Twickenham Choral Society

Last updated

Twickenham Choral Society
Choir
TCS centennial logo.jpg
Twickenham Choral Society centenary commemoration logo
FoundedOctober 1921 (1921-10)
Genre Classical
Music directorHoward Ionascu
Website www.twickenhamchoral.org.uk/index.php

Twickenham Choral Society (known today as Twickenham Choral) is a large, auditioned, mixed-voice, choir based in Twickenham, considered to be South West London's premier amateur choir. [1] Twickenham Choral is best known for the excellence and frequency of its performances, [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] which it has been delivering to local community and international audiences for over 100 years. [8]

Contents

Beginnings

There has been a Twickenham Choral Society since the mid-19th century, [9] staging songs in Twickenham and around London, [10] performing debuts from composers of the day, [11] as well as presenting much larger choral works. [12] The choir thrived until World War I, [13] when all trace of it disappears from the literature. Today's choir was founded in October 1921 [n 1] and included both choral and orchestral sections, with the first post-war public performance in March 1922. [14] In its early years, the choir worked in association with the Royal Military School of Music (RMSM) at Kneller Hall under the direction of Charles Thornton Lofthouse. [15] In 1927, Hector Adkins, the Director of Music at Kneller Hall, became the conductor, until the outbreak of war in 1939 when the hall closed down. [16] The choir continued performing until late 1942, when activities were suspended for the duration of the war. [17]

The Twickenham Choral Society reformed in 1946 with its orchestra, renewing the relationship with the RMSM, which provided an ample supply of male vocalists and instrumentalists, which other choirs lacked. [8] The partnership didn't last long, however, and from 1954, Braden Hunwick led the choir through a series of Elgar works but without a permanent orchestra, [16] occasionally linking up with the Kneller Hall Band and Trumpeters. [18] Martin Neary continued the arrangement until 1972, when John Lubbock became the conductor and brought in the Orchestra of St John's Smith Square. In 1974, Christopher Herrick, a notable concert organist who studied conducting under Sir Adrian Boult, took up the baton for the choir, bringing in professional orchestral partnership with the Brandenburg Orchestras, [n 2] and restoring the name of the choir to the Twickenaham Choral Society in 1977. [19] Herrick combined forces with the Whitehall Choir to perform in Westminster Abbey and the Royal Albert Hall, notably a Verdi Requiem with six choirs totalling 500 singers. [20] Herrick retired from the choir as Conductor in 2024 after fifty years, succeeded by Howard Ionascu. [21]

Over the last century, the choir has hosted many notable members and performers, such as Noël Coward, [13] Richard Watson, [22] Rae Woodland, [23] Barry Wordsworth, [24] Peter Gellhorn, Sophie Bevan, [25] Mary Bevan, [26] Peter Auty, [27] Sarah Fox, as well as Isobel Baillie, Janet Baker, James Bowman, John Carol Case, Stephen Cleobury, Brian Kay, Philip Langridge, Felicity Lott, Jean Rigby, John Shirley-Quirk, Roderick Williams, Barry Wordsworth, Maurice Bevan, Timothy West and Prunella Scales. [8]

The choir today

The choir stages three to four concerts each year with professional musicians and soloists. Many of these concerts are held locally at the Landmark Arts Centre in Teddington, with St Martin-in-the-Fields and Cadogan Hall providing the main venue in the West End of London. [28] [8] The choir is led by the conductor (Howard Ionascu), [29] supported by an assistant conductor (Daniel King Smith), who also accompanies rehearsals. [30] The conductor contributes to the choice of music to be performed, auditions new and existing members, [n 3] directs rehearsals, interpreting the score by setting the tempo and the dynamics, ensuring correct entries by ensemble members, and "shaping" the phrasing where appropriate. [32] The choir performs popular oratorios, as well as lesser known Renaissance to present day pieces. Eminent Composers of the day occasionally debut their own work with the choir, with premières by Holloway, Spicer, Farrington, Panufnik and others. [1] [33] The choir maintains a busy schedule today, performing around London, [n 4] and touring European cities from Paris to Prague, from Budapest to Salamanca. [1]

Governance

The charitable purpose of the society is the promotion of the public education in the art and science of Choral music by the presentation of public concerts and recitals. [34] The choir achieves this by staging several performances a year around London and Europe, participating in music festivals and commissioning music. The Society is administered by a committee of 12 elected volunteers, with three elected Trustees who govern the UK registered charity. [35] Trustees 2024/25 are:

  1. Chair – Helen Coulson
  2. Secretary – Gillian Zettle
  3. Treasurer – Timothy Lidbetter

Trustees and committee members are elected at an Annual general meeting, held to review a statement of accounts and any notices appropriate to general governance. The choir is funded by subscriptions, box office takings, grants and sponsorship. The choir has a patron/president, who provides tone and visibility to the choir and is currently Tristan Fry.

