GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
Registorod as a Chariy No.
1026337
o000
President: Sir David Willcocks, CBE, MC
V.V.V.V
Conductor: Jeremy Backhouse
Accompanist: Jeremy Filsell
Chairman: John Trigg, 13 Vicarage Gate, Onslow Village, Guildford, Surrey, GU2 70 & 01483 566341
Secretary: Miranda Champion, End House, West Flexford Lane, Wanborough, Surrey, GU3 2JW & 01483 810817
Treasurer: Bob Cowell, | Penhurst, Shores Road, Woking, Surrey, GU21 4HP. B & 201483 770896
Membership Sec: Noreen Ayton, 51 Garrick Close, Hersham, Walton on Thames, Surrey, KT12 SNZ 01932221918
Guildford Philharmonic Choir Annual General Meeting
on Monday June 21* 2004 at 7:30pm at Christchurch Hall, Waterden Road, Guildford
Minutes
1.
Apologies For Absence
«
Apologies received from: Joanna Andrews, Marian Arbuckle, Jeremy Backhouse, Roger Barrett, Iris Bennett,
Tony Cousins, Andrea Dombrowe, Laurie James, Mo Kfouri, Jean Munro, Susan Norton, Rachel Owen, Carol
Terry.
.
e
«
Minutes Of The 2003 Annual General Meeting
Minutes had been circulated prior to the meeting
Minutes were signed as a true record and copies placed on file
3.
Chairman’s Report
e
Thank You:
«
to everyone who helped with the AGM catering - especially Rachel Edmondson & Jackie Alderton;
«
toall the people who have helped the choir to go from strength to strength, especially in relation to the
Russian concert;
*
*
to Jeremy Backhouse and Jeremy Filsell who work so well together;
*
tothe committee
Running Of The Choir
*
Many people do something which contributes to our success.
«
Often you can't see things happening as they take place 'behind the scenes'
«
Atremendous vote of thanks goes to:
-
Christine Medlow for her outstanding music management
Prue who plays for auditions
Mike Golden for his Russian translations and pronunciation advice
Ron Medlow & Anna Jeffries for managing the door and box office at concerts
Chris Alderton for managing the front of house at concerts
e«
Adaptability Of The Choir
«
Current choir members have joined during various eras of the choir ranging from the Neville Creed and
Todd Handley times to joiners within the last four years.
«
*
Approximately 60% of existing members are present at the AGM.
In 1996 the Choir was cut off from the Guildford Borough organisation and had to decide whether to
disband by joining other choirs, or to try to continue and become self-sufficient. We were determined to
succeed as a separate organisation and with an enormous amount of ‘pulling together' performed Elgar's
Dream Of Gerontius in our first independent concert.
On the day of the concert ‘Gerontius’ was ill, and
Eugene Ginty saved the day by stepping into this role at the last minute.
With over 750 tickets sold and
despite not being up to our current high standards the concert was a huge success.
*
We have now progressed onto performing 3 independent concerts a year and have accumulated enough
funds to enable us to embark on our Contemporary Choral Classics Cycle, culminating in a commissioned
work
Page 10of
4
AGM Minutes 2004.06.21.doc
Conductor’s Report
Thank You:
*
toJohn Trigg, the committee and non-committee members for their tireless work which enables me to
focus on the music;
*
to Jeremy for his wonderful piano playing each week.
2003-2004 Season Review — Hever Castle Concert
«
Disappointed in Mozart Bassoon Concerto and that much of the orchestration was performed using an
electric keyboard.
*
Would have benefited from our usual staging rather than the rather cramped Loggia.
*
Afunday outin a beautiful venue.
2003-2004 Season Review — Baroque Concert
*
Brandenburg Sinfonia played their orchestral pieces with a fabulous sense of style.
Soloists were semi-professional singers and gave a good account.
Kuhnau's Tristis Est Anima Mea came off beautifully.
Vivaldi's Gloria was known by many, as evidenced by the confident choral singing.
Handel's Dixit Dominus flummoxed some people in rehearsals but in the performance the choral singing
had just the right amount of Italianate verve and energy.
2003-2004 Season Review — Mayor’s Christmas Concert
e
The very last concert in the Guildford Civic with the usual mix of carols and orchestral numbers.
2003-2004 Season Review - Borough-promoted Concert
*
Ed Gardner gave some very complimentary feedback after the Friday evening rehearsal.
