Privett
(Este's Psalter 1592 : arr David Willcocks)
While shepherds watched their flocks by night
All seated on the ground,
The angel of the Lord came down
And glory shone around.
'Fear not', said he, for mighty dread,
Had seized their troubled mind,
Glad tidings of great joy | bring
To you and all mankind
To you in David's town this day
Is born of David's line
A Saviour, who is Christ the Lord,
And this shall be a sign.
The heav'nly Babe you there will find
To human view displayed,
All meanly wrapped in swathing bands
And in a manger laid.
Thus spake the seraph, and forthwith
Appeared a shining throng
Of angels praising God, who thus
Addressed their joyful song.
All glory be to God on high,
And to the earth be peace;
Goodwill henceforth from heav'n to men,
Begin and never cease.
Choir
This Christmas Night
(Malcolm Williamson)
Past Three O' Clock (English trad, arr. Charles Wood)
Audience Carol
(J.F.Wade : arr. David Willcocks)
O come, all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem:
Come and behold him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord
God of God,
Light of Light,
Lo, He abhors not the Virgin’s Womb:
Very God,
Begotten, not created:
O come, let us adore him. ..
Sing, choirs of Angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above,
Glory to God,
In the highest:
O come, let us adore him...
Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
Born this happy morning,
Jesu, to thee be glory given;
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing:
O Come, let us adore him.......
Choir
(G.F. Handel)
Extracts from The Messiah
'For unto us a child is born' ~ 'Pastoral Symphony' (abridged)
'And there were shepherds abiding in the field'
'And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them'
'And the angel said to them'
'And suddenly, there was with the angel'
'Glory to God in the highest' ~ 'The Hallelujah Chorus'
INTERVAL
Wine, Soft Drinks & Mince Pies available
Deck the hall
Mary's Lullaby
Audience Carol
(Welsh trad, arr. David Willcocks)
(arr. John Rutter)
(John Goss, arr David Willcocks)
See amid the winter's snow
Born for us on earth below,
See the tender lamb appears,
Promised from eternal years.
Hail! Thou ever blessed morn!
Haill Redemption's happy dawn!
Sing thro' all Jerusalem
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Lo, within a manger lies
He who built the starry skies;
He, who throned in height sublime,
Sits amid the Cherubim!
Hail! Thou ever blessed morn.....
Say, ye holy shepherds, say,
What your joyful news today:
Wherefore have ye left your sheep
On the lonely mountain steep.
Hail! Thou ever blessed morn.....
Choir
As we watched at dead of night,
Lo, we saw a wondrous sight;
Angels singing peace on earth
.
Told us of a Saviour's birth
\
\
Hail!
All
Thou ever blessed morn......
Sacred infant, all divine,
,
What a tender love was thine;
|
Thus to come from highest bliss
‘
Down to such a world as this.
Hail! Thou ever blessed morn......
Teach, O teach us, Holy Child,
By thy face so meek and mild,
Teach us to resemble thee
In thy sweet humility.
Hail! Thou ever blessed morn......
Reading
'O simplicitas’ by Madeleine L'Engle
Read by Alison Newbery
Choir
There is a Flower
(John Rutter)
Christmas Song
(Mel Torme, arr. Will Todd)
Audience Carol
(English Trad. arr. David Willcocks)
God rest you merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this day;
To save us all from Satan's power,
When we were gone astray;
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and Joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
From God our Heavenly Father,
A blessed angel came,
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tidings of the same;
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name;
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and Jjoy
O tidings of comfort and joy
.
2
The Shepherds at these tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a feeding,
In tempest, storm and wind:
And went to Bethlehem straightway,
This blessed babe to find
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Choir only
But when to Bethlehem they came
Whereat this infant lay,
They found him in a manger,
Where oxen feed on hay;,
His mother Mary kneeling,
Unto the Lord did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All others doth deface
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
(arr. John Rutter)
The Twelve Days of Christmas
(J. Pierpont, arr. Bob Chilcott)
Jingle Bells
Address by the Mayor of Guildford
Councillor Nikki Nelson-Smith
Introduced by the President of the Rotary Club of Guildford
Mr. Chris Blow
Audience Carol
(Charles Wesley : arr. Felix Mendelssohn)
Hark! the herald-angels sing
Glory to the new-born King:
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled:
Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With the angelic host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark! the herald-angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.
Christ by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Late in time behold him come
Offspring of a virgin’s womb:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! the herald-angels sing......
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace !
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings;
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald-angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.
Encore
We wish you a Merry Christmas !
