Chichester Singers are celebrating 70 years of music-making

Remarkably during those seven decades they have had just three music directors, Anne Lawrence from 1952-1979 and Jonathan Willcocks from 1979 to the present day. The first MD was the then County Music Advisor Doris Gould when the choir consisted of just a small group of teachers – “which explains the rather quaint name, the Chichester Singers!

“And I believe it just gradually grew from there as more and more people were attracted. But sadly Anne became ill in 1979 about six weeks before a major concert. She was diagnosed with cancer and went into hospital for immediate treatment. I was asked to come in for the concert while she was having the cancer treatment in the expectation that she would recover. Sadly she did not.

“I talked to her over the phone before the concert. I was asking her to give me an idea about the work she had done with the choir on the piece they were performing. Sadly I didn't get to meet her but we spoke and she was obviously disappointed that her health situation prevented her from doing this concert.

“It was a very important concert for them. They were only doing two concerts a year at that point and they had been preparing for it. She was very grateful that I was able to take it on and we were just discussing sections that she had been working on. It was a very friendly briefing but what came across was how important to her the choir had been in her 25 years with them. And I can absolutely equate with that having been with them for 43 years now. I'm still incredibly excited to work with them and always very, very excited at the prospect of a new season.

“Part of the reason for that is that they are such an inspiring group of singers. They are all there because they genuinely want to be there. People only sing with an amateur choir because they really want to and after the summer break when they come back for rehearsals for the first time in a couple of months they are so pleased to be there. And there is always that sense of renewal as well with new members coming in.

“And in all the 43 seasons that I have been with them, I have always managed to include a substantial piece that I've never conducted before. I believe that every choir should always encounter new pieces. Every generation has the responsibility to give life to new music and music that is less familiar and that's what we'll be doing in November.”

They will perform on Saturday, November 12 in Chichester Cathedral at 7.30pm when the programme will include Vaughan Williams – The Wasps Overture; Richard Merrill Brown – Hereward; and Vaughan Williams – Dona nobis pacem. The concert marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Vaughan Williams plus the world première of Hereward, combining the piece on a Remembrance weekend theme.