Froxfield Choir says goodbye to its long-serving chair

The sun shone on the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church in Privett on June 20 as friends and supporters of Froxfield Choir gathered for drinks and