Notes

  1. ↑ called the Twickenham Musical Society from 1922, the choir was renamed the Twickenham Choral Society in 1977
  2. ↑ the Brandenburg Sinfonia and Brandenburg Baroque Soloists
  3. ↑ repeated auditions are unusual for amateur choirs; auditions were introduced by Christopher Herrick "signalling that the choir is serious in its musical ambitions" [31]
  4. ↑ e.g. St Martin-in-the-Fields, St John's, Smith Square, Cadogan Hall

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Sargent</span> English conductor, organist and composer (1895–1967)

Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works. The musical ensembles with which he was associated included the Ballets Russes, the Huddersfield Choral Society, the Royal Choral Society, the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, and the London Philharmonic, Hallé, Liverpool Philharmonic, BBC Symphony and Royal Philharmonic orchestras. Sargent was held in high esteem by choirs and instrumental soloists, but because of his high standards and a statement that he made in a 1936 interview disputing musicians' rights to tenure, his relationship with orchestral players was often uneasy. Despite this, he was co-founder of the London Philharmonic, was the first conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic as a full-time ensemble, and played an important part in saving the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra from disbandment in the 1960s.

James Philip Edwin Whitbourn was a British composer and conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Dyck</span> Musical artist

Howard Dyck, CM is a Canadian conductor, public speaker, and radio broadcaster born in Winkler, Manitoba, now living in Waterloo, Ontario. He is most well known as the longtime host of CBC Radio programmes Choral Concert and Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, which he hosted from 1987 to 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Herrick</span> English concert organist and conductor

Christopher Herrick is an English concert organist best known for his interpretation of J.S. Bach’s organ music and for his many recordings on the finest pipe organs from around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City Choir Dunedin</span> Choir in Dunedin, New Zealand

City Choir Dunedin is an auditioned mixed-voice choir in Dunedin, New Zealand. It accepts singers of all age groups from the wider Dunedin community and performs large-scale classical choral works. The choir's membership grew from an initial 45 to around 120 as of 2012. The Choir is a member of the New Zealand Choral Federation, which was formed in 1985 to promote high quality choral singing in New Zealand.

The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is a professional radio orchestra in Ireland and is part of RTÉ, the national broadcaster. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, has grown from a small studio-based recording group to become an active 45-strong orchestra performing over eighty concerts annually. It was part of RTÉ Performing Groups until 2022 when the National Symphony Orchestra was moved to the National Concert Hall along with Cór na nÓg. The orchestra performs classical, popular and big band evening and lunchtime concerts, covering a range of music from baroque to contemporary.

London Concert Choir (LCC) is one of London's leading amateur choirs. The choir was formed in 1960, and the full-time membership consists of ca 150 singers of a wide range of ages.

Royal Melbourne Philharmonic (RMP) is a 120-voice choir and orchestra in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1853, and is reportedly Australia's oldest surviving cultural organisation. The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is Australia's oldest musical organisation that has been continuously existing for over 150 years. Among its programmes, there have been large-scale concerts celebrating classical composers including Bach, Mendelssohn and Beethoven. The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic is managed under the direction of Andrew Wailes, the artistic director of the orchestra.

The Dessoff Choirs is an independent chorus based in New York City. Margarete Dessoff established the organization in 1930 as the union of two choirs she directed, the Adesdi chorus and the A Cappella Singers, whence the plural Choirs. Today, the plural connotes Dessoff's various ensembles, which range from the large Dessoff Symphonic Choir, which appears with major orchestras, to the Dessoff Chamber Choir, which performs in more intimate settings.

Sheffield Bach Society was founded in 1950 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of J S Bach in Leipzig, and to bring the music of Bach to Sheffield audiences. Its current conductor is Philip Collin, who has been the conductor since September 2023.

The London Philharmonic Choir (LPC) is one of the leading independent British choirs in the United Kingdom based in London. The patron is Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy and Sir Mark Elder is president. The choir, comprising more than 200 members, holds charitable status and is governed by a committee of 6 elected directors. As a charity, its aims are to promote, improve, develop and maintain education in the appreciation of the art and science of music by the presentation of public concerts.

