The Rotary Club of Guildford
RIS
and the Vivace Chorus present
%127
THE MAYOR OF GUILDFORD’s
- -
h
4
-
CHRISTMAS
CONCERT
in aid of the
|
*
MAYOR’S LOCAL DISTRESS FUND
$
Conductor: Jeremy Backhouse
-
"
)
Introduced by: Martyn Lewis CBE
~
Sunday
11th Dec 2011
7 pm Holy Trinity Church
Guildford
vivacechorus.org
www.rotaryclubguildford.co.uk
€
CUILDFORD
Surrey Advertiser
A MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR OF GUILDFORD
Councillor Terence Patrick
|
am
delighted
to
be
joining
you
this
evening for the traditional
Mayor of
Guildford's Christmas Concert, organised
by the Rotary Club of Guildford and
members of the Vivace Chorus.
®|
|
It was 60 years ago in 1951 that the
Rotary Club of Guildford first staged the
Mayor's Carol Concert in the town's
Methodist Church.
On that occasion, the
Concert was organised by Jack Clitheroe,
iy e
Guildford Corporation's Director of Music,
who brought in his Festival Choir to lead the singing.
This festive
concert soon became a popular Christmas event and increased
contributions to the Mayor's Fund considerably.
And tonight, the Mayor's Christmas Concert is still raising funds for
the Mayor of Guildford's Local Distress Fund - a registered charity
that gives small grants of money to Guildford people in genuine need.
Despite being in one of the most affluent parts of Surrey, Guildford
still has, nonetheless, pockets of deprivation, where people struggle
to make ends meet on a daily basis, needing the most basic items,
that most of the rest of us just take for granted.
| hope you will be
able to spare a small amount of money to help these less fortunate
people, who live in our community.
| would like to thank the Rotary Club of Guildford and the Vivace
Chorus for organising this evening's concert and | wish everyone
here tonight a very Happy Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
(i
Mayor of Guildford
THE MAYOR OF GUILDFORD'S CHRISTMAS CONCERT
featuring THE VIVACE CHORUS
Conductor : Jeremy Backhouse
Organist : Dr Anthony Gritten
THIS EVENING'S PROGRAMME
Welcome by the Rev Jonathan Hedgecock & Martyn Lewis
Audience Carol
(arr. H.J.Gauntlett, arr.David Willcocks)
Solo
Once in Royal David's city
Choir
He came down to earth from heaven
All
And our eyes at last shall see him
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her baby
In a manger for his bed:
Mary was that mother mild
Jesus Christ her little child.
Who is God and Lord of all,
And his shelter was a stable
And his cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and meek, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Saviour Holy.
Through his own redeeming love,
For that child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heaven above;
And he leads his children on
To the place where he is gone.
Not in that poor lowly stable
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see him; but in heaven,
Set at God's right hand on high;
When like stars his children crowned
All in white shall wait around.
~D~
A babe is born (William Mathias)
Infant King
(Basque Noel arr. David Willcocks)
Reading
|
'A Child's Christmas in Wales' by Dylan Thomas
|
read by Martyn Lewis
Audience Carol
(English Trad. arr.Vaughan Williams/Willcocks)
O Little Town of Bethlehem
|
How still we see thee lie!
f}
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
|
The silent stars go by;
‘@
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
|
The everlasting light;
|
|
|
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.
O morning stars, together
Proclaim the Holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to men on earth.
For Christ is born of Mary
And, gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
How silently, how silently,
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of his heaven,
No ear may hear his coming,
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive him, still
The dear Christ enters in.
~3~
O Holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas Angels,
The great glad tidings tell:
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel.
The Christ - Child
(Wil Todd)
| Saw Three Ships
(arr. David Willcocks)
(J.F.Wade
Audience Carol
arr. David Willcocks)
O come, all ye faithful
Joyful and triumphant
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
Come and behold him,
Born the King of Angels;
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him,
Christ the Lord
God of God,
Light of Light,
Lo, He abhors not the Virgin’s Womb;
Very God,
Begotten, not created;
O come, let us adore him...
Sing, choirs of Angels,
Sing in exultation,
Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above,
Glory to God,
In the highest:
O come, let us adore him...
oY
2o
Yea, Lord, we greet thee,
Born this happy morning,
Jesu, to thee be glory given;
Word of the Father,
Now in flesh appearing;
O Come, let us adore him.......
Choir
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
(Elizabeth Poston)
Star Carol
(John Rutter)
INTERVAL
Wine, Soft Drinks & Mince Pies available
Choir
A Child is born in Bethlehem
(Samuel Scheidt, ed. David Willcocks)
Hush! My dear, be still and slumber
Audience Carol
(French Trad. arr. David Willcocks)
(Piae Cantiones, arr. David Willcocks)
Unto us is born a Son,
King of quires supernal:
See on earth his life begun,
Of lords the Lord eternal,
Of lords the Lord eternal.