*
Haydn's Te Deum, a work | didn’t know, was charming and certainly worth an outing.
*
Beethoven'’s Ninth took longer to learn than | envisaged, so rehearsing for the American concert started
later than anticipated.
2003-2004 Season Review — American Celebration Concert
*
Copland's Fanfare For The Common Man was an amazingly dramatic opening to the evening.
e
Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium was beautifully sung and commented upon by many in the audience.
*
Barber's Adagio For Strings played by the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra was a little ragged on this
occasion.
*
Stravinsky's Symphony Of Psalms was by no means straightforward but we gave a convincing
performance which came across to the audience very forcefully.
+
Copland's Old American Songs, with Jeremy Filsell at the piano, included Ching-a-Ring Chaw which was
«
Thompson's Alleluia was a strong performance which attracted comments such as ‘how nice to hear the
choir singing on its own’.
absolutely in place.
*
Bernstein's Chichester Psalms was sung with great gusto and energy, but could have benefited from more
rehearsal time
*
Overall, it was a great evening of fine music performed with conviction and greatly appreciated by the
audience.
2003-2004 Season Review — Russian Concert
«
Rachmaninov's 3 Piano Concerto performed by Jeremy Filsell was of the highest calibre, passionate,
poetic and technically brilliant.
A very special performance.
Borodin's Polovtsian Dances was both vigorously and lyrically performed
Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky presented a pronunciation challenge which we met very credibly, thanks to
invaluable guidance from Mike Golden.
The Forest Philharmonic Orchestra was mostly on great form and created some glorious sounds.
Teresa Shaw's solo movement was really moving and the choir came across very forcefully with some
truly compelling moments.
¢
Asuperb evening of high quality music and a good-sized audience with the added bonus of a good review
and letter in the Surrey Advertiser.
Future Concerts
*
2004-2005 Season concerts to include Elgar's Dream Of Gerontius (with Eugene Ginty as Gerontius
again); Rossini's Stabat Mater; Vaughan Williams' Dona Nobis Pacem; Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass
For Peace.
*
2005-2006 Season concerts to include Mendelssohn’s Lobgesang and Holst's The Hymn Of Jesus and
Choral Hymns From The Rig Veda
The Future Of The Choir
Page 2 of 4
AGM Minutes 2004.06.21.doc
*
Musically the choir is now very strong and gives highly self-confident performances of the highest
standard.
We should feel confident in anything we tackle in the future.
¢
Concert programmes are designed to balance popular works with less well-known pieces. We are
becoming known for staging concerts that other groups shy away from and we should capitalise on this
reputation.
*
2005 will see the start of the five-year Contemporary Choral Classics Cycle — an innovative new series
highlighting extraordinary choral works from the late 20" and 21 century — classics of the future.
Performances will include Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace; Francis Pott's Song On The
End Of The World; Richard Blackford's Voice Of Exile. The final year of the cycle will include a world
premiere performance of a major new work, commissioned by us.
*
The Contemporary Choral Classics Cycle should attract audiences from further afield, thereby broadening
our appeal and catchment area.
*
We need to establish a stronger personality and image through marketing and publicity etc especially now
that the Guildford Borough funded concerts are using other choirs for their big choral works. We therefore
need to disassociate ourselves from the Borough by changing our name to something more modern and
marketable that reflects our programming, ethos and individuality.
*
We need to rebrand so that we have a strong versatile logo and a single type face, colour and image for
all publicity material that will be instantly recognisable and contemporary.
Questions & Comments From The Floor
*
Clarification that there will be no concert with the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra in the 2004-2005
season
General consensus is very positive towards rebranding
Renaming will not lose choir's history.
Any name ideas should be sent to Noreen Ayton.
Choir's new name will be introduced in the 2004-2005 season and we should ensure that the first concert
is a sell out.
ce
ec
Treasurer’s Report & Presentation Of Accounts
A copy of the Treasurer's Report and the Accounts is on file.
Question: Are copyright costs incurred for new works? Answer: Yes — for example 4.3% of net takings.
Adoption of the accounts was proposed by Michael Taylor and seconded by Norman Carpenter, with all in
favour of adopting the accounts.
Election of Officers: Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer & Membership Secretary
Officers were nominated, proposed and seconded via a Nomination Form which is held on file.
