I am extremely proud to have been elected as President of the Cumbria Singers.
This is a reincarnation of the choir formed in 1951 as Cumbria Rural Choirs – a large group performing one concert per year. The members of several choirs in Cumbria worked from Autumn to Spring with a chorus master for a major choral work to be directed by a well-known and highly respected guest conductor. Conductors included Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Charles Groves, Sir David Willcocks, Sir Philip Ledger to name just a few. I was honoured to be invited to conduct a few concerts over the years.
Over the past 10 years problems with recruitment and retention resulted in numbers reducing, and as with so many choirs, the pandemic had a significantly bad effect causing great concern to the trustees and committee. I was approached as a consultant to advise on a way forward.
My vision was to reinvent the choir with a new name and a clear mandate to be a support to singers of other choirs within Cumbria. The same idea of enthusing and motivating the singers, by performing major choral repertoire with full orchestral accompaniment, professional soloists and respected guest conductors, whilst not being a threat to the other choirs of the region.
I was also invited to be the first Guest Conductor for this ‘new’ choir!
I suggested a minimal face to face contact of 4 Saturday rehearsals through the season (to avoid conflict with other choirs’ weekly rehearsal schedules). However, this was to be supported by e-learning – fortnightly instructional audio and videos to help in preparing the scores. Learning ‘on-line’ is a foreign concept to most choral singers, as a vital part of choir participation is the social aspect. The video and audio presentations I made were not only to learn the notes of the music being prepared, but a development of individual vocal production, choral technique and vocal confidence. This new concept of learning had to be ‘sold’ to the scepticism of many would-be recruits, but the response was amazing. Singers realised that they were gaining a new confidence in their own vocal ability.
There was an official ‘launch’ of the new choir, attended by dignitaries, potential sponsors, choral directors and those involved in musical education in the county. The press were alerted and radio interviews undertaken.
The 1st concert was to be Haydn’s Creation, and the many recruits embraced the on-line learning making the face-to-face rehearsals exhilarating. A choir of over a 100 singers ‘joined’ and a really excellent performance was given to a capacity audience in Carlisle Cathedral in 2023. Reviews were positive and highly complimentary.
Reluctantly I was persuaded by the committee to conduct for a 2nd year. This was however not part of the structure I had envisaged: I felt the excitement for the singers should be from having different guest conductors each year! The choir were asked for suggestions for the repertoire for 2024, and a programme of Elgar’s The Music Makers, Faure’s Requiem and Cantique de Jean Racine was chosen. This is a challenging programme, as it is mainly choral singing with minimal soloist participation, and some of the new singers joining had little experience of choir participation. The choir now numbered about 120, and most of the singers were very diligent in the ‘homework’ preparation for the Saturday rehearsals. There was a buzz of excitement at all the rehearsals which culminated in a very fine performance, again in Carlisle Cathedral with a large professional orchestra and excellent soloists.
For me, the greatest accolade came from the number of the singers who told me how their improved technique had been applauded by the choral directors in their ‘home’ choirs. Cumbria Singers really is supporting the work of other choirs in the county!
I was pleased to recommend Matthew Owens to conduct for the next year: the programme being prepared for the 2025 concert consists of works by 20th and 21st century composers.
I am so happy to see this choir flourishing, and I hope that will continue well into the future. As their new President, I shall take great interest and offer my support in Cumbria Singers’ progress.