Helen Marcus 2014-2022
Helen Marcus stepped in as emergency musical director for the Summer concert 2014 and was with us until Summer 2022.
Christmas 2019. Held at St. Andrew's Church. Singing a selection of favourite bits from The Messiah by Handel followed by a variety of Christmas songs including The Coventry Carol sung a cappella by a choir-formed octet and a fantastic organ solo by Christopher Boodle. Soloists were Linda Roe and Tom Thistelton.
July 2019. Hollywood, Hippies and Hair. A musical extravaganza of up-beat, toe-tapping tunes. Beach Boys medley, Sweet Caroline, I'm a Believer, Song Sung Blue, Age of Aquarius, Let the Sunshine, Let's do it, Night and Day. Soloists were Helen Wilson and Hannah Wilson-Autzen. We were accompanied by Sara Espley on piano, David Burrows on Bass and Adrian Baker on Drums.
March 2019. Despite finding this one of the trickiest pieces we've ever sung the choir performed a magnificent rendition of Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle at St. Andrew's Church with Christopher Boodle, Sara Espley and Helen McNaught accompanying. Featuring soloists Helen Wilson, Alex Hutton, Tim Burton and Nicholas Perfect.
Christmas 2018. Held at the very beginning of December at Chosen Hill School in the centenary year of the end of the first world war the choir sang Karl Jenkin's The Armed Man with orchestra and a small choir from St. Mary's School in Churchdown. Soloists were taken from the choir and all performed brilliantly with a very moving Now the guns have stopped from Gillian King. Following The Armed Man the audience were led gently from the horrors of war through Stille Nacht and I'll be Home for Christmas to a fun medley of Christmas songs including Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, a reminder to us all of what the sacrifices of war are for.
Summer 2018. Our summer concert was held on the 30th June at Churchdown Community Centre. Accompanied by Sara Espley and featuring excellent soloists from the Beauregard Academy. We sang medleys from Mamma Mia, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof and South Pacific. Thoroughly enjoyed by both choir and audience.
Easter 2018. Our Easter concert was held on 17th March at Chosen Hill School, Churchdown. Accompanied by a scratch orchestra and soloists - Willow Burden, Bernadette Johns, Sacha Fullerton and Laurence Padfield we sang Vivaldi's Gloria and Faure's Requiem. According to audience feedback, one of our best ever concerts!
Christmas 2017. Our Christmas concert was held on 16th December at St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown. The concert was based around an international theme with carols and readings taken from around the world and closer to home. The choir performed a selection of Christmas songs including The Lamb, There is no Rose, Little Road to Bethlehem, A Pastoral carol, Bogoroditse Devo and the audience joined in gustily with the Christmas hymns. The choir were accompanied by Christopher Boodle on the organ, our own Sara Espley on the piano and Louis Appleyard on the trumpet. After the concert everyone adjourned to the hall to munch on some international festive bites. A wonderful start to the Christmas period.
July 2017. Our Summer concert was held on 1st July at Churchdown Community centre, Churchdown. The choir performed a selection of songs from the last century. Blue Moon, Moon River, Java Jive, It Don't Mean A Thing, Autumn Leaves, Get Me To The Church On Time, They Night They Invented Champagne, Fields of Gold and a Beatles Medley. We were joined by soloists Sacha Fullerton and Katie Bilner who performed pieces by Mendelssohn, Humperdink, Quilter, Dvorak and Stanford including a couple of beautiful duets. It was a lovely evening, topped by the audience joining in, in fine voice, for the final bits of the Beatles medley.
April 2017. Our Easter concert was held on 1st April at Chosen Hill School. No joke, it was a good one. Joined by a scratch orchestra and our rehearsal pianist Sara Espley, on continuo. Along with some very talented soloists - Sasha Fullerton, Laurence Padfield, Phoebe Kirrage and James Edgeler. We sang all the choral parts of Haydn's Creation and only a couple of solos were cut. Finishing with the rousing I Was Glad by Parry. Although worried that the brass would be overpowering, it was a very enjoyable concert with some excellent audience feedback.