Votes were unanimous, with no abstentions.
Elections were as follows: Chairman — John Trigg; Secretary — Miranda Champion; Treasurer — Bob Cowell;
Membership Secretary — Noreen Ayton
A Vice-Chairman role could be created to shadow the Chairman
Election of Additional Committee Members
Additional Committee Members were nominated, proposed and seconded via a Nomination Form which is
held on file.
Votes were unanimous, with no abstentions.
Elections were as follows: Jackie Alderton; Rachel Edmondson; Stephen Jepson; Alison Rawlinson; Michael
Taylor; Hilary Trigg.
Appointment of Conductor
All were in favour of appointing Jeremy Backhouse.
Appointment of Accompanist
All were in favour of appointing Jeremy Filsell.
10. Appointment Of Independent Examiner Of Accounts
Janet James was proposed by Bob Cowell, seconded by John Trigg, with all in favour.
Page 3 of 4
AGM Minutes 2004.06.21.doc
. Any Other Business
Freiburg
*
The Freiburger Bachchor were invited to join us in performing Elgar's Dream Of Gerontius, but despite
giving them 2 years notice, their programming schedule could not accommodate our invitation. We
offered to provide intensive workshop rehearsals to enable Freiburger Bachchor members to learn the
music, but only 9 people were interested, so the workshops were cancelled.
«
Bach'’s B Minor Mass was suggested as suiting both choirs.
«
Itwas suggested that an alternative choir could be sought as our ‘foreign exchange’ choir.
Yellow Folder
e«
The purpose of the yellow folder is to help monitor rehearsal attendance to ensure that members attend at
least the minimum number of rehearsals for each concert, as required by Jeremy Backhouse.
«
«
Reasons for absence are usually due to holidays or sickness etc.
Itwas acknowledged that people often forget to sign the register, although this could affect whether they
are allowed to sing in concerts.
Choir Uniform
*
Some viewed the choir’s uniform as being ‘provincial’
e
The history of the uniform was explained, including the extensive research that was done to decide on the
best colour to use in the Cathedral for the ladies tops and scarves.
e
The final uniform was decided upon by the Committee, rather than conducting a full choir vote, as it was
necessary to convey a professional image that looked good in the Cathedral, and that addressed audience
comments,
. Date of next AGM
Either Monday 20" or 27" June 2005
. Prize Draw
John Trigg made the draw for 2 free tickets for mailing list applicants.
Page 4 of4
B.C. Stace in Guildford was the winner.
AGM Minutes 2004.06.21.doc
00
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
BALANCE SHEET as at 30th April 2004
2004
2003
£
£
500.00
500.00
783.38
1,161.13
FIXED ASSETS
B01/B03 Assets account (Piano)
CURRENT ASSETS
B04 Prepayments (Expenditure for next year)
Stock
Sub-total
BO05 Sundry Debtors
Invoices outstanding
Sub-total
Balances at banks
BO7
BO7
1,256.70
1,258.05
2,040.08
2,419.18
3,222.36
3,276.21
40.00
3,262.36
3,276.21
Current account
3,943.59
10,558.41
Standard Life Account
17,151.79
29,821.36
TSB Term account
18,000.00
18,000.00
Bond 19 (Standard Life)
18,000.00
Unbanked cheques
Sub-total
40.00
57,135.38
58,379.77
Cash
45.00
48.18
Music Account
58.60
143.63
Sub-total
BO8 Total Current Assets
103.60
191.81
62,541.42
64,266.97
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Accrued rehearsal costs
Advanced income
Sundry Creditors
(970.00)
(2,048.00)
(4,172.00)
(10,847.00)
(38.00)
(250.05)
(5,180.00)
(13,145.05)
NET CURRENT ASSETS/LIABILITIES (B10)
57,361.42
51,121.92
TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES (B11)
57,861.42
51,621.92
51,621.92
48,949.59
6,239.50
2,672.33
57,861.42
51,621.92
B09
INCOME FUNDS
B19 Reserve fund brought forward
Net Surplus/(Deficit) for the year
TOTAL FUNDS (B20)
NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30th APRIL 2003
1
Accounting Policies
These accounts have been prepared under historical cost convention and in accordance
with applicable accounting standards and the charities Statement of Recommended Practice;
"Accounting by Charities”
2
Assets
The charity has contributed £2,500 to the Association of Surrey Choirs' purchase of staging for
performances in Guildford Cathedral. This investment is now fully written off although the charity
as a founding member of the ASC has a continuing interest in the staging
The Broadwood grand piano used for rehearsals is held on the books at a nominal value of £600.
