Horsham Chamber Choir offer pre-Easter concert

They will be singing Fauré’s Requiem. Also on the programme will be works by Hungarian composer and educator Zoltán Kodály and by Lili Boulanger, a remarkable female composer born in Paris in 1893.

New conductor Olivia Shotton is delighted to be welcoming audiences back as things return to normal.

“I originally applied for the role in it must have been February 2020 and then nothing could happen. I was not appointed until the choir was able to hold auditions. I was appointed in January 2021 and so I’ve had a year of music making with them.

“I was wanting to join them because they are very capable group. If you look at the concerts that they have been doing you can see they have done some really ambitious stuff.

“They had a few set pieces for the audition which they did but I had to bring some music that they didn’t know. After all the breaks it was perhaps a little bit slow to begin with, but now they are fully back into the swing of things.

“At first after I was appointed we did everything online. I made a programme of music as if we were doing something in person which of course we couldn’t do until the restrictions were lifted enough for us to be able to rehearse together which was in May or June last year. We were able to get together outdoors.

“It was hard work online because you can’t really do things in time on Zoom. Everybody has to be on mute and it was just an hour and a half of me singing into my laptop really but it was important to keep the group together and when we were able to rehearse together it was beautiful. We also did a couple of rehearsals outdoors with family-style picnics.

“It was great to be back together and then in September that’s when we properly started getting back together again inside and we did our first concert a few weeks after that.

“It was a joyous return to music making with lots of Italian stuff. It was all the favourites to sing and just a really happy concert with people enjoying themselves. It was lovely. It was really positive to be able to perform, to have an audience and to do all the things that we used to do!

“I think we had a couple of members that have moved away or had had timetable changes or perhaps there were people that were finally able to take holidays that they booked two years before so we were a little bit short on numbers but very high on enthusiasm and now the choir is going from strength to strength.

“Every time we rehearse, they continually impress me with what they can do and introducing them to new repertoire is always really exciting.

“There are still people working out what we might need in the future so we may have some openings coming up so if you’re interested in joining a choir, look at our website.

“We’re about 30-ish in number so it’s definitely a chamber choir.

“Everybody has a responsibility to learn the music and we’ve got some good levels of sightreading and some people who perhaps have to prepare a little bit more than others but it’s a lovely friendly choir.”

For the latest breaking news where you live in Sussex, follow us on Twitter @Sussex_World and like us on Facebook @SussexWorldUK

In Pictures: A bird's eye view of Brighton | SussexWorld (sussexexpress.co.uk)

Have you read: Exploring the great joys of the South Downs WayHave you read: Titanic The Musical heads to Southampton

Have you read: So many reasons to celebrate as Chichester's Pallant House Gallery marks 40 yearsHave you read: Search begins for 2022 Sussex Young Musician

Have you read: The Art of Chichester: 60 Years of Creativity - major new exhibition

Have you read: Everything you need to know: Chichester Festival Theatre summer 2022

Culture Spark set to ignite Chichester district arts and community celebration

Celebrating one of Britain’s most beloved performers, Dame Vera Lynn

A book about loss and hope

A remarkable tale of recovery from a rare form of cancer

New book inspired by days out with the family