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 Chorus activities.

With lots of hard work we achieved all these goals. Not only that but we feel we have not just survived but thrived. Working alongside our inspirational Music Director David Temple MBE we have:

  • Gained 9 talented new singers via online auditions
  • Kept our singers engaged with ‘Letters from Lockdown’, Zoom rehearsals and regular communication
  • Commissioned a new work – Sarojini from brilliant young composer Shruthi Rajasekar
  • Started up a YouTube channel, Hertfordshire Chorus TV featuring fascinating interviews between David Temple and prestigious music makers we know well
  • Sung together in person at rehearsals outside
  • Welcomed a number of new Honorary Patrons and Honorary Music Patrons
  • Performed a free outdoor concert to a lovely audience
  • Created an exciting new season of concerts, recordings and events and started to rehearse 
  • Performed a fabulous concert to a full house

Why not join us?

Now that we are singing together again, we are looking forward to welcoming more new singers who want to enjoy the experience of performing the wonderful choral music we are renowned for.

We have exciting plans to tempt you in.

We have a full season planned and have just performed our first large concert after lockdown at St Albans Cathedral. It was an all Mozart programme – Mass in C Minor, Solemn Vespers and Ave Verum Corpus. Words cannot express the joy of singing once again in that wonderful building. Many tears were shed at the end when the audience rose to their feet to show their appreciation of great music after such a long absence.

After our Christmas engagements the season will continue with a concert in February featuring two hidden gems, Parry’s De Profundis and Elgar’s The Black Knight. These fabulous pieces deserve to be heard. 

We are thrilled to have been invited to sing in a Games Music Festival in March 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall alongside the Philharmonia Orchestra. ‘The Symphony of the Spirits’ will present music by Gareth Coker written for Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps.

We will also be going to the Sage in Gateshead in May to perform Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony and James McCarthy’s Codebreaker. It will be very exciting to be on a mini-tour once again.

Looking to the future

We believe that we have found ways of working that allow us to sing together as safely as possible and are thrilled to have come through the challenges of lockdown so well. We look forward to an exciting season.

The future for Hertfordshire Chorus is bright. Sadly, many choirs are struggling in these post lockdown times so why not come along to find out what is special about Hertfordshire Chorus and how we have kept our singing alive during these strange times? Just click on our Join Us page

MENU