3
Committee Members' Remuneration
No remuneration directly or indirectly out of the funds of the charity was paid or payable to
any committee member or to any person known to be connected with any of them.
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30th APRIL 2004
INCOME
S01 Borough Grant
Donations
Friends
2003/2004
2002/2003
£
2560.00
£
2500.00
82.00
40.00
Patrons
30.85
82.00
1410.00
1280.00
Subscriptions
10515.00
10830.00
Tax refunds (Gift Aid/Covenants)
3184.35
3279.10
S02 Concert Income
Music sub-account contributions
30751.56
1108.15
15582.48
831.61
S03 Fund Raising
1649.52
2261.99
S04 Gross Interest
1848.46
1688.67
0.00
0.00
53149.04
38366.70
680.00
6.45
23.40
650.00
60.50
134.12
709.85
844.62
0.00
0.00
31017.27
1162.48
22253.44
589.69
S05 Miscellaneous Income
TOTAL INCOME
EXPENDITURE
S07:Fund raising costs
100 Club prizes
Stock write-off
Other fundraising costs
Sub-total
S08: Donations
Choir Donations
S09:Direct charitable expenditure
Concert Expenses
Music Accounts Costs
Rehearsal Costs
Sub-total
§10: Concert Administration costs
Publicity
Other costs
Sub-total
10031.20
9691.00
42210.95
32534.13
2251.09
976.43
0.00
38.15
2251.09
1014.58
$11: General Administration costs
0.00
13.50
Miscellaneous Admin costs
Bank charges
663.89
300.13
General Publicity
732.21
735.99
Presentations
26.45
Repairs
-1.08
3055
Subscriptions to other bodies
Uncategorized expenses
265.50
252.50
19.05
Sub-total
1737.65
1301.04
TOTAL EXPENDITURE
46909.54
35694.37
NET SURPLUS (DEFICIT) FOR THE YEAR
6239.50
2672.33
W
GUILDFORD PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
o0 e
M
AGM - 21 JUNE 2004
MUSIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT
As ever, I shall review the musical year we’ve just completed, give some indication as to programmes
for the coming year and close with some thoughts on the future of the choir.
First though
my
personal thanks
as ever to John
and
the committee, and
other non-committee
members, for all their support and tireless work they do on my and your behalf. They really do make my
life so much easier, allowing me to concentrate on the music. It is much appreciated. I also normally
thank Jeremy here for his wonderful playing week by week, and of course it goes without saying that I
extend thanks and appreciation to him for that, but funnily enough, I have something to say about him
later on!
So, our season began, or perhaps the summer finished, with our visit to Hever Castle and the open-air
concert which included our performance of the Fauré Requiem. I have to say I was rather disappointed
in the Mozart Bassoon Concerto performance and I was also surprised to learn on the day that the
orchestral forces were going to be strings plus electric keyboard filling in the remainder of the
orchestration - not ideal, especially for the distinctive colours of the Fauré. Additionally, I think we could
have done with some of Stephen’s staging for the rather cramped Loggia allocated to the choir, to help
project the choral singing. But all in all it was a fun day out and a beautiful venue.
Our first concert of the Autumn season proper was the Baroque favourites on Saturday 29 November in
the Cathedral. For this we were joined by the Brandenburg Sinfonia who played their orchestral numbers
(Bach’s Brandenburg
Concerto No.3, the Pachelbel “Canon” and Albinoni’s “Adagio for strings and
organ”) with a fabulous sense of style. On this occasion our soloists were drawn from the ranks of the
semi-professional singer and on the whole gave a good account: you will forgive me if I thought the
ladies in every way superior to the gentlemen! I was pleased to have introduced to the choir and the
audience the glorious little motet by Kuhnau “Tristis est anima mea”, which I thought came off
beautifully. The Vivaldi “Gloria” was well known to many and this showed in the confident choral singing.
The complexity of the Handel “Dixit Dominus” flummoxed some to start with, but by performance day, it
had gathered momentum and the choral singing
had just the right amount of Italianate verve and
energy. What a great work it is!
