History of the Amici Chamber Choir

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1 History of the Amici Chamber Choir During its 25 year history, nearly 140 singers have sung with the Amici Chamber Choir under nine conductors. The choir has given more than 80 concerts in some 20 venues and sung over 400 different pieces of music. Quite an achievement! The choir was founded in October 1986 by Nigel Springthorpe, Conductor of Harrow Choral Society from 1984 to The early aims of the Choir, as stated in a concert programme a year later, were as follows: to perform between four and six concerts a year, some with the Amici Chamber Orchestra and some alone, introducing as wide and varied a repertoire as possible. Most of the choir s activities centre in and around the London Borough of Harrow but future plans include the presentation of concerts on tour in Great Britain and abroad. The Amici Chamber Choir s first rehearsals were held in the choir vestry at St George s Headstone Church in Pinner View, Harrow. Founder members still singing with the choir recall huddling round an oil heater to keep warm and having to navigate the darkened church on the way out. Among the choir s first concerts was a performance of Rossini s Petite Messe Solennelle in St John s Greenhill Church in central Harrow on 10 th October 1987 with accompanists Gary Peacock (piano) and Simon Williams (harmonium). Gary was later to play a key role in the development of the choir. On 26 th March 1988, accompanied by the Amici Chamber Orchestra, the choir gave the British premiere of the Markus Passion by CPE Bach in St James s Church, Piccadilly, using a newly-discovered score. The Amici in 1998 is shown on the right. The choir went on to give the London premiere of JS Bach s St Mark s Passion in St John s Smith Square on 12 th February 1989, again with the Amici Chamber Orchestra. The programme records a choir of 33: nine sopranos, nine altos, seven tenors and eight basses a number rarely exceeded since, especially in the tenor line. Later, the choir gave the first performance by an amateur choir of Arvo Pärt s Passio in the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields on 27 th January In addition to regular concerts in the Harrow area and central London, the choir also performed at various festivals including Brecon, Haslingfield and the International Organ Festival in St Alban s, where a further performance of Arvo Pärt s Passio was given. The choir also sang at Nigel s wedding. 1

2 Between 1992 and 1993, Nigel handed over the reins to Gary Peacock. Gary s first concert with the choir included the Faure Requiem in St John s Greenhill on 24 th October 1992, again accompanied by Simon Williams. Gary officially took over as Conductor in April 1993 and held the post until December 2007, giving more than 50 concerts with the choir, including the London premiere of Gretchaninov's Liturgia Domestica in St James's, Piccadilly in December The choir s tradition of recording its concerts started in 1992, at first on cassette tape and later on CD. May 1994 brought another First the choir entered the Sainsbury s Choir of the Year competition and was awarded the title Choir of the Day in the preliminary round in Warwick. The judges commended the choir on their sensitive and effective performance and excellent ensemble. The Amici in 1998 is shown in the photo above. Later that year, the choir gave its first performance of Handel s Dixit Dominus in St George s Headstone on 26 th November 1994 the same piece featured in the 25 th Anniversary concert in 2011, exactly 17 years later to the day. This church was also the venue for the choir s 10 th Anniversary concert on 23 rd November 1996, an occasion memorable for the bitter cold in the church following the breakdown of the heating system. The choir finally realised its initial aim of going abroad in April 1999 when a trip to Paris was organised. The highlight of the visit was undoubtedly performing Bruckner s Os Justi in the cathedral of Notre Dame, standing in front of the altar and singing into the immense echoing space. The choir also gave a free concert in the exquisite church of St Severin (right) and sang during Mass in St Germain-des- Pres, where Gary read one of the lessons. A further two tours were organized in subsequent years, to Hungary (Budapest (left) and Veszprem) in April 2001 and to southern France (Arles and Nîmes (right) in April 2003), where a high point was an excursion to the Pont du Gard but a low point was a record-breaking audience of 7 at the concert in Nîmes. The choir has also ventured to other parts of the UK, giving six concerts in Sherborne Abbey between 1994 and 2000, and visiting Dartmouth in April 2003 and Machynlleth in mid- Wales in April Fund-raising was a big part of this second decade, with stalls at several car boot sales and an Amici cookery book (left) illustrated by a choir member produced in The choir sang at several weddings, including a particularly profitable one in 2