Paul Spicer is an English composer, conductor, and organist. He taught choral conducting at the Royal College of Music and conducted the RCM Chamber Choir between 1995 and 2008. Until his retirement in July 2022 he also taught at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and conducted their chamber choir which records for Somm Records. He also teaches at Oxford and Durham universities. Since 2004 he has been the conductor of the Petersfield Festival. He was Senior Producer for BBC Radio 3 for the Midlands Region based in Birmingham between 1984 and 1990 after which he moved to be artistic director of the Lichfield Festival. He also produced for various record companies over many years. He founded the Finzi Singers in 1984 making many recordings for Chandos Records. He conducts the Birmingham Bach Choir and the Whitehall Choir in London. His compositions include two oratorios for Easter and for Advent with libretti by the Dr Tom Wright and a choral symphony 'Unfinished Remembering' (2014) to a libretto by Euan Tait commemorating the outbreak of World War 1. He runs a series of choral courses under the banner of The English Choral Experience based mainly at Abbey Dore in Herefordshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Kennedy Scott</span> English organist and choral conductor

Charles James Kennedy Osborne Scott was an English organist and choral conductor who played an important part in developing the performance of choral and polyphonic music in England, especially of early and modern English music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh University Music Society</span> Student-run musical organisation based in Edinburgh

The Edinburgh University Music Society (EUMS) is a student-run musical organisation based in Edinburgh. Since its founding in 1867, the EUMS has been based within the University of Edinburgh.

The City of London Choir is a non-professional choir based in London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingston Choral Society</span> UK choir started in 1949

Kingston Choral Society is a large mixed-voice choir based in Kingston upon Thames in the UK. Originating in 1949, the choir in 2016 had around 140 auditioned members. It stages four concerts each year with professional musicians and soloists. Most of these concerts are held at All Saints Church, Kingston upon Thames, at St Andrew's Church, Surbiton, or at Cadogan Hall in central London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leith Hill Musical Festival</span> Chroal festival in Dorking, England

The Leith Hill Music Festival (LHMF) was founded in 1905 by Margaret Vaughan Williams, sister of the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Lady (Evangeline) Farrer, wife of Lord Farrer of Abinger Hall. Ralph Vaughan Williams was the festival conductor from 1905 to 1953. The present festival conductor is Jonathan Willcocks.

St Albans Bach Choir is an amateur choir based in the English cathedral city of St Albans. Since its founding in 1924 it has performed a wide range of choral music including but by no means limited to the great Bach masterpieces. It strives for the highest possible standards of music making, employing soloists of the highest calibre and professional orchestras. Performances are normally held in St Albans Cathedral. Currently, the Musical Director is Andrew Lucas, Master of the Music at the Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dunedin Symphony Orchestra</span> Professional orchestra in Dunedin, New Zealand

Dunedin Symphony Orchestra is a professional symphony orchestra based in Dunedin, New Zealand. It hosts an annual subscription series of concerts in the Dunedin Town Hall, performing repertoire from the Classical, Romantic and contemporary periods. It also regularly accompanies Dunedin stage performances by the Royal New Zealand Ballet, Opera Otago and City Choir Dunedin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worcester Festival Choral Society</span> Choral singing in Worcester