Christ, from heav'n descending low,
Comes on earth a stranger:
Ox and ass their owner know,
Be-cradled in a manger
Be-cradled in a manger.
This did Herod sore af-fray,
And grievously bewilder,
So he gave the word to slay
And slew the little childer,
And slew the little childer.
=
s
Of his love and mercy mild
This the Christmas story;
And O that Mary's gentle child
Might lead us up to glory,
Might lead us up to glory!
O and A, and A and O,
Cum cantibus in choro,
Let our merry organ go,
Benedicamus Domino,
Benedicamus Domino.
Choir
| wonder as | wander
(Appalachian, arr. John Rutter)
Personent hodie
(German, arr. Gustav Holst)
Reading
'Christmas Eve 1913' by Robert Bridges
read by Martyn Lewis
Audience Carol
(English Trad. arr. David Willcocks)
God rest you merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay,
For Jesus Christ our Saviour
Was born upon this day;
To save us all from Satan's power,
When we were gone astray,
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
From God our Heavenly Father,
A blessed angel came,
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tidings of the same,;
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name,;
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
=TM
The Shepherds at these tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a feeding,
In tempest, storm and wind:
And went to Bethlehem straightway,
This blessed babe to find
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Choir only
But when to Bethlehem they came
Whereat this infant lay,
They found him in a manger,
Where oxen feed on hay;
His mother Mary kneeling,
Unto the Lord did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All others doth deface
O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Mid Winter
(Bob Chilcott)
Tomorrow will be my dancing day
(John Gardiner)
Address by the Mayor of Guildford
Councillor Terence Patrick
Introduced by the President of the Rotary Club of Guildford
Mr. Chris Elston
Audience Carol
(Charles Wesley : arr. Felix Mendelssohn)
Hark! the herald-angels sing
Glory to the new-born King:
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled:
Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies,
With the angelic host proclaim
Christ is born in Bethlehem
Hark! the herald-angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.
Christ by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting Lord,
Late in time behold him come
Offspring of a virgin’s womb:
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail the incarnate deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! the herald-angels sing......
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace !
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings;
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald-angels sing
Glory to the newborn King.
Encore
We wish you a Merry Christmas !
(English trad. arr. Arthur Warrell)
Ny
THE VIVACE CHORUS
FIRST SOPRANOS :
Joanna Andrews, Helen Beevers, Mary Broughton, Rachel Edmondson,
Mo Kfouri, Susan Norton, Gillian Palmer, Margaret Parry, Margaret Perkins,
Carol Terry, Sally Varley
SECOND SOPRANOS :
Mandy Freeman, Marianne llisley, Krystyna Marsden, Debbie Morton,
Alison Palmer, Kate Peters, Isobel Rooth, Ann Shepherd, Judy Smith,
Philippa Smith, Paula Sutton, Christine Wilks, Frances Worpe
FIRST ALTOS :
Monika Boothby,
Margaret Dentskevich, Liz Durning, Kate Emmerson,
Sheila Hodson, Pamela Leggett, Jean Leston, Lois McCabe, Mary Moon,
Kay McManus, Christine Medlow, Karen Prodger, Rosalind Milton,
Lesley Scordellis, Catherine Shacklady, Maggie Woolcock
SECOND ALTOS :
Valerie Adam, Hannah Andrews, Evelyn Beastall, Sylvia Chantler,
Andrea Dombrowe, Carolyn Edis, Elizabeth Evans, Barbara Hilder,
Carol Hobbs, Jacqueline Norman, Beryl Northam, Prue Smith, Jo Stokes,
Rosey Storey, Elisabeth Yates
FIRST TENORS :
Bob Bromham, Tim Hardyment, Chris Robinson, John Trigg
SECOND TENORS :
John Bawden, Peter Butterworth, Tony Chantler, Stephen Chowns,
Stephen Linton, Peter Norman, John Scott
FIRST BASSES :
Phil Beastall, John Britten, Jeremy Johnson, Jonathan Long, Eric Kennedy,
Adrian Oxborrow, Chris Newbery, Chris Peters, Robin Privett, David Ross,
Philip Stanford, Kieron Walsh
SECOND BASSES :
Peter Andrews, Roger Barrett, Norman Carpenter, Dave Cox, John Parry,
Geoffrey Forster, James Garrow, Stuart Gooch, Michael Jeffery,
Michael Taylor
B
ABOUT THE VIVACE CHORUS
The
Vivace
Chorus
has two aims: to make
music of the highest
standard and to have
fun while doing so.
The choir has come a
long
way
since
it
began over 60 years
ago as the Guildford
Philharmonic
Choir,
gaining over time an
enviable reputation for
performing first-class concerts across a wide
repertoire.
range
of
musical
Since 1995, the choir has thrived under the exceptional leadership of
our Music Director, Jeremy Backhouse, ably supported by Francis
Pott.
