The early years
There is an arrangement by Imogen Holst published by Novello for mixed
voices of “Nowell and Nowell” which is dedicated “to the Westhall Hill
Singers”, copyright 1934, so there must have been a choir in Burford as
long ago as that. But a programme note in 1985 indicates that the
Burford Singers were formed around 1960, first of all as a group of
three female voices singing folk songs at a garden party. In the 1960s
there were around a dozen members, and rehearsals were held in members’
living rooms, with John Tayler as conductor.
As numbers grew, the choir progressed to rehearse at
Henry Box School, Witney, and began to take part in the Chipping Norton
Music Festival. Warren Green, who taught at Charterhouse with William
Llewellyn, took over when John Tayler left for a new teaching job in
Bristol in 1973. The Director of Music at Henry Box School, Megan Smith,
took over as conductor from 1975 to 1978, after singing as a choir
member. She organised a “Messiah from Scratch” in Burford Parish Church;
introduced us to 8-part Gabrieli and Sweelinck motets and arranged
concerts with Burford Orchestra and the Henry Box Orchestra. After
Megan’s marriage, Stephen Banfield (now Stanley Hugh Badock Professor of
Music at Bristol University) took over as conductor. In July 1979 the
Burford Singers appeared live on BBC TV (Sunday 12.15pm) in the Sunday
Worship series with Canon Peter Firth. The choir recorded a second
service for the following Sunday, and earned enough money to fund a
Sunday lunch at The Bull in Burford. Bob Oreschnick followed on as
conductor for a short time in 1979, and introduced the choir to singing
“fruit-basket”, i.e. mixing up the sopranos, altos, tenors and basses.
In 1980 Joyce Lang became conductor and introduced the choir (now with
around twenty members) to Durufle, Poulenc and Saint-Saens.
More recent years
When Brian Etheridge took over as
conductor in 1986, he recruited more members so that the choir could
tackle major choral works, and the current pattern was established of
three concerts each year. Membership grew to 80-plus and standards rose
once more. As the owner of the Gallery in the High Street, Brian was in
the ideal position to boost the choir’s reputation and audiences, and of
course to organise the Box Office. On his retirement, he invited Brian
Kay to become his successor and from 1999 the choir set up a new
constitution, formed a committee and took on charitable status. Our
constitution encourages us to encourage young singers and to develop
members’ musical skills. We have enjoyed singing with the Cotswold
Children's Choir at recent concerts, and propose to hold choir workshops
locally to develop our own skills and to attract new singers. Recent
press reviews of the choir's concerts illustrate the enjoyment and
commitment of current members. |
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