Kathleen
Sharp has been a member of The Bradford
Chorale since its formation. Here she gives a brief, personal history of
‘Our Choir’.
‘The
inaugural meeting of the choir took place of January 6th 1976 in the
church hall of St James, Thornton, Bradford. The lady seated at a table by the
door took my name/voice and handed me several pieces of music. The hall was
quite full, being small, I found a place near the front.
There
were to be no auditions, everyone had been personally invited by James
Ashworth, the young man who was to be Musical Director and Mentor. He explained
his ideas and ambitions for the choir, he hoped we would be able to give a
performance around Eastertime. We would be known as ‘The Ashworth Singers’,
rehearse every Tuesday in the hall, and pay a modest weekly subscription to
defray costs.
We then
sang through the pieces. I had not sung with such a large group of mixed voices
before – it was very exciting! On my way home I determined, that whatever
efforts I had to make, I wanted to sing with this choir.
The
first concert was held on Maundy Thursday in St James. We sang ‘Ave Verum
Corpus’ (Mozart), ‘Ave Maria’ (Bruckner) and ‘Requiem’ (Faure). I was on Cloud
Nine! ‘NEW CHOIR MAKES FIRST CLASS DEBUT’ was the verdict of the local press.
New
members were auditioned and on at least one occasion the whole choir, which
produced some interesting results. One lady admitted that she couldn’t sing a note;
she came to keep an eye on her husband!
When
James decided he needed to concentrate on his personal singing career, an
advertisement for a new conductor was placed in several local papers. In a
short time several applications were received but the secretary thought that
special attention should be paid to the one which included a reference from Sir Georg Sölti!! Thus Douglas Robinson
(Robbie), retired chorus master of Covent Garden and lately of Huddersfield
Choral came to us. As a result of a poll taken by the choir we became Bradford
Chorale. Douglas ran a tight ship, Sunday afternoon extra rehearsals were
scheduled when necessary. His last concert was a performance of ‘The Messiah’
for which he, the choir, and musicians were afforded a standing ovation.
Since
then we have had a number of conductors of varying ages, each with different
ideas of performance. A few were gems, and we have such a one now. Paul has the
vigour and daring to lead the choir down new and exciting paths. The future is
bright, see our Future programmes leaflet.
I know
of no better antidote to life’s woes than music making. So if you can, come and
join us. If that is not possible, come to a concert and give us a hearing.’
Forthcoming
concerts:
Handel's
‘Messiah’ in an arrangement for brass band and choir with the
championship-winning Reg Vardy Band.
7:30pm,
31st March 2012, Bradford Cathedral.
A
concert of European sacred music culminating in Fauré's beautiful setting of
the ‘Requiem’.
7:30pm,
21st April 2012, St. Paul's Church, Shipley.
Further details from: www.bradfordchorale.org.uk
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