December 2016. Our Christmas concert was held on 16th December at St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown. The choir was joined by Elmbridge School choir, Cotswold Brass with Christopher Boodle and Sara Espley accompanying. The concert took the form of carols and readings with various Christmas themed music interspersed with related readings (poems, monologues). We sang a selection of songs including a challenging arrangement of Deck The Hall by John Rutter and several from The Messiah. Two very different songs, Sure on This Shining Night and O Magnum Mysterium, by Morten Lauridsen. A wonderful version of Hark the Herald, with music by J-P Rameau and arranged by Chris Williams. Another Chris Williams composition - Song of the Winter Wind. A Karl Jenkins version of In Dulce Jubilo. Joyful, Joyful - an arrangement of part of Beethoven's 9th symphony to words by Henry van Dyke and the exuberant Merry Christmas Cha Cha Cha. Elmbridge choir performed a couple of upbeat numbers, with actions! As usual, the audience joined in with several carols. It was a thoroughly enjoyable concert, made all the more festive by the brass band accompaniment.
June 2016. Our Summer concert was held on 25th June at Churchdown Community centre, Churchdown. The choir performed selections of songs from West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Miserables with the addition of Nellie the Elephant, The Hippopotamus Song and Last Tango in Cheltenham. It was nice to be able to reprise a couple of these amongst the new pieces. We were accompanied by Sara Espley and joined by fantastic vocal soloists from the Vicki Beauregard Academy, singing several solos and duets from various musicals. We were also delighted that Sam Mitchell could join us for a delightful farewell piano solo. A lovely concert and a lovely evening.
March 2016. Our Easter concert was held on 29th March in Chosen Hill School, Churchdown. The choir first performed Mozart's Missa Brevis in D Major with a small orchestra and 4 soloists - Bernadette Johns, Catherine Perfect, Malcolm Banbury and Nicholas Perfect. The second piece was Rutter's Requiem, during which we were accompanied by a larger orchestra and a harp! Despite some issued with their complexity during rehearsals, both pieces went fantastically on the night, giving us one of our best concerts in recent years. As always our Easter concert was a challenge that our MD led us through magnificently.
December 2015. Our Christmas concert was held on 5th December in St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown. We sang with the choirs from Elmbridge and Parton Manor Junior Schools accompanied by organ, piano, brass band and violin duo (not all at once). Starting with Miserere Mei Deus with soloists Helen Wilson, Bernadette Johns, Sacha Fullerton and Laurence Padfield. We then performed Karl Jenkins' Jubilate Deo and Rutter's Gloria with brass band and organ accompaniment. After a slight interlude Elmbridge school choir performed their song from Children In Need and then both school choirs sang We Three Kings and a jazzy rendition of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer accompanied by piano and the choral society. Following the school choirs the violin duo performed the Allegro from Concerto in D Minor by Vivaldi. After the violin duo the choir performed The Snow by Edward Elgar, The Shepherd by Karl Jenkins, The Candlelight Carol and Nativity Carol by John Rutter. Interspersed throughout the evening were audience hymns. We were accompanied by Sara Espley on the piano and Geoffrey Poole on the organ.
June 2015. Our summer concert was held, as usual, in Churchdown Community Centre, on 27th June. We sang a mixture of music by British composers, through the ages. Starting with with a couple of madrigals, British folk songs (one from each of the four partner nations), a Vaughan Williams, an Elgar and a Beatles. We progressed to Nelly the Elephant, arranged by a local composer and Last Tango In Cheltenham, composed by a local composer and finished with Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Our soloist - Sean Fitzpatrick sang a Handel, a Purcell, some Lloyd Webber and to honour Frank Sinatra's 100th anniversary, New York, New York. There was also a surprise performance by Nia Chittenden and Oliver Carter singing a wonderful version of Something Stupid. Many thanks to Helen for putting together a lovely and varied programme.