Sunday 14 December saw us in the Guildford Civic (for the very last time) for the Mayor's Christmas
Concert, for which we and the GSO offered the usual mix of carols and orchestral numbers. Nothing
more to say!
The first concert of the New Year was on 21 February and was the Borough-promoted concert. This was
Beethoven’s Ninth and the “Te Deum” of Haydn. The latter was not known to me but I thought it was a
charming work and certainly worth an outing. Ed Gardner appeared to enjoy his rehearsal with the choir
and said some very complimentary things about us at the end of the Friday evening. I was not able to
be at the performance on the Saturday evening, but reports from choir members were favourable. I
didn't receive any feedback from the promoters.
The Beethoven had taken rather longer to learn than I had envisaged, so we were not able to look at
the repertoire for the March concert as early as I had hoped.
That March
concert, on the
20",
was the “American Celebration”
programme with the Forest
Philharmonic Orchestra. This was a mixed programme of music purely for orchestra, unaccompanied
choral and all the combined forces. The Copland “Fanfare for the Common Man” made for an amazingly
dramatic opening to the evening.
We followed
this with
Morten Lauridsen’s exquisite anthem “O
magnum mysterium” - beautifully sung I might say and remarked upon by many in the audience. The
strings of the Forest Phil. played the Barber “Adagio for Strings” - perhaps a little ragged on this
occasion. Stravinsky’s fantastic "Symphony of Psalms” finished the first half. I thought we gave a really
convincing account of this. I know some were not keen on the work and it was be no means straightforward,
but, to judge by comments I received afterwards,
it came across to the audience very
forcefully. Copland’s jolly “Old American Songs” with Jeremy at the piano opened the second half with
every “Ching-a-Ring Chaw” absolutely in place! Randall Thompson’s powerful “Alleluia” also seems to
have been a hit with the audience - it was again a strong performance. 'How nice to hear the choir
singing on its own’ was one comment passed on to me. Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” was sung with
great gusto and energy, if a little light on accuracy when it came to the Hebrew text! I would like to
have had a couple more
rehearsals for this concert to make us feel more comfortable with the
repertoire, but nonetheless it was a great evening of fine music performed with conviction and very
much appreciated by the audience.
Our most recent concert was Saturday 22 May and was probably the highlight of the year. We know that
we are more than fortunate to have Jeremy Filsell as our rehearsal accompanist, but who could have
imagined the beauty and assurance of his account of Rachmaninov’s 3" Piano Concerto that evening? It
really was playing of the highest calibre, passionate, poetic and, of course, technically brilliant. He and I
have become good friends since I was appointed in 1995 and we enjoy a strong musical rapport as well
- but this really was something special for us both.
Our contribution to the evening was firstly a dazzling performance of Borodin’s “Polovtsian Dances” both vigorous and lyrical - though mainly vigorous! And of course we performed Prokofiev’s cantata
“Alexander Nevsky”. The notes here were not tricky, but the language presented a challenge which I
think we met very credibly - thanks to Mike for his invaluable guidance. The Forest Philharmonic
Orchestra was mostly on great form and created some glorious sounds. Teresa Shaw was really moving
in her solo movement and the choir really came across very forcefully with some truly compelling
moments. It was a superb evening of high quality music-making in front of a good-sized audience - and
what a tremendous bonus that there was such a good review, and a letter, in the Surrey Advertiser to
alert people to just how good we now are!
That brings us up to date - now to the future! Some of this information you will already have seen in our
programmes.
As you know on Saturday 30 October we will be in the Cathedral for a performance of Elgar’s glorious
“Dream of Gerontius”. Our soloists are Catherine Denley, Eugene Ginty (who sang it for us at such short
notice and so powerfully last time) and Michael Bundy. The Forest Philharmonic Orchestra will play.
We will be in Holy Trinity Church for our Christmas concert this year on Sunday 12 December, for
which I will put together a mixed programme of familiar and less well-known seasonal music.
On Saturday 12 March 2005 we will perform Rossini’s “Stabat Mater”, with a Mozart concerto in the
first half (either the Clarinet or one of the two Flute concertos). There will be a choral opening number,
as yet undecided.
On 14 May 2005 we will sing two big works, Vaughan Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem” and, in the second
half, Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace”.
