Bury Bach Choir blog

Welcome Chantal ! In an earlier post on the blog we celebrated Ann Brown, who has sung with the choir for 60 years.  In this post we welcome a new member, Chantal  Beeston, who joined us in September.  We will continue to feature members of the choir over the coming months. So how did Chantal feel about her first concer t with us last Saturday (21 Octo ber ) , for the Samaritans? ‘I loved it – t he sense of teamwork and camara derie , all of us working towards the same goal after all those intensive rehearsals.  More than that, I felt a sense of belonging, of doing something  just  for me.’ Chantal, a soprano, moved to Bury St Edmunds in the summer with her husband Ben, a teacher, and Beatrix, their 18 month-old  daughter .   Chantal is a music teacher , though she’s currently on maternity leave,  and has taught children from nursery through to  ‘ A ’  level, most recently as Head of Performing Arts for the Prep School at Finborough School. Although she trained as a s

A match made in Bury St Edmunds On Saturday 21 October the Bury Bach Choir will perform a concert in aid of the Samaritans.  The Choir will sing Fauré’s beautiful and ever-popular Requiem, and a selection of short pieces including John Tavener’s The Lamb and Song for Athene, Mozart’s Ave Verum, Lauridsen’s O Magnum Mysterium and three ethereal Bruckner motets. Former Chairman Graham Todd, who set up the concert, says ‘Our usual November concert wasn’t scheduled this year, which gave us the opportunity to perform a concert in October for charity.  We were very pleased to select the Bury St Edmunds branch of the Samaritans as our beneficiary’. The concert will be at St Mary’s Church, Bury St Edmunds, with soloists Fae Evelyn and Tom Asher, who are performing for no fee.  It will be conducted by Philip Reed and the accompanist will be James Recknell.  All profits from the concert will go to the Samaritans, who do such great work in the Bury area. Claire, from the Sam

Ann being presented with her award by former Chairman Graham Todd Honouring Ann Brown  Ann Brown, soprano, has been awarded Honorary Life Membership by the Bury Bach Choir, after a staggering 60 years’ unbroken membership!  Accepting the award for this outstanding record, Ann said ‘I joined the choir in 1957 because my father was in it, and I’ve stayed because I enjoy singing!’ This is only the second time since the choir began in 1932 that this honour has been awarded, and Ann is the only choir member to have sung under all three of the choir’s Music Directors.  She took piano lessons with the founder MD, Percy Hallam: ‘He was the organist at the cathedral and he suggested I join the choir, but I only sang in one concert with him because he died later that year’.   Ann has attended over 2000 rehearsals and performed in around 250 concerts over the years.  ‘I’ve sung Handel’s Messiah so many times, I know it off by heart!’  She also served on the Committee for several