(English trad. arr. Arthur Warrell)
THE VIVACE CHORUS
FIRST SOPRANOS :
Helen Beevers, Joanna Bolam, Mary Broughton, Elaine Chapman,
Rachel Edmondson, Rebecca Kerby, Mo Kfouri, Emily Nash,
Sarah Smithies, Susan Norton, Gillian Rix, Joan Thomas, Hilary Vaill
SECOND SOPRANOS :
Jacqueline Alderton, Anna Arthur, Amy Cowan, Ginny Hefferman,
Isobel Humphries, Averrell Kingston, Krystyna Marsden, Isabel Mealor,
Alison Newberry, Kate Peters, Valerie Thompson, Christine Wilks,
Frances Worpe
FIRST ALTOS :
Monica Boothby, Jane Brooks, Liz Durning, Atalia Fuller, Sheila Hodson,
Jean Leston, Judith Lewy, Lois McCabe, Kay McManus, Christine Medlow,
Lilly Nicholson, Gill Perkins, Lesley Scordellis, Carol Shephard, Jo Stokes,
Hilary Trigg
SECOND ALTOS :
Valerie Adam, Evelyn Beastall, Mary Clayton, Andrea Dombrowe,
Elizabeth Evans, Sheena Ewen, Carol Hobbs, Roz Marshall,
Catherine Middleton, Pamela Murrell, Jacqueline Norman, Beryl Northam,
Prue Smith, Rosie Storey, June Windle
FIRST TENORS :
Mike Bishop, Bob Bromham, Martin Price, Chris Robinson, John Trigg
SECOND TENORS :
Simon Dillon, Stephen Linton, Peter Norman, Jon Scott
FIRST BASSES :
Phil Beastall, Michael Dudley, Jeremy Johnson, Malcolm Munt,
Chris Newbery, David Ross, Philip Stanford, Kieron Walsh
SECOND BASSES :
Alan Batterbury, Norman Carpenter, Geoffrey Forster, James Garrow,
Stuart Gooch, Eric Kennedy, Adrian Oxborrow, Clive Perry, Michael Taylor
~10
~
ABOUT THE VIVACE CHORUS
The Vivace Chorus is a flourishing and adventurous choir
based here in Guildford, Surrey. We have two aims: to make
music of the highest standard
and to have fun while doing so.
=
Rhearsing in e Royal Albert Hall
"
e
Photo: Ash Mills
The choir has come a long way since it began some 67 years
ago as the Guildford Philharmonic Choir, gaining over time an
enviable reputation for performing first-class concerts across
a wide range of musical repertoire.
Since
1995,
Vivace
has
thrived
under
the
exceptional
leadership of this evening’s conductor, Jeremy Backhouse.
Jeremy’s passion for choral works and his sheer enthusiasm
for music-making are evident at every rehearsal and every
performance. He is supported by Francis Pott, who is not just
a very fine rehearsal accompanist but is also a composer of
international repute and an accomplished concert pianist.
~1]
~
Our repertoire spans more unusual works such as Prokofiev’s
Alexander Nevsky as well as the great choral masterpieces of
Bach, Brahms, Handel, Haydn, Mozart and Verdi, and the
more
intimate
works
of
Fauré,
Tavener,
Allegri
and
Lauridsen. We also actively promote the classics of the future
with
our
‘Contemporary
Choral
Classics’
series,
commissioning new works when funds allow.
Particular successes have included a sell-out performance in
May 2011 of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, the ‘Symphony of a
Thousand’, at the Royal Albert Hall, a highly acclaimed
performance in November 2012 of Britten’s War Requiem,
and another Royal Albert Hall success in May last year, when
we performed the Verdi Requiem.
In addition to our own concerts, we also sing in various
charity
concerts
and,
with
our
regular
orchestra,
the
Brandenburg Sinfonia, take part in the Brandenburg Choral
Festival each year in St Martin-in-the-Fields. We also, on
occasion, venture further afield and our other trips abroad
have included a tour, in June 2009, of north-west France
when we sang in the cathedrals of Paris (Notre-Dame), Rouen
and Beauvais, while in
2012
we
headed across
France to
Strasbourg, giving concerts there and in Heidelberg and
Freiburg. In 2014, we spent a wonderful few days in Italy,
where we gave three concerts, in Verona, Mantua and Venice.
If
that
whets
your
appetite,
do
come
and
join
us!
We rehearse on Monday evenings in the Millmead Centre,
Millmead, Guildford.
Just turn up
(before
7.15),
or contact our membership
secretary Jane Brooks at membership@vivacechorus.org.
For further information about the choir and our concerts,
visit our website, vivacechorus.org, follow us on Facebook or
Twitter, or join our mailing list.
~ 12w
JEREMY BACKHOUSE
Jeremy is one of Britain’s leading conductors of
amateur choirs. He began his musical career in
Canterbury Cathedral
Chorister.
In
where
he
was Senior
1980 he was appointed
Music
Editor at the RNIB, where he was responsible
for the transcription of print music into Braille.
He has worked for both EMI Classics and later
Boosey & Hawkes Music Publishers as a Literary
Editor,
but
now
pursues
his
career
as
a
freelance conductor.
Jeremy has been the sole conductor of the internationally-renowned
chamber choir Vasari Singers since its inception in 1980. Since winning the
prestigious Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year competition in 1988, the Vasari
Singers has performed regularly on the South Bank and at major concert
venues in London, as well as in many of the cathedrals and abbeys of the
UK. Jeremy and the Vasari Singers have broadcast frequently on BBC
Radios 3 and 4, and have a discography of over 25 CDs on the EMI, Guild,
Signum and Naxos labels, and have recently launched their own label with
a recording of Jonathan Rathbone’s Under the shadow of His wing, which
they premiered last year.
