The Charter Choir

A return to ‘normality’ (or something close to it) brings with it the opportunities that we all missed: not only regular singing, but the chance to perform at special events in College and, of course, to tour abroad. While Covid has not disappeared, we have been fortunate to be able to carry on without significant disruption – something that seems to have been true across the College, much to everyone’s relief.

MAZ Photography

The Charter Choir on tour in Gibraltar

If Covid hasn’t been our major challenge this year, then keeping the choir operating during exam season has been more trying. It’s worth remembering that every student sitting exams this year has experienced exam-related disruption for the past two summers, and there was therefore an unusual degree of trepidation around these assessments. However, hopefully coming to choir during this time felt like a break rather than a burden! Everything fell into place for the end of term, when we were able to sing a spectacular final Evensong of the year in honour of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, featuring Charles Hubert Parry’s anthem I Was Glad, long associated with Royal events. The choir also made an appearance at the first Charter Dinner in over two years, in the presence of many esteemed guests including former Prime Minister Theresa May.

In February the Charter Choir sang Evensong at Ely Cathedral for the first time in 10 years, leading one of their lay readers to comment that we were ‘one of the very best visiting choirs’ he had heard in his long association with the cathedral.

This year we have said farewell to more than one third of the Charter Choir, most of whom have been singing with us for several years. However, there is a healthy intake of Freshers on the horizon, and many members of the tenor and bass sections are hoping to stay on in Cambridge after graduation, so the choir’s future is bright. We are hoping for at least one London-based performance next year, so watch this space.

The end of the academic year would not be complete without a tour. Alas, our planned trip to Italy fell through, as an indirect casualty of the pandemic, so we were forced to think creatively and quickly as to an alternative destination. Gibraltar came out on top of our very short shortlist, and Shanna Hart, Assistant Organist, got to work organising. Our six-day tour took us to the King’s Chapel, the Garrison Library, the Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned, and two Sunday services in the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (who hosted us for a barbecue in between). Although it is a small place, Gibraltar is not short of hills that require climbing, which is never popular when wearing concert gear. However, this was more than made up for by the truly humbling hospitality of the Gibraltarians, including a letter of thanks from the Governor of Gibraltar, and the opportunity to see dolphins up close swimming in the Mediterranean.

I am also grateful to Shanna and to our Organ Scholar Lorenzo Bennett for their excellent accompanying of the choir this academic year. We continue to have an anomaly at Homerton of appointing organists but not having an organ. The Great Hall has recently been freed up as a performance space following the completion of the new Dining Hall, and if and when it is possible to install a pipe organ in the Great Hall gallery, the choir will eventually have a ‘home’ within Homerton. In the meantime, we are ever grateful to the Rev’d James Shakespeare and the Church of St John the Evangelist, Hills Road, for their continual support in providing a place for us to rehearse and perform. Patricia Maude, our Honorary Lay Chaplain, also puts in a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure a continued smooth relationship between the church and Homerton, and our various singing teachers have a huge role to play in developing the voices of individual choir members.

Alumni are always welcome at Charter Choir services and concerts. The Charter Choir website (www.homerton. cam.ac.uk/charter-choir) contains full details of sung services as well as clips of the choir performing. The website also contains biographies, and details of tours and recordings. Alumni are also encouraged to follow the Charter Choir on its Facebook page, at www.facebook.com/ homcharterchoir.Forthcoming key dates:

Saturday 24 September: Alumni Reunion Concert Sunday 27 November, 6pm: Advent Carol Service Tuesday 29 November, 6.30pm: Homerton Carol Service

Director of Music