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Claygate Choral Society began life as an augmentation of Holy Trinity Parish Church Choir in 1959 under the direction of the then organist, Stanley Brown. Over half a century and five musical directors later, the Society is still going strong. Martyn Daldorph, our musical director from 1989 until 2011, inspired and conducted a small choir of about forty‑five members, drawn from many different walks of life and from a wide age‑range. In recent years, with the help of some very musical friends, we have given good accounts of Bach's Mass in B minor, his Christmas Oratorio, and his St John and St Matthew Passions. Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius in 2002 was another memorable performance of a great work for choir and orchestra, as were our performances of Verdi's Requiem in 2004, and Handel's Messiah in 2005 - the latter with Baroque orchestra. More recently we have sung Mozart’s great Mass in C minor and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. We were extremely proud, in 2008, to give only the second performance of Songs of Hope and Creation by Andrew Daldorph, son of our former Musical Director. Several of us were delighted to join Exeter Chamber Choir and the East Devon Choral Society, which Andrew directs, in a performance of Songs of Hope and Creation to a packed audience in Exeter Cathedral in 2009, a performance that received a standing ovation. A recording of that performance gained an award from PRS for Music (previously called the Performing Rights Society) of “Unforgettable Choir” and prize of £500 for the Exeter and East Devon choirs. The contribution of Martyn Daldorph to the development of the choir from 1989 until his retirement in 2011 has been exceptional by any standards. Under his direction the choir has achieved considerably higher standards of performance than one might normally expect from an amateur choir, and for that, and for the pleasure gained by members and audiences alike the Society is deeply grateful. We are also grateful for the contribution of Martyn’s family - Andrew as an outstanding accompanist on piano, harpsichord and organ, and Rebecca, Dora and Amy as talented soloists and his wife Sue in the choir.We hope that we shall not lose touch with the extended Daldorph family, and their wives and husbands, whose collected formidable musical talents have been a great blessing to Claygate. In September 2011 Ed Jones was appointed as Musical Director, and his energy and musical talent immediately impressed itself on the choir. A significant element of continuity in Ed’s taking over from Martyn Daldorph can be seen in the fact that Ed sang in in the bass line of the choir for Martyn’s final concert with the Society in Claygate, and sang with the choir on its first ever “foreign tour” – the visit to Todi in Umbria, Northern Italy – under Martyn’s direction. The choir's constitutional objective remains "to promote, improve, develop and maintain public education in and appreciation of the art of choral singing in all its aspects." We believe this is a worthy cause, and we enjoy ourselves, musically and socially, in our pursuit of that aim. Although we meet most often in order to sing, we also gather on purely social occasions usually involving meals or "cheese and wine"! We should love to share those experiences with others. If you would like to be involved in the life of the Society, either as a singer or non-singing supporter, and wish to contact someone to find out more details, please email: secretary@claygatechoralsociety.co.uk Over recent years, the Society has built up its own orchestra, Musica Academica. The orchestra gained its name originally because its members were mostly university friends of members' children. To that original core of musicians have been added many others, from time to time, who have been happy to play under the label of Musica Academica. In recent years the Society has also formed links with with a group of Baroque instrumentalists whom we named as The Arbrook Baroque Chamber Orchestra. Their playing added an authentic dimension to our performances of works from that period. The Society is also the subject of a book. |
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