3 Instow in Devon in 1993, others in Harrow, Bushey and Codicote in Hertfordshire and even at two of their own members weddings. Other activities including an annual visit to sing madrigals and folksongs at Shaw s Corner, the National Trust property at Ayot Saint Lawrence in Hertfordshire, including an unforgettable performance of Elgar s As Torrents in Summer during a cloudburst, and a visit to Hawstead in Suffolk in July 2004 (right). In March 1998, a detailed questionnaire was designed to determine the choir s views on a variety of issues. It was discovered that the choir s favourite composers were Byrd, Tallis, Monteverdi, Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Pergolesi, Britten and Vaughan Williams. The choir took its first steps towards establishing a more recognizable brand in A new logo (left) was designed and choir sweatshirts and music folders bearing it were ordered. The choir s first website was also set up that year and redesigned in Another ambition was realised in July 2003 when the choir gave a joint concert with popular local band Grimsdyke Brass, performing Rutter s Gloria in St George s Headstone to a full house. The 20 th Anniversary concert took place in St James s Piccadilly in November 2006 and featured extracts from JS Bach s Christmas Oratorio. In Summer 2007, Gary decided to take a break and the choir worked for the first time with a guest conductor. Under David Bray s direction, the choir gave a concert in Pinner Parish Church of pieces about Love and Nature, including Rutter s Birthday Madrigals. The following term, Gary announced his decision to focus on his other musical interests and gave his last concert with the choir at St James s Piccadilly on December 9 th, a very successful performance of Poulenc s Gloria. The choir marked the occasion by presenting him with a poster of posters (left) bearing thumbnail images of 48 of the concerts given under his direction. With his departure, the choir s operating model changed. Responsibilities formerly the remit of the conductor were assumed by the committee. They including setting overall strategic direction, choosing concert repertoire, writing programme notes and auditioning newcomers. The 1998 questionnaire was reissued to choir members in Once again, Byrd, Tallis, Vivaldi, Scarlatti and Pergolesi topped the list of favourite composers, with JS Bach, Palestrina and Lassus rising up the list. 3

4 During 2008 and 2009, the choir worked with a series of guest conductors David Bray, Tansy Castledine, Jeremy Haneman and Duncan Aspden and greatly benefitted from the different skills and styles which they brought to the role. The choir s concert with David Bray in June 2008 formed part of the annual Pinner Music Festival another first for the choir. In Summer 2009, the choir appointed Jeremy Haneman into a more permanent role as Musical Director (photo right). Among his many innovations was an upgrade of rehearsal venue from a classroom at Hatch End High School, the use of a rehearsal accompanist, the holding of Vision Sessions to help the choir determine its future direction, and also the beginnings of a development programme in excellence in choral singing. The choir chalked up a World premiere in June 2009 when Jeremy s programme of music by American composers included Blundering Nature by Noah Wilkes, performed in the presence of the composer. In May 2010, 20 members of the choir were part of the colossal choir whose incredible entry created a real wall of sound in Mahler s 2 nd Symphony (The Resurrection) directed by Marin Alsop with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in the Royal Festival Hall. When Jeremy decided to pursue further studies at the University of Cambridge in the Autumn of 2010, the choir embarked on a major recruitment drive and engaged a further three guest conductors Hilary Campbell, David Gould and Paul Ayres to work with them for the season. For its 25 th Anniversary season, the choir will be working again with David Gould, newly appointed as its next Musical Director. 4

5 In Gratitude to the following choir members who have served as Chair over the years and made a major contribution to the development of the choir: Gill Nisi ( ) Elaine Stanley ( ) Val Reid ( ) Lenore Reynell ( ) Alan Piper ( ) Lindsey Jackson ( ) Giles Clayton (2010 and to all the other choir members who have given generously of their time and energy to serve on the Amici committee and help in other ways. Premieres March 1988 CPE Bach St Markus Passion, St James s Church, Piccadilly (British premiere) February 1989 JS Bach St Mark Passion, St John's, Smith Square (London premiere) December 1999 Gretchaninov Liturgia Domestica, St James's Church, Piccadilly (London premiere) June 2009 Noah Wilke Blundering Nature, Kenton Methodist Church (World premiere) In Memoriam we remember the following choir members who are no longer with us Wolfgang Barb (bass) 9 th March th March 2001 Stanley Collister (bass) 18 th August nd November 2006 Barbara Marshall (alto) 21 st March th June