Looking a little further ahead, on 29 October 2005, we will sing Mendelssohn'’s “Lobgesang” ("Hymn of
Praise”) which includes the Symphony No.2 and Holst’s “The Hymn of Jesus”, possibly adding some of
the Holst “Choral Hymns form the Rig Veda” as well.
The 2005 Christmas concert will be on Saturday 10 December.
Our concert dates for 2006 are 25 March, 20 May and 18 November.
1 now just want to spend a few minutes giving my view of where the choir stands at present and how we
need to progress in the future. From a musical point of view, the choir is now very strong and gives
highly
self-confident
performances.
You
and
I
have a great
rapport and
this
communicates
very
evidently to our audiences. Of course we would love more tenors and there is always room for other
improvements, but we should feel very positive about ourselves and our ability to perform to the highest
standard. We should feel confident in anything we tackle in the future.
You will know from my programme planning that I always try to find a balance of popular works and the
less well known - either within a concert or throughout the season’s concerts. It has become clear that
this type of programming works well for us. We might not fill the cathedral with “Messiah” but we can
with Mahler. We can and should be staging those concerts that other groups shy away from. This is
something for which we are becoming known and we should capitalise on it. In essence, we can afford
to present concerts of carefully-chosen “niche” repertoire and not feel we have to compete with the
Borough concerts and other local choral societies.
The programmes that I am putting together for the future years will be accessible to all but will also be
characteristic of us. I won't be neglecting standard repertoire but I will be trying to build a more
distinctive style of programming for the choir. For example, from next year, we will be establishing a
five-year “Contemporary Choral Classics Cycle”. This will be an innovative new series that highlights
extraordinary choral works from the late 20TM" and early 21% centuries - classics of the future - paired
with well-established masterpieces. Each year, starting with the Karl Jenkins work next May, we will
perform a work that I consider will be core repertoire in years to come. So, in 2006 it will be the
intensely powerful “*Song on the End of the World” by Francis Pott, commissioned and first performed by
the Three Choirs Festival in 1999. In 2007 we will perform a deeply moving work by Richard Blackford
called “Voice of Exile” which features - rather like “African Sanctus” - recordings from around the world
of refugees, hostages, talking and singing, etc. all combined with the composer’s own music. These
works we will pair with the like of “Belshazzar’s Feast” or Rutter's "Requiem” to attract punters. My
intention for the final year of the cycle is to give a world premiere performance of a major new work
that has been commissioned by us. This would be an exciting cycle and one that I think would attract
attention and audiences from further afield, London included. We should be broadening our appeal and
catchment area in this way.
To go hand in hand with this style of programming, it is of the utmost importance that we try to
establish a stronger personality and image for the choir through our marketing, publicity and other
material (e.g. programmes). At present I believe we are still perceived by some as being a poor relation
of the Borough’s Guildford Philharmonic organisation - tied to their apron strings. It's my view that this
is holding us back and maybe doing us damage. If the Borough is going to be using the Guildford Choral
Society for some of its big choral concerts, then it can only be more detrimental to us in the public’s
perception. There is no question in my mind that we should be disassociating ourselves from the
Borough
by
changing
our name*
to something
more
modern
and
marketable
that
reflects our
programming, ethos and individuality. Alongside a change of name, we need to think more about
marketing ourselves more positively in this competitive field. It is a question of “re-branding”; you all
know what this entails - a strong versatile logo, a single type face for all publicity material, a single
colour and image that will be instantly recognisable - all that sort of thing - all contemporary looking.
1 really think this is vitally important for the long-term future of the choir. I do feel we are at a
crossroads now; it could lead us to exciting new pastures where we stand out from the run-of-the-mill
and parochial, or we could stay forever struggling against our past associations. The choir is in very
good health and we can have the confidence to re-establish ourselves as a forward-looking group who
sings both core and contemporary repertoire to the very highest standards - very much the philosophy
on which the choir was originally formed by Vernon Handley fifty-odd years ago.
So, thanks for another great year’s singing, and here’s looking forward with high hopes and optimism to
a great NEW future!
Jeremy
*Footnote:
If anyone has an idea for re-naming the choir during the summer break, please phone, e-mail or write
to Noreen with your suggestion. She is compiling a list for review by members of the choir, hopefully
during the autumn. Send your ideas to
Noreen Ayton, 51 Garrick Close, Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. KT12 5NZ
Phone 01932 221918
e-mail noreen.
n@voicesforhospices. freeserve.co.ul