Annual Report for 2008

New in 2008 was a very successful collaboration with the other church choirs among the covenanting churches to hold a joint concert in June.  Our church was the venue, and it was good to welcome a full-house audience which enjoyed a varied programme:  each of the four choirs sang in turn, and then combined for a performance of the opening movement of the Vivaldi ‘Gloria’.  The success was measurable by the size of the audience and the donations collected (for Darent Valley Hospital’s ‘Heartbeat’ appeal); but it was reflected above all in the warmth generated by working together, and the determination that ‘we must do it again’.  We hope that we will - perhaps in 2010.

The ‘Instant’ was the St. John Passion, an undertaking which not long ago would have seemed beyond us, but which produced an effective and moving performance.  Looking ahead, we are working on an old-and-new combination in 2009:  Vivaldi ‘Gloria’ and Jenkins ‘The Armed Man’.  The latter has perhaps surprised us by its deeply moving quality when approached as a whole, rather than in the ‘edited highlights’ version which some of us have performed in the past.  We have made the decision to revert to our former slot in the season, i.e. Sunday 31 May, as a kindness to those who were feeling that an ‘Ash Church weekend’ was perhaps providing one treat too many for us to offer without exhaustion.

At Christmas we embarked on the now familiar round of the Woodlands Garden Centre, the Black Horse and Trafalgar Square; and a number of our members contributed to ‘instant’ events with the Gravesham Choral Society and at Holy Trinity, Dartford.

We have been fortunate indeed in our organists.  (Although they are not strictly part of the choir, we unsurprisingly work closely with them and could not do without them!)

At the start of 2008 we embarked on a job-share arrangement with Gillian Noakes and Margaret Withers, which brought to end a period during which we had often had to rehearse without accompaniment:  doubtless very stretching and good for us - but rather hard work!  After some months of faithfully contributing her talents and commitment, Margaret found that family and other demands were making it impossible for her to continue.  We said goodbye to her with gratitude for the expertise and attention to detail which she brought to all her work with us.

Though we feared that we would again be left short-handed, we were delighted to find that Gillian was now able to take on the role on a full-time basis.  The new arrangement has worked flawlessly, with Martin Branton stepping in capably and with good humour on the few occasions when Gillian has been away.  Gillian is a great asset to our church’s music, playing with skill and sensitivity in services and performances, both big and small; and bringing her musicianship and versatility also to our practices, in which she responds cheerfully to all that we ask of her, however unexpected!

After half a lifetime in the choir Andy Noakes has found it impossible to continue for the present because of his other commitments.  He is a natural performer, and we have valued his contribution, man and boy.  We hope that at some point he will be able to find the time to rejoin us.

We have also said farewell - again only for a while, we hope - to Virginia Taylor.  The increasing demands of her working life led her to decide she could not maintain her own high standards in practices and performances.  No-one agreed with her judgement in this!  And we look forward to welcoming her back when she feels the time is right.  It has been a delight to have her among us.

We have been especially happy to welcome Gale Crawford among our ranks.  Her commitment is chiefly to Ridley Church, so she is not able to sing regularly at our main services.  But she has made an important contribution to other occasions, including our Christmas programme, and we look forward to her continuing involvement.

Two final thoughts.

We have recently had a sharp reminder of the vulnerability of the organ as it leaves middle-age behind it.  Though they belong properly to 2009, we must record our thanks to George Mills for the countless hours he has devoted to its rehabilitation.  It sounds wonderful again; but it will not last for ever.  How do our church members want us to deal with the prospect - sooner or later - of its eventual demise? 

Word sometimes reaches us that the choir is perceived as a closed community within the church.  It is difficult to know how to respond to this, except by asserting emphatically that it is not so!  At least twenty people have joined us during our time as choirmasters (and a good many more through Marion’s inspired recruitment before us).  Half of these are still with us (and a good few more have taken their music-making to their universities!).  Please speak to either of us if you would like to discuss joining:  a warm welcome would be assured to new recruits.