One of the advantages of being made to sit down and write a report like this is that it allows one to take stock and realise just what has been achieved. It has been quite a year, dominated by two performances in the summer of 1999. The first event after last year's report was taking part in an Opera Gala Evening at the Hackney Empire, which had been organised to raise money for Hackney's own opera company, New London Opera. NLO is run by Emma Dogliani, a South Hackney resident, and one of the Chorus's regular soloists. Around 150 people took part in the Gala, including Rosalin Plowright, one of this country's leading opera stars. Musically, the event was a huge success and the chorus enjoyed having the opportunity of taking part in this community event.
A few weeks later, the chorus was centre-stage (perhaps that should be centre-transept) for a concert of music by Mozart. It is always slightly difficult to review these events with detachment when the organisation and performance seems to dominate so much of my spare time, but by common consent this was one of our most successful concerts. The chorus began the evening with a performance of the beautiful Mozart Ave Verum Corpus, which was followed by Kay Julian's (a South Hackney resident and a teacher at Lauriston School) beautifully performed Clarinet Concerto. After the interval, the choir and orchestra returned with the Requiem, one of the most beautiful choral works of its period.
Having reviewed the past 1 think it is also good to look to the future. The success of the Mozart concert finally persuaded Dad and me that we really could tackle one of the longest and most difficult pieces of baroque choral music, Bach's St Matthew Passion. This stunning, emotionally powerful work tells of the last days, trial and crucifixion of Christ in the words of the Gospel of St Matthew. Performed in English, and making use of a double choir and double orchestra this really is our most ambitious projects to date. The choir have been rehearsing since September and the performance will mark not only the chorus first performance of the new millennium but also the 250th anniversary of the death of Johann Sebastian Bach. This concert will be on Palm Sunday, April 16th at 6pm
We plan a slightly easier concert for the choir, featuring Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo, a musical version of the story of Noah's Flood, and orchestral music including The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams and the Bach Double Violin Concerto. This is a concert of special significance to the church as much of the music was played during Jake Carr's funeral in 1998 and the concert is being held in his memory.
Finally, on October 14th we come full-circle with a performance of Handel's Messiah, again for BT Voices for Hospices, the charity and piece which launched the chorus in 1997. Once again, funds raised will be donated to St Joseph's Hospices
The chorus now has over 70 members (we started with around 45 in 1997). Please do come and join us, either by taking part (we rehearse on Sunday evenings between 5.30 and 7.30pm) or by supporting the concerts as a member of the audience.
1 am extremely grateful for all the support that the choir receives from members of the congregation and without which it would be impossible to put on these concerts. This thanks is not just for all the wonderful musicians who give their time up so willingly, but those who work behind the scenes taking on responsibilities so that Dad and 1 can concentrate on the performance during the day of the concert. This includes all those who help with the catering, stewarding, organising the flowers for soloists, etc. The choir is growing not just in size, but confidence and ability. If you haven't yet come to a concert, then please do come and support our efforts.