Susan Stevens | |
|---|---|
 Sue Stevens from a 1985 Guider magazine | |
| Born | 29 January 1936 Bristol, England |
| Died | 20 March 1985 (aged 49) Hampshire, England |
| Other names | Sue |
| Occupation | Girl Guide musician |
Susan Stevens (29 January 1936 - 20 March 1985), known as Sue, was a conductor and prolific composer of Guiding songs for Girl Guides UK. She was co-founder of the National Scout and Guide Symphony Orchestra in 1976 [1] and founder of the Foxlease Singing Circle in 1983.
Susan Beryl Stevens was the first child of Herbert William Thornton Jefferies & Francis Beryl Jefferies, née Smith. Her younger sister, Joanna Mary, was born in 1947. Susan married Joseph Ken Stevens in June 1957, in Norton Radstock, Somerset. They had two children. Stevens attended Bath Spa University as a mature music student in the early 1960s, before going on to complete her teacher training. [2] Between c.1971 and 1979 she was Director of Music and Drama at The Blue School, Wells. [3] Stevens died of breast cancer in 1985.
A memorial service was held in Stevens' honour at Wells Cathedral, at which her arrangement of "Lead Me Lord" was sung. [4] A collection was made in Stevens' memory, which was used to purchase an instrument, an oboe called 'Sue' [5] which was added to CHQ's collection of musical instruments. [6] Stevens' bequeathed the royalties from her compositions to Foxlease in the form of the Sue Stevens Training Bequest. As part of this, subsidised Sue Stevens Summer Schools for leaders showing a "strong arts interest" were held at Foxlease into the 1990s. [7] [8]
Stevens was a Girl Guide and Ranger leader, [9] trainer and music consultant. Between 1971 and 1974 she acted as regional consultant in music and drama for South West Guiding, [10] and from 1974 she was assistant consultant of music at Girl Guiding's national headquarters. [11] In December 1976, together with George Odam, she established the National Scout and Guide Symphony Orchestra at Gilwell Park, London. [12] Stevens became the Girl Guide Association's music advisor in 1981. [13]
Stevens was involved in several large-scale Girl Guiding events, [14] including:
From the late 1960s Stevens, together with Hettie Smith and Margaret Newman, organised music and guitar weekends at Foxlease, [20] a Girl Guide training and activity centre in Hampshire. [21] From the late 1970s, Stevens also ran ‘Music in the Pack’ courses there. [22]
In May 1982, Stevens became Foxlease's assistant Guider-In-Charge. [23] Having discovered that Mary, Princess Royal and Countess of Harewood, after whom the main building at Foxlease was named, was a Royal Stewart, she and Guider-in-Charge Marjorie King introduced Royal Stewart tartan neckerchiefs for Foxlease staff. [24]
In October 1983, Stevens established the Foxlease Singing Circle. She invited around 30 Guide leaders from around the UK to Foxlease for a weekend of singing, “to see whether or not it would work!” [25] She was only able to host two weekends with the Singing Circle before she died. The group continues to meet, [26] and some of her protégés, including Pat Belringer, Eryl Evans and Hilary Stokes, continue to write songs. [27]
Stevens contributed articles and songs to Today’s Guide and The Guider magazines. [28] She also published the following books:
| Year | Title | Publisher | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Help yourself to play the guitar [29] | Girl Guides Association | Illustrated by Rosemary Thornton-Jones |
| 1979 | Help your patrol to make music [30] ] | Girl Guides Association | |
| 1980 | Sing For Joy [31] | EMI | Illustrations by Carole Logan. 16 original songs by Stevens. |
| 1981 | Swingalong Songs [32] | Piano accompaniments by Geoffrey Russell-Smith | |
| 1993 | Just for You - A Very Special Selection of Songs [33] | Foxlease Singing Circle | A collection of Stevens's songs |
Several of Stevens's songs were frequently used by schools and young people's groups in the 1980s. [34]
In 1972 she provided the music for a TV show that aired on Harlech Television [36] about the Tudor period, with author and restorer John Mills.
| Year | Title | Label | Role / Songs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | National Guide Festival of Song [37] | BBC | Features Carnival |
| 1975 | Guiding Highlights LP | Features Somewhere There’s A Forest, Quietly, Many Years Ago [38] | |
| 1977 | 20 Christmas Carols | Conductor [39] [40] | |
| 1978 | Sing For Joy LP | Stevens made all music arrangements [41] | |
| 1980 | Songs for Tomorrow from Around the World [42] | Musical director, composer, arranger | |
| 1981 | Music Builders Chorus V: A Hardie-Mason Project [43] | Berandol | Including Tomorrow |
| 1986 | Tribute to Susan Stevens [44] | EMI Music | Including The New Generation and Somewhere There's A Forest. Recorded by members of the Showtime ’85 cast, conducted by Enid Mulholland with the Peter Gosling Band |
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