There are many miracles surrounding the story of Christmas but perhaps the greatest one is my conversion from loathing to loving Christmas, very much inspired by the singing of Hertfordshire Chorus. It has been on the cards for a while that we would like to record a collection of beautiful and well-known carols.  We now have the perfect opportunity! This year sees the launch of a new carol book, Nova! Nova! with all 63 carols arranged by Louis Halsey. Louis Halsey (now in his 90s) enjoyed a successful career as a well-known conductor/composer/arranger/producer from the 1950s onwards. His wife, Eve (now sadly deceased) was a lecturer at my Southlands College of Education and gave me my first go at conducting back in 1975.  ... Read More

Meeting the challenge It has been said many times but the Covid pandemic has been challenging for choirs. We were unable to meet in person, let alone sing together for many months. Singing is so much more than a hobby so the future looked bleak. However, thanks to the heroic efforts of the scientists who developed the vaccines we are returning to a new version of normal. We took a decision at the beginning of the first lockdown to concentrate on three things: Keep the Chorus together by communicating widely, sharing information and fun. Keep our professional colleagues in employment and close to us. Minimise the risk of exposure to the virus for our members and professionals when carrying out ... Read More

I first met Shruthi Rajasekar in January at the Royal Albert Hall at an event to showcase the young composers involved with the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and its chamber choir.  We shared much common ground and I remember her being very taken when I told her that Hertfordshire Chorus had commissioned Will Todd’s Mass in Blue, a choral work performed all over the world. I decided to keep in touch with Shruthi and spent some time researching her music. Over the first lockdown period, when Shruthi was back home in Minnesota USA, we enjoyed several video chats where we discussed all manner of musical ideas and it soon became obvious that Shruthi was a composer I had ... Read More

For those of us who love numbers a look back at the last 20 years of David Temple’s association with Hertfordshire Chorus is a box of delights. There have been 108 concerts. These have included a stellar Mahler’s Eighth Symphony at the Royal Festival Hall, and a performance of Elgar’s The Kingdom hailed by the Elgar Society as the best the reviewer had ever heard. We got to grips with 153 works. This isn’t including music for Christmas concerts which would need a whole page of its own as there have been 39 of them. We regularly perform four or five Christmas themed events each December, so can turn out to sing carols at the drop of a hat. We ... Read More

The news was full of heartbreaking images of overrun hospitals and desperate medics in Italy. As Trustees, we suddenly had an awesome responsibility for the safety of our singers. We talked for several days about what we should do in order to manage the risk for our more vulnerable members. It was March 2020 and the decisions we had to make seemed existential to the life of our Chorus. We followed the government guidance and put in measures to protect singers during rehearsals. Some members had already decided that the risk was too great for them and the number not coming to rehearsals increased. In the end there was no alternative to suspending activities when the venue for our next ... Read More

We were meant to remain on our feet during the tenor aria and wait for the next chorus. We stood quietly and dutifully held our folders at the right angle - a picture of choral professionalism. Our musical director was dealing with a lot of stuff - the orchestra, choir, soloists, tricky acoustics and the score. Maybe there was a sit we had failed to record or maybe he just thought we were looking a bit tired. Anyway, he gave a clear downward wave. There was a split-second of indecision before we all obeyed. The aria was beautiful but short and there was a growing sense of tension among the singers. This was clear from the tightening of shoulders and ... Read More

Inspiration and the desire to strive for a seemingly impossible goal can come from the most unexpected of places. Could anyone imagine today a President of the United States, or the leader of any country at all for that matter, unifying a nation behind a rallying cry for the spirit of adventure? John F Kennedy did just that in a speech in Houston, Texas, in September of 1962: ’Why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may as well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? We choose to go to the Moon!’ We CHOOSE to go to the Moon. It can sometimes feel to us today that we are living ... Read More