In January 1995, Jeremy was appointed Music Director of the Vivace Chorus
(then the Guildford Philharmonic Choir). Alongside the standard classical
works, Jeremy has conducted the Vivace Chorus in
programmes,
Stabat Mater,
including
Mahler's
Howells’
Hymnus
some ambitious
Paradisi and
‘Resurrection’ Symphony (No.
Szymanowski’s
2),
Prokofiev’s
Alexander Nevsky and Ivan the Terrible, Mahler’s ‘Symphony of a Thousand’
(No. 8) and Verdi’s Requiem in the Royal Albert Hall with the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra, and Britten’s War Requiem.
In January 2009 Jeremy took up the post of Music Director of the Salisbury
Community Choir. His first major engagement with them was the opening
concert of that year’s Salisbury International Arts Festival, in Salisbury
Cathedral, premiering a vast new work by Bob Chilcott entitled Salisbury
Vespers. In 2013 the choir celebrated its 21°* Anniversary with a major
concert in Salisbury Cathedral in October, featuring the world premiere of a
specially-commissioned community work by Will Todd, The City Garden,
which they subsequently toured to Lincoln (2014) and Guildford (2015).
~43 ~
THE ROTARY CLUB OF GUILDFORD
The Rotary Club of Guildford was formed
in 1922, when only six such clubs existed
in the whole of Great Britain.
Today,
there are 1,840 Rotary Clubs in the UK,
with
over
million
55,000
members
members
in
and
33,000
1.2
Clubs
wordwide.
Besides the '1922' Guildford Club, there
are two other Rotary Clubs in the town
-
the Guildford District Club, founded in
1975 and the Guildford Chantries Club, foundedin 1991.
One
of
the
fundraising
Club's
projects
earliest
in
the
1920s was its 'Big Brother'
[§
scheme, which was launched
to help the town's youngsters,
[§
some of whom had lost their
|
fathers during the First World
|
War.
In
embarked
1927,
the
on
project
a
Club
to
|
raise enough money to install
|
radio sets in the wards of the
Royal Surrey County Hospital,
so the patients could 'listen
in'.
During the Second World War, one of the Club’'s most memorable
humanitarian events was dealing with the reception of the survivors
from the beaches of Dunkirk, when the special troop trains arrived back
at Guildford Station in June 1940.
In
the
1960s,
the
Rotary
Club
of Guildford
played
a
significant
fundraising role to establish the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in 1965 and
successfully
lobbied
government
departments
University of Surrey in Guildford in 1966.
~14
~
to
establish
the
To mark the centenary of the Rotary movement in 2005, Guildford's
three Rotary Clubs established their 'Guildford Historic Trail' and
presented it to the Borough of Guildford.
The trail takes visitors on a
circular tour around the town centre and its famous landmarks.
Last month, the Club held
|
5
its annual Bridge Dayand |
raised a total of £2,100 to
support
Guildford's
|}
|
Samson
|
Centre,
where
Rotary continues to raise
money
to
specialised
for
the
equipment
treatment
of
Multiple Sclerosis.
association
[
purchase
with
In
the
Rotary Club of Central
:
e
sk
mfi\‘qlumfi
The Samson Centre for Multiple Sclerosis sufferers
Calcutta, the Guildford club
has recently obtained a Global Grant from the Rotary Foundation to
purchase a Quest 88 Standing frame and Cyclonemobity Scooter for use
at the Samson Centre.
The Club continues to run heats for local Guildford schools in their
annual Rotary Youth Speaks competition, which is part of a national
contest designed to foster pupil's vital public speaking skills.
Other
continuing projects
Sight
for
Guildford
Rotary
include
its
Global
Solutions Eye Project, which has established specialist eye surgery
hospitals in India and Africa to cure blindness in the developing world;
the Jaipur Limb Project and Rotary International's 'End Polio Now!
campaign.
And tonight, the Mayor's Christmas Concert, organised by Guildford
Rotary, is still raising funds for the Mayor of Guildford's Local Distress
Fund - a registered charity that gives small grants of money to Guildford
people in genuine need.
Despite being in one of the most affluent parts
of Surrey, Guildford still has, nonetheless, pockets of deprivation, where
people struggle to make ends meet on a daily basis, needing the most
basic items, that most of the rest of us just take for granted.
Our Club always welcomes new members and we can be contacted
through our website -
1
~ 15
~
ildford.co.uk
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS BY
THE VIVACE CHORUS
CHANTEZ!
A NIGHT OF FRENCH MUSIC
featuring the works of Massenet, Faure, Ravel & Franck
The Vivace Chorus
Conductor : Jeremy Backhouse
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Rotary Club of Guildford would like to thank the following people
and organisations for their help in staging this year's
Mayor of Guildford's Christmas Concert
The Members of the Vivace Chorus : Jeremy Backhouse
William Nicholson : Canon Robert Cotton
The Parish of Holy Trinity and St Marys, Guildford
The Guildford Dragon : The Surrey Advertiser
The Inner Wheel Club of Guildford
~16
~
Wishing you a
Merry
Christmas
vivacec
ildford .co.uk