Good evening everyone

It’s my job tonight to present a broad review of the choral society and its activities, and I’m pleased to be able to report what I believe has been another very successful year for the Society.

Recent concerts
The choir’s basic business is performing music, and before I move into other areas I’d like to very briefly review our recent and forthcoming performances. Since the last AGM we have held three excellent concerts. In Easter 2006 we sang Rossini’s maybe rather operatic but wonderfully energetic Stabat Mater together with an appearance (perhaps too rare) of JS Bach with the Magnificat in D. This was followed by our Summer concert at which the repertoire was more Eastern European, with Dvorak’s Mass in D and the technically quite demanding Missa Brevis by Kodaly. And of course our most recent concert was the performance of Handel’s The Messiah in the surroundings of Union Chapel, sung to a virtually full house in this substantial venue.

All were, I think, very well received and successful events that have continued to enhance the choir’s growing reputation for high artistic standards and for good quality, well organised, well attended – and friendly - concerts.

Forthcoming performances
As you will be aware our next concert is in just a couple of weeks with the Mozart Requiem and the Solemn Vespers. We have found that we needed to work quite hard on this programme, especially the Vespers, but I now feel very confident that we will have another very worthwhile and artistically rewarding concert on 24 March.

In the summer, on 7 July, we are singing a programme of nineteenth and twentieth century English music: works by Vaughan Williams, Stanford, Parry, Howells, Finzi, Ireland and Tavener. This repertoire has proved to be a librarian’s nightmare, as we have had to source so many individual scores, some in rather short supply, and for this I do apologise. (Just as well we now have our smart new multi-threaded music folders to hold all the scores together in one place!). I don’t apologise for the choice of works, though. Composers like Stanford and Parry represent the core of the renaissance – or perhaps the birth – of the great tradition of British amateur choral singing of which we are just a continuing part. This summer concert will be in St Mary's in Upper Street, Islington, where we sang about four years ago. It’s a large, light attractive venue, perfect for summer, and being so prominently positioned near the Angel it helps to attract decent sized audiences too.

2007-2008
Although we are still putting the finishing touches to our repertoire plans for the 2007-2008 season which starts this September, I thought you’d like to know the broad outline. For our December 2007 concert, we’re planning a Handel season, with the Coronation Anthems (Zadok the Priest and friends!) and the Dixit Dominus as the principal items. Then for the Spring 2008 concert, the main work will be Duruflé’s Requiem (which some of you will remember from when we sang it in 2001 and took it on tour in Normandy).

Sarah Rodgers - composer of our newly commissioned work
I am very pleased to say that along with the Duruflé in Spring 2008, we plan to sing a new work by Sarah Rodgers, a composer with whom we are just completing discussions to commission a new work written for the choir. As we did with the work composed for us by Will May two years ago, we will shortly be inviting you to propose themes or texts which could form the basis of Sarah’s musical work.

I’m personally delighted that this is the fourth work the choir will have commissioned in recent years including two from our former accompanist Philip Godfrey and one from Will May. Much of our enjoyment as members of ICS derives from singing long-established classical works, but I believe it is right for us to also support the creation of new choral works for the future.

The final piece in our repertoire planning is the Summer 2008 concert, and it is our intention then to sing one of what might be called the ‘choral classics’ - Haydn’s Creation.

Summer Singers
Concerts, and rehearsing for them, are indeed our mainstay but we do also try to undertake occasional activities to build on the camaraderie and the mutual enjoyment of singing which bind us together. One example is our ‘Summer Singers’ series of week by week workshops held during the choir’s summer break. Each week is under a different conductor and the series features a remarkably diverse range of shorter choral pieces from madrigals to anthems and folksongs (a la Vaughan Williams rather than The Cloggies) and all between. The 2006 Summer Singers were well attended and much enjoyed, and I’d like to thank Rhian Walther in particular for all her hard work in organising these. We do, of course, hope to continue Summer Singers this year as long as there continues to be support from you.

Bottoms up!
Another very enjoyable ‘sideline’ are what we used to call Bring & Sings but now call ‘from the bottom up’ workshops. Last November’s workshop featured Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and was enjoyed despite rather disappointing numbers; the most recent was last weekend when we sang through Carmina Burana. Good numbers of people turned up this time and we had a very successful day - and incidentally we think we have recruited three new members as a direct result. My sincere thanks to the guest conductor Jonathan Leonard, accompanist Mark Denza and especially to Catriona Hunter and Alex Arlango for their time and hard work given up to plan and run these events so smoothly and efficiently.

Lisbon tour
An even more significant ‘extra curricular’ is what has now become established as our regular biennial overseas concert tour. This year we will be visiting Lisbon at the end of May, and Catriona and Liz have put together what I think looks a fantastically fun programme. With 47 people signed up and the opportunity to extend the stay in Lisbon to a full week, this looks like being another superb occasion, and I want to thank Catriona again, and Liz Barton, for what is already 18 months worth of exhaustive and exhausting planning and co-ordinating work (including an inspection visit to Lisbon, at their own expense, last autumn).

Wartime memories
Amongst a number of other events during the year, it is worth mentioning our participation in recording music for a CD of wartime memories in a contemporary art project by Duncan McAfee which formed part of the Islington Green Interaction Programme alongside the development and installation of the new war memorial at Islington Green. And the choir has recently been featured in Choir and Organ, quite a prestigious journal, in the context of our participation in the Adopt-a-Composer scheme with Will May.

I should say that we are always open to new ideas for what the society might be doing, and very much welcome any suggestions you would like to make.

Growth
If any evidence were needed of the success of the choir and our activities, look around you (as Wren’s tomb in St Paul’s says). We have more members now than ever before, and continue to have excellent diversity among age groups, backgrounds and levels of singing experience. Of course our expansion presents some admin issues, and I am now actively researching the possibility of a larger rehearsal venue, ideally one not far from here.

But the growth in our numbers is 100% positive, and it’s a tribute not just to the many people who work on specific tasks for the choir, but also to all of you – your energy, enthusiasm and friendliness are what make the choir what it is.

There is more to say, but I think I’ve taken enough of your time. I’d like to conclude, though, by expressing my thanks to all of you who have contributed to the success of the choir, in particular everyone on your committee and our excellent professionals Michael and Rufus. I look forward enormously to another very successful year.

Thank you.

John Leslie, Chairman.

Keith Barton

Frances Tynan

Christopher Boustred

John Leslie

Liz Barton

Alex Arlango

Gillian Watson

Catriona Hunter

Juliet Michaelson

Rhiann Walther

Carole Simpkins

Godfrey Stadlen

Eleanor Radford

Michael Derrick

Committee:
Catriona Hunter
John Leslie