Worcester Festival Choral Society (WFCS) is an independent, SATB (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) choir of around 150 amateur singers that presents classical choral concerts at Worcester Cathedral, Worcester. The conductor is Samuel Hudson (Worcester Cathedral’s Director of Music) and the accompanist is Nicholas Freestone (Worcester Cathedral’s Assistant Director of Music). The Chairman is Susan White. The President is The Lord Bishop of Worcester and Senior Vice President is The Dean of Worcester.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Millar, Bruce (15 July 2024). "Find Your Voice". the Richmond Magazine (August ed.): 18. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  2. ↑ Anon, Anon (December 1982). "Their finest hours". Music. Richmond and Twickenham Times.
  3. ↑ Anon (15 July 1988). "Twickenham Coral Society: Memorable Sounds!". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Richmond and Twickenham Times.
  4. ↑ Tims, Hilton (30 April 1991). "Powerful mix od Mass and organ". Review of concert on 27th April 1991. Sure Comet. Surrey Comet.
  5. ↑ Anon (July 1994). "The Rolls Royce of our local choirs". Surrey Comet. Surrey Comet.
  6. ↑ Bevan, Maurice (21 December 2001). "Twickenham Choral Society: Uplifting Experience". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Richmond and Twickenham Times.
  7. ↑ Tims, Hilton (27 June 2003). "Heroic Herrick". Classical Music. Surrey Comet. Surrey Comet.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Mumford, Adrian; Herrick, Sarah (2022). Twickenham Choral Centenary. Twickenham Library: Twickenham Library. p. 43.
  9. ↑ Anon (12 February 1870). "Table Talk". No. 283. Messrs. Conacher & Co., Organ Factory, Huddersfield. The Musical Standard. p. 87.
  10. ↑ Advertisement (10 April 1875). "My Sweetheart When a Boy". Open Court Publishing Co. The Musical World.
  11. ↑ Casper, C.A. (1 March 1886). "Reviews". Musical Times Publications, Ltd. The Musical Times.
  12. ↑ Opinions (6 March 1886). "Concerts". Open Court Publishing Co. Orchestra and Musical Education. pp. 580–581.
  13. 1 2 Hoare, Philip (1995). Noël Coward – a biography (1998 ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 8. ISBN   0226345122.
  14. ↑ Anon. "MENDELSSOHN'S ELIJAH SATURDAY, 12TH MARCH 2022". ARTS Richmond. Richmond upon Thames Arts Council. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  15. ↑ Anon (1924). "The Royal Collegian Abroad (London)". The RCM Magazine (1923 Term). 20 (1): 19.
  16. 1 2 Greenwood, Howard (2002). All kinds of musick : the first 40 years of the Richmond Concert Society. Twickenham: Atwater Press. p. 12. ISBN   0953884015.
  17. ↑ Mumford & Herrick, 2022, Op. Cit, p.8
  18. ↑ Anon (15 May 1968). "Music and Ballet (schedule)". Punch. 254 (6662): 8.
  19. ↑ Harris, Robert (8 April 1977). "Grand and spacious from the beginning". Music. Richmond and Twickenham Times. Richmond and Twickenham Times.
  20. ↑ Anon. "Whitehall Choir nears 60 – a brief history" (PDF). Whitehall Choir. Whitehall Choir a registered charity (no. 280478). Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  21. ↑ Ionascu, Howard. "Howard Ionascu". Howard Ionascu. Howard Ionascu. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  22. ↑ Anon (1928). "Programme of Concert – Held at The Town Hall, Twickenham, on Tuesday, 27th March, 1928" (Concert Programme). Twickenham Musical Society. Twickenham Musical Society.
  23. ↑ Anon (1963). "Mass in B Minor – The Church of All Hallows, Saturday, 30th November, 1963" (Concert Programme). Twickenham Musical Society. Twickenham Musical Society.
  24. ↑ Anon (1966). "Messiah – The Church of All Hallows, Saturday, 14th May 1966" (Concert Programme). Twickenham Musical Society. Twickenham Musical Society.
  25. ↑ Anon (2010). "Twickenham Choral Society" (Concert Programme). Yumpu. Yumpu. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  26. ↑ Mumford, Adrian (2015). "Twickenham Choral Society" (Concert Programme). Paper ZZ. Paper ZZ. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  27. ↑ Anon (2015). "ST JOHN'S SMITH SQUARE – 2015/16 SeaSon" (PDF) (Pamphlet). No. 2015/2106 season. St John's Smith Square Charitable Trust. St John's Smith Square Charitable Trust. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  28. ↑ Anon. "Cadogan Hall". Cadogan Hall. Cadogan Hall. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  29. ↑ Anon. "Howard Ionascu appointed Musical Director and Conductor of Twickenham Choral". Twickenham Choral. Twickenham Choral. Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  30. ↑ Mumford & Herrick, 2022, Op. Cit, p.42
  31. ↑ Mumford & Herrick, 2022, Op. Cit, p.21
  32. ↑ Kennedy, Michael; Bourne Kennedy, Joyce (2007). "Conducting". Oxford Concise Dictionary of Music (Fifth ed.). Oxford University Press, Oxford. ISBN   9780199203833.
  33. ↑ Dunnett, Roderick (21 July 2009). "Great War poems in Kingston". Church Times. Hymns Ancient & Modern. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  34. ↑ UK Government. "Twickenham Choral Society". Charity Commission for England and Wales. UK Government. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  35. ↑ UK Government. "Twickenham Choral Society (Trustees)". Charity Commission for England and Wales. UK Government. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.