March 2015. For our easter concert, held on 28th March at St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown, we performed a challenging set of pieces drawn from three separate ages of music. Stainer's Crucifixion, Bob Chilcott's Little Jazz Mass and Schubert's Mass in G. Soloists were Helen Wilson (soprano), Roberto West (tenor) and Laurence Padfield (bass), all of whom sang beautifully. We were accompanied by a small string orchestra for the Mass in G, Cameron Luke on the organ for Stainer's Crucifixion and a brilliant jazz group for the Little Jazz Mass. A wonderful time was had by all and the choir definitely felt a sense of accomplishment.
December 2014. Our Christmas concert was held on 13th December at St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown. We performed the first part Handel's Messiah with the Hallelujah Chorus along with some choir carols and audience carols. We were joined in the Messiah by fantastic soloists - Helen Wilson (soprano), Bernadette Johns (Alto), Jack Parry (Tenor) and Sean Fitzpatrick (Bass) . A wonderful chamber-sized orchestra really made the evening feel special. One of our sopranos - Pauline Coopey - performed a wonderful solo for the first verse of Once In Royal David's City. Everyone left at the end of the evening feeling ready for the festive season, and not just because of the mince pies.
June 2014. Our annual summer concert was held on June 28th at the Community Centre. The performance included Ave Verum Corpus Mozart, Locus Este Bruckner and Haydns,The Heavens are Telling from The Creation. We were joined for the latter, by three superb soloists. Bernadette Johns, Matthew Keighley and Tor Alexander. Bernadette also treated us to six wonderful solo pieces including Non Soi Piu Cosa Son by Mozart and If music be the Food of Love by Purcell. The audience and choir were spell-bound by her wonderful voice. Our two very talented accompanists for the evening were Cameron Luke and Tim Sidford. A highlight being their fantastic joint piano playing during The Rhythm of Life! The evening focus was primarily the choir's 30th Anniversary, but also the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War. To commemorate this important event,we concluded the concert with 'Songs from the Trenches'. The audience joined us to sing these songs which would have been so familiar to the men who fought and died in the trenches. They were light-hearted songs, but also very poignant. In conclusion the Last Post was played perfectly by Peter Baker , who broke the silence with a rousing Reveille. Thanks to Helen who conducted the choir and helped so much to make the evening a relaxed and enjoyable one. Jan Thomas
Christmas 2019. Held at St. Andrew's Church. Singing a selection of favourite bits from The Messiah by Handel followed by a variety of Christmas songs including The Coventry Carol sung a cappella by a choir-formed octet and a fantastic organ solo by Christopher Boodle. Soloists were Linda Roe and Tom Thistelton.
July 2019. Hollywood, Hippies and Hair. A musical extravaganza of up-beat, toe-tapping tunes. Beach Boys medley, Sweet Caroline, I'm a Believer, Song Sung Blue, Age of Aquarius, Let the Sunshine, Let's do it, Night and Day. Soloists were Helen Wilson and Hannah Wilson-Autzen. We were accompanied by Sara Espley on piano, David Burrows on Bass and Adrian Baker on Drums.
March 2019. Despite finding this one of the trickiest pieces we've ever sung the choir performed a magnificent rendition of Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle at St. Andrew's Church with Christopher Boodle, Sara Espley and Helen McNaught accompanying. Featuring soloists Helen Wilson, Alex Hutton, Tim Burton and Nicholas Perfect.
Christmas 2018. Held at the very beginning of December at Chosen Hill School in the centenary year of the end of the first world war the choir sang Karl Jenkin's The Armed Man with orchestra and a small choir from St. Mary's School in Churchdown. Soloists were taken from the choir and all performed brilliantly with a very moving Now the guns have stopped from Gillian King. Following The Armed Man the audience were led gently from the horrors of war through Stille Nacht and I'll be Home for Christmas to a fun medley of Christmas songs including Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, a reminder to us all of what the sacrifices of war are for.
Summer 2018. Our summer concert was held on the 30th June at Churchdown Community Centre. Accompanied by Sara Espley and featuring excellent soloists from the Beauregard Academy. We sang medleys from Mamma Mia, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof and South Pacific. Thoroughly enjoyed by both choir and audience.
Easter 2018. Our Easter concert was held on 17th March at Chosen Hill School, Churchdown. Accompanied by a scratch orchestra and soloists - Willow Burden, Bernadette Johns, Sacha Fullerton and Laurence Padfield we sang Vivaldi's Gloria and Faure's Requiem. According to audience feedback, one of our best ever concerts!
Christmas 2017. Our Christmas concert was held on 16th December at St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown. The concert was based around an international theme with carols and readings taken from around the world and closer to home. The choir performed a selection of Christmas songs including The Lamb, There is no Rose, Little Road to Bethlehem, A Pastoral carol, Bogoroditse Devo and the audience joined in gustily with the Christmas hymns. The choir were accompanied by Christopher Boodle on the organ, our own Sara Espley on the piano and Louis Appleyard on the trumpet. After the concert everyone adjourned to the hall to munch on some international festive bites. A wonderful start to the Christmas period.
July 2017. Our Summer concert was held on 1st July at Churchdown Community centre, Churchdown. The choir performed a selection of songs from the last century. Blue Moon, Moon River, Java Jive, It Don't Mean A Thing, Autumn Leaves, Get Me To The Church On Time, They Night They Invented Champagne, Fields of Gold and a Beatles Medley. We were joined by soloists Sacha Fullerton and Katie Bilner who performed pieces by Mendelssohn, Humperdink, Quilter, Dvorak and Stanford including a couple of beautiful duets. It was a lovely evening, topped by the audience joining in, in fine voice, for the final bits of the Beatles medley.
April 2017. Our Easter concert was held on 1st April at Chosen Hill School. No joke, it was a good one. Joined by a scratch orchestra and our rehearsal pianist Sara Espley, on continuo. Along with some very talented soloists - Sasha Fullerton, Laurence Padfield, Phoebe Kirrage and James Edgeler. We sang all the choral parts of Haydn's Creation and only a couple of solos were cut. Finishing with the rousing I Was Glad by Parry. Although worried that the brass would be overpowering, it was a very enjoyable concert with some excellent audience feedback.
December 2016. Our Christmas concert was held on 16th December at St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown. The choir was joined by Elmbridge School choir, Cotswold Brass with Christopher Boodle and Sara Espley accompanying. The concert took the form of carols and readings with various Christmas themed music interspersed with related readings (poems, monologues). We sang a selection of songs including a challenging arrangement of Deck The Hall by John Rutter and several from The Messiah. Two very different songs, Sure on This Shining Night and O Magnum Mysterium, by Morten Lauridsen. A wonderful version of Hark the Herald, with music by J-P Rameau and arranged by Chris Williams. Another Chris Williams composition - Song of the Winter Wind. A Karl Jenkins version of In Dulce Jubilo. Joyful, Joyful - an arrangement of part of Beethoven's 9th symphony to words by Henry van Dyke and the exuberant Merry Christmas Cha Cha Cha. Elmbridge choir performed a couple of upbeat numbers, with actions! As usual, the audience joined in with several carols. It was a thoroughly enjoyable concert, made all the more festive by the brass band accompaniment.
June 2016. Our Summer concert was held on 25th June at Churchdown Community centre, Churchdown. The choir performed selections of songs from West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Miserables with the addition of Nellie the Elephant, The Hippopotamus Song and Last Tango in Cheltenham. It was nice to be able to reprise a couple of these amongst the new pieces. We were accompanied by Sara Espley and joined by fantastic vocal soloists from the Vicki Beauregard Academy, singing several solos and duets from various musicals. We were also delighted that Sam Mitchell could join us for a delightful farewell piano solo. A lovely concert and a lovely evening.
March 2016. Our Easter concert was held on 29th March in Chosen Hill School, Churchdown. The choir first performed Mozart's Missa Brevis in D Major with a small orchestra and 4 soloists - Bernadette Johns, Catherine Perfect, Malcolm Banbury and Nicholas Perfect. The second piece was Rutter's Requiem, during which we were accompanied by a larger orchestra and a harp! Despite some issued with their complexity during rehearsals, both pieces went fantastically on the night, giving us one of our best concerts in recent years. As always our Easter concert was a challenge that our MD led us through magnificently.
December 2015. Our Christmas concert was held on 5th December in St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown. We sang with the choirs from Elmbridge and Parton Manor Junior Schools accompanied by organ, piano, brass band and violin duo (not all at once). Starting with Miserere Mei Deus with soloists Helen Wilson, Bernadette Johns, Sacha Fullerton and Laurence Padfield. We then performed Karl Jenkins' Jubilate Deo and Rutter's Gloria with brass band and organ accompaniment. After a slight interlude Elmbridge school choir performed their song from Children In Need and then both school choirs sang We Three Kings and a jazzy rendition of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer accompanied by piano and the choral society. Following the school choirs the violin duo performed the Allegro from Concerto in D Minor by Vivaldi. After the violin duo the choir performed The Snow by Edward Elgar, The Shepherd by Karl Jenkins, The Candlelight Carol and Nativity Carol by John Rutter. Interspersed throughout the evening were audience hymns. We were accompanied by Sara Espley on the piano and Geoffrey Poole on the organ.
June 2015. Our summer concert was held, as usual, in Churchdown Community Centre, on 27th June. We sang a mixture of music by British composers, through the ages. Starting with with a couple of madrigals, British folk songs (one from each of the four partner nations), a Vaughan Williams, an Elgar and a Beatles. We progressed to Nelly the Elephant, arranged by a local composer and Last Tango In Cheltenham, composed by a local composer and finished with Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Our soloist - Sean Fitzpatrick sang a Handel, a Purcell, some Lloyd Webber and to honour Frank Sinatra's 100th anniversary, New York, New York. There was also a surprise performance by Nia Chittenden and Oliver Carter singing a wonderful version of Something Stupid. Many thanks to Helen for putting together a lovely and varied programme.
March 2015. For our easter concert, held on 28th March at St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown, we performed a challenging set of pieces drawn from three separate ages of music. Stainer's Crucifixion, Bob Chilcott's Little Jazz Mass and Schubert's Mass in G. Soloists were Helen Wilson (soprano), Roberto West (tenor) and Laurence Padfield (bass), all of whom sang beautifully. We were accompanied by a small string orchestra for the Mass in G, Cameron Luke on the organ for Stainer's Crucifixion and a brilliant jazz group for the Little Jazz Mass. A wonderful time was had by all and the choir definitely felt a sense of accomplishment.
December 2014. Our Christmas concert was held on 13th December at St. Andrew's Church, Churchdown. We performed the first part Handel's Messiah with the Hallelujah Chorus along with some choir carols and audience carols. We were joined in the Messiah by fantastic soloists - Helen Wilson (soprano), Bernadette Johns (Alto), Jack Parry (Tenor) and Sean Fitzpatrick (Bass) . A wonderful chamber-sized orchestra really made the evening feel special. One of our sopranos - Pauline Coopey - performed a wonderful solo for the first verse of Once In Royal David's City. Everyone left at the end of the evening feeling ready for the festive season, and not just because of the mince pies.
June 2014. Our annual summer concert was held on June 28th at the Community Centre. The performance included Ave Verum Corpus Mozart, Locus Este Bruckner and Haydns,The Heavens are Telling from The Creation. We were joined for the latter, by three superb soloists. Bernadette Johns, Matthew Keighley and Tor Alexander. Bernadette also treated us to six wonderful solo pieces including Non Soi Piu Cosa Son by Mozart and If music be the Food of Love by Purcell. The audience and choir were spell-bound by her wonderful voice. Our two very talented accompanists for the evening were Cameron Luke and Tim Sidford. A highlight being their fantastic joint piano playing during The Rhythm of Life! The evening focus was primarily the choir's 30th Anniversary, but also the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War. To commemorate this important event,we concluded the concert with 'Songs from the Trenches'. The audience joined us to sing these songs which would have been so familiar to the men who fought and died in the trenches. They were light-hearted songs, but also very poignant. In conclusion the Last Post was played perfectly by Peter Baker , who broke the silence with a rousing Reveille. Thanks to Helen who conducted the choir and helped so much to make the evening a relaxed and enjoyable one. Jan Thomas