Jeremy’s passion for choral works and his sheer enthusiasm
for music-making are evident at every rehearsal and every
performance, and Francis is not just a very fine rehearsal
accompanist but is also a composer of international reputation and a
concert pianist in his own right.
We consider ourselves very
fortunate to have musicians of this calibre at the helm.
We relish the opportunity to perform more unusual works such as
Mahler’'s 8th Symphony or Prokoviev's Alexander Nevsky as much
as the great choral masterpieces of Verdi, Bach, Brahms, Handel or
Haydn.
At a more intimate level, we are at home with the works of Fauré,
Tavener, Allegri or Lauridsen. Contemporary music is an important
feature of the repertoire and our ‘Contemporary Choral Classics’
series, which has featured works such as Will Todd’s Mass in Blue,
is designed both to challenge the choir and to promote the classics of
the future.
~10
~
Our most recent success has been a sell-out performance of
Mahler's Symphony No. 8, the ‘Symphony of a Thousand’, at the
Royal Albert Hall. Conducted by Jeremy and incorporating five choirs
including the London Symphony Chorus together with the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra, this was an incredible experience for singers
and audience alike.
This season’s concerts will
Guildford’s
new
include a
state-of-the-art
‘A Night at the Opera’
concert
hall,
G
Live,
in
in
March,
followed by a programme of Rachmaninov in May, including his
Piano Concerto No. 2 and some of the Vespers, together with his
choral masterpiece, The Bells.
In addition to our own concerts and
this annual Mayor of Guildford’s Christmas Concert, we also sing in
other charity concerts such as the Shooting Star CHASE Carol
Concert and, with our good friends the Brandenburg Sinfonia, we
sing twice a year in St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square.
We also, on occasion, venture further afield. Trips abroad have
included visits to Freiburg, Germany, to sing with the Freiburger
Bachchor and, in June 2009, to France where we gave concerts of
music from the early 16th to late 20th centuries in the cathedrals of
Paris (Notre-Dame), Rouen and Beauvais. Another tour is planned
for June next year with concerts in Strasbourg, Heidelberg and
Freiburg.
New members are always welcome, so if you love beautiful choral
music and want to have fun singing, please contact Jane Brooks at
membership@vivacechorus.org to
|
find out how you can be a part of our
exciting future. We rehearse here in
Holy Trinity Church, Guildford High
Street, on Monday evenings.
For more information,
website,
do visit our
vivacechorus.org, where
|
you
also
|
can
sign
up
to
receive
information about our concerts, email
us on info@vivacechorus.org
follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
or
~11
~
JEREMY BACKHOUSE
JEREMY BACKHOUSE is one
of Britain's leading conductors of
amateur choirs.
He began his
musical career in Canterbury
Cathedral, where he was Senior
Chorister.
In 1980, he was
appointed Music Editor at the Royal
National Institute of Blind People,
where he was responsible for the
transcription of print music into
Braille. In 1986, he joined EMI
Records as a Literary Editor and from April 1990 combined his work as a
Consultant Editor for EMI Classics and later Boosey
& Hawkes Music
Publishers with his career as a freelance conductor.
Jeremy has been the sole conductor of the Vasari Singers since its
inception in 1980. Since winning the prestigious Sainsbury’s Choir of the
Year competition in 1988, the Vasari Singers have performed regularly on
the South Bank and at St John’s, Smith Square in London, as well as in the
cathedrals of Canterbury, Chichester, Winchester, Hereford, Peterborough
Ely, and Westminster Abbey.
Jeremy and the Vasari Singers have
broadcast frequently on BBC Radios 3 and 4, and have a discography
of nineteen CDs on the EMI Eminence, Guild and Signum labels.
In January 1995, he was appointed Chorus Master of the Guildford
Philharmonic Choir, working closely with conductors such as David
Willcocks, Jonathan Willcocks, Vernon Handley and Edward Gardner.
When the choir went independent and became the Vivace Chorus, Jeremy
became its Conductor and Music Director.
In May 2003 he conducted a
thrilling performance of Mahler’s “Symphony of a Thousand” (No.8), which
work he inspirationally repeated in front of a capacity audience in the Royal
Albert Hall with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in May this year.
In January 2009 Jeremy took up the post of Music Director of the Salisbury
Community Choir, a 180-strong non-auditioned choir. In May this year the
Choir were heavily involved in the dramatically memorable world premiere
of ‘Where Two Worlds Touch’, another work composed especially for the
Festival, by Howard Moody and Helen Chadwick, based on the words and
influence of the 13TM-century mystic Rumi.
~12
~
MARTYN LEWIS
Martyn Lewis's career is an unusual blend
of
the
worlds.
media,
charitable
and
business
During his 32 years as a television
journalist, he presented every mainstream
national news programme for both ITN and
the
BBC
on
their
terrestrial
channels,
before moving in 1999 into the world of
business, where he co-founded Teliris Inc a
company,
which
is
the
major
global
pioneer and technology leader in a new
'realtime’ communications business known
as 'Teleprescence'.
In his broadcasting career, Martyn also presented documentaries and
special live programmes on major events, including the start of the
First Gulf War and the death of Diana, the Princess of Wales.
He is
also Chairman of NICE TV, which works with ITN to provide high
quality news videos for industry-wide conferences, exhibitions and
events.
Martyn regularly chairs conferences and debates in the corporate,
public and charitable arenas - most recently for Havas on 'The Caring
Corporation'; for the King's Fund on
Mental
Health and for the
European Brain Council on Parkinson's Disease and Depression.
He is also the
winning
charity
Founder and Chairman of YouthNet, the award
which,
since
1995,
has
been
providing
a
comprehensive internet site directing 16 to 24 year olds to every
conceivable form of help, information and opportunity they might
need.
The site is now being accessed by more than 800,000 young
people every month.
Other charitable work includes President of United Response, which
helps people with learning difficulties and Chairman of the Awards
Committee of the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service.
~13
~
THE ROTARY CLUB OF GUILDFORD
The Rotary Club of Guildford formed in
1922, when only six such clubs existed in
Today, there are 1,840
Great Britain.
UK, with over 55,000
the
in
Rotary Clubs
members and 1.2 million members in
33,000 Clubs wordwide.
Besides the '1922' Guildford Club, there are
two other Rotary Clubs in the town - the
Guildford District Club, which was founded
in 1975 and the Guildford Chantries Club,
founded in 1991.
One of the Club's earliest fundraising projects in the 1920s was its 'Big
Brother' scheme, which was launched to help the town's youngsters, some
of whom had lost their fathers during the First World War. In 1927, the Club
embarked on a project to raise enough money to install radio sets in the
wards of the Royal Surrey County Hospital, so the patients could 'listen in'.
Second
the
During
of the
one
World War,
Club's most memorable
humanitarian events was
dealing
reception
survivors
with
of
from
|
the
the
the
Dunkirk,
of
beaches
when the special troop
trains arrived back at
Guildford Station in June
1940.
In the 1960s, the Rotary
Club of Guildford played a significant part in establlshlng the Yvonne
Arnaud Theatre in 1965 and the University of Surreyin 1966.
~
~14
Next year, the Rotary Club of Guildford
celebrates its 90th Year and the Club
has
recently
Moore
Pearce
been
awarded
Bowl
trophy
Rotary's
by
other
Clubs in the South East for initiating
some of the most successful projects in
the region.
This is in recognition for the
long running Jaipur Limb Project, which
helps amputees in India and Haiti;
Guildford
Rotary
the
Eye Project, which
continues to save the sight of
many
thousands each year in Calcutta.
Moore Pearce Bowl presentation
In 2010, the Rotary Club
of
Calcutta
helped
provide
£15,000
worth
of
equipment for the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Group at Guildford's Samson
Centre.
The Club also runs heats for local schools in the Rotary Youth Speaks
competition at the Guildhall. The heats for the 2012 competition take place
on Monday, January 23rd and Monday, January 30th for this national
competition is designed to foster vital public-speaking skills.
Each year, our Club President nominates a local charity for special support
and this year, we are hoping to support the equipping of the Fountain
Centre at the St Lukes Cancer Centre at the Royal Surrey County Hospital.
Thanks to the generosity of Michael More-Molyneux, our 90th year will
culminate next June with a special concert in aid of the Fountain Centre at
Loseley House.
A highlight of our year has been the
award of the MBE to the driving
force behind the Guildford Rotary
Eye Project, Sam Das.
His work in
India this year involves the building
of a new eye hospital at Hooghly in
Calcutta, funded from Guildford with
the help of many supporters.
Our Club always welcomes new
members and we can be contacted
through our website -
Sam Das receives his MBE
e
FORTHCOMING CONCERTS BY
THE VIVACE CHORUS
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA
Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and others
The Vivace Chorus
Conductor : Jeremy Backhouse
Saturday, March 17th 2012 : G - LIVE : 7.30pm
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Rotary Club of Guildford would like to thank
the following people and organisations
for their help in staging this year's
Mayor of Guildford's Christmas Concert
The Members of the Vivace Chorus
Jeremy Backhouse : Dr Anthony Gritten
Martyn Lewis : Canon Robert Cotton
The Parish of Holy Trinity and St Marys, Guildford
BBC Radio Surrey : Eagle Radio 96.4
The Inner Wheel Club of Guildford
= -
We wish you a
Me'r'ry
Christmas
vivacechorus.org / www.rotaryclubguildford.co.uk
Py