Harleston Choral Society 25th Anniversary Party

Saturday 25th January 2025. St James Village Hall

The Silver Anniversary Display Boards
The cake
The marvellous spread

FRONT OF HOUSE

Throughout the time the Choral Society has been running, it has always been necessary to have a ‘Front of House Team’ for the performances. We are indebted to the many volunteers who have helped with ticket checking and sales at the entrance; selling programmes and raffle tickets. At the interval, selling and serving the refreshments! Now, we include a glass of wine, or soft drink, and a programme in the price of the ticket, a much better idea!

One particular name comes to mind, Margaret Griffiths. Somehow, or other Margaret would magic up a team of people to help with these tasks. The volunteers all dressed to match the choir, evening dress for the gentlemen and the ladies in black. but with white tops, would all be in place and ready before the concert started. Not only did Margaret deal with front of house, she would organise the purchase of wines and soft drinks, borrow the glasses and ensure they were all clean and returned, from whence they had come, after the concert. It is with grateful thanks that we acknowledge all the past help that Margaret and her volunteers have given to the choir, but also record that sadly, many of these people are no longer with us. Although times change, we are still most grateful to all those people who volunteer and deal with Front of House matters. Thank you, on behalf of the Harleston Choral Society.

Choir Member Memories CAROL – SOPRANO

The Anne Gee years are particularly well documented in the Archives and are inspiring. It’s amazing that the choir produced three concerts a year at various venues. In 2002 Anne also organised a “Come and Sing the Messiah from Scratch” event at Wingfield Church. The proceeds were donated to a local charity. One can sense the excitement and energy generated by the formation of Harleston Choral Society. There was an audience who appreciated the opportunity to hear choral works in their own community. It is good to know that 25 years later our concerts remain popular and well attended.

Choir Memories RUTH – SOPRANO

I was fortunate enough to have attended the first concert performance of the Harleston Choral
Society and sitting in the audience listening, made me realise how much I had missed singing
with a choir. At the age of ten I joined the church choir of St John the Evangelist, in
Colchester. Under the direction of Mr Harry Pitt, I sang with them until I moved to north
Suffolk in 1975. Here, in Harleston was the opportunity to sing with a choir again! No
auditions…..just come along and sing! I joined in 2001 and have had the privilege of meeting
and working with some extremely talented people and being part of the team, as secretary for
a several years, helping with catering for orchestras and soloists, doing the bonus ball. Being
the Friends secretary for a number of years. Calling on local businesses and trying to sell
advertising to fund publishing the programmes. Above all it has been the joy of singing, at
the beginning of a new season to pick up a score and not even know the first note and then a
performance with orchestra and soloists. Needless to say, there have been the times when
things haven’t gone quite to plan but we won’t mention those. How good we all feel at the
end of the concert of something accomplished! The friendships that have been forged. The
strong health benefits from learning how to breath and stand properly, and it is acknowledged
the mental health improvement gained from singing!

Choir Memories JENNY – SOPRANO

The year 2000 was a very significant year for me: I enrolled at UEA to do a part-time History degree; I started the Patient Participation Group at my local GP practice; and I became one of the original members of Harleston Choral Society. HCS was founded by Anne Gee in January 2000, after a one-day workshop in Wensum Lodge in Norwich, when she managed to get us to sing Vivaldi’s Gloria in one day ! Anne, who died in 2010, strongly believed in teaching people to sing, especially those who were unaware that they could actually sing. She was a pioneer of this approach to teaching and encouraging amateur choirs, which she called “singing for those who can’t”. But for Anne’s vision and enthusiasm Harleston Choral Society would not exist today, and you would not be able to enjoy the experience of live choral music in Harleston.

Choir Memories Pat Soprano

With a certain amount of intrepidation, off I went to Harleston. It seemed when I arrived at the primary school there were quite a few other people who felt the same way. I had seen a poster in the garage in Fressingfield, inviting anyone who wanted to join a choir to go along and sing the ‘Messiah’. I was familiar with the piece because it was one of my father’s favourites. I had never sung it before, but I thought “What an opportunity – shall I have a go?” We filed into the hall of the school and Anne Gee greeted each one of us. At a table, a lady was taking names and which voice we would feel comfortable singing. Then we shown where our section would be and then we took our seats. Once everyone had been booked in, Anne had a unique way of getting us relaxed and into the mood to sing. We all stood up and turned to our left, so we were looking at the back of the next person. She told us to close our eyes and then imagine ourselves on a lovely warm sunny, sandy beach with the sea lapping at our feet, holding a glass of a lovely long cool drink! You could almost taste it! We then came back to reality and began singing ‘Messiah’. Halfway through the evening we had a break, when two ladies offered us, tea, coffee or a cold drink. They actually made the tea in the school office kitchen, in a teapot of course, all in 20 minutes. At the end of our practice. Anne would thank Jenny, our accompanist on the piano, and we would give them both a rousing applause. We still do that to this day. I really enjoy those two hours a week singing with other people and I have met some lovely people over the years. I have to say the pieces that have really become my favourites are ‘Messiah’, ‘The Creation’, and ‘Elijah’. Amongst all the other works we have sung, I even braved it one year and sang a small solo in ‘Dido and Aneaus’! Singing pieces in Latin was quite a challenge, nothing phases us now though, we may not always know what all the words mean, but as long as the music and singing is enjoyed by our audiences, that’s what matters I have missed a few concerts through illness, but through all the years, I still keep coming back.

Fiona running the raffle

TIME LINE OF PERFORMANCES

FROM 2012 TO PRESENT

JULY 2023:

Summer Concert – Haydn: ’Stabat Mater’ and a selection of Mozart opera arias, choruses and

ensembles, and – as a tribute to our new King – Handel:  ’Zadok the Priest’

DECEMBER 2022:

Christmas Concert – Ronald Corp: ’A Christmas Mass’, Christmas carols

JUNE 2022:

Summer Concert – Fauré: ‘Requiem’ and solo pieces

DECEMBER 2021:

Christmas Concert – Excerpts from the ‘Messiah’, carols and choral classics.

DECEMBER 2019:

Christmas Concert – Chilcott’s: ‘Twelve Days of Christmas”’ and ‘Behold that Star’ and Vaughn

Williams: ‘The First Nowell’

SUMMER CONCERT 2019:

An Evening with Henry Purcell. Purcell: Dido and Aeneas; three anthems (‘Thou knowest Lord

the secrets of our hearts’; ‘Remember not Lord our offences’; I was glad) and ‘O Sing unto the

Lord’.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT 2018: ’Blessed be that Babe’. Handel: ’Messiah’ [part 1],

Telemann: ’German Magnificat’.

SUMMER CONCERT 2018:

Rossini: ‘Petite Messe Solennelle’

CHRISTMAS CONCERT 2017:

Bach: ’Orchestral Suite No 4 in D Major’, and Bach: ’Christmas Oratorio’

SUMMER CONCERT 2017:

Mozart: ’Requiem’ and Haydn: ‘Maria Theresa Mass’

CHRISTMAS CONCERT 2016:

Vivaldi: ’Gloria’, Faure: ’Cantique de Jean Racine’, ‘The Shepherds’ Farewell’ from

Berlioz: ‘L’Enfance du Christ‘, Franck: ’Panis angelicus’ and carols

SUMMER CONCERT 2016:

Bach: ’St John Passion’

CHRISTMAS CONCERT 2015:

Handel: ’Messiah’

SUMMER CONCERT 2015:

Brahms: ’Requiem’

21 JUNE 2014:

Haydn: ‘The Creation’

29 JUNE 2013:

Mendelssohn: ‘Elijah’

16 JUNE 2012:

Handel: ‘Zadok the Priest’, Vivaldi: ‘Gloria’, Vaughan Williams: ‘The Old Hundreth Psalm

Tune’, and Mozart: ‘Coronation Mass’

<p><strong>FIONA– ALTO</strong></p>
<p>
Fiona Bartlett is a Founder Member of Harleston Choral Society (HCS).	She joined the Choir
for its First Rehearsal in January 2000.	This was at Canon Pickering Junior School which was
later called Harleston Primary School and is now Harleston Sancroft Academy Primary
Phase.	There were a lot of members who joined on the first night and some are still
members 25 years later.
Fiona has seen a lot of members coming and going for various reasons including the
deceased of the Membership.	In Fiona’s time at HCS there have been 7 Music Directors and
6 Accompanists. There have been lots of works by different composers throughout Fiona’s
years with HCS but her favourite year was when we did 2 concerts when Stella Brownsea
took the choir on for a year.	The choir did a Gilbert and Sullivan Evening for the Summer
Concert.	This was excerpts from G&S operas, and Trial By Jury was performed by the Choir
as the Chorus, and several Singers that Stella knew from Music Societies she worked with
doing the principal parts.	For the Christmas Concert with Stella the Choir did St Cecilia
Mass by Charles Gounod, and Carols sung by the Choir and Audience accompanied by an
amateur Orchestra made up of Players from Societies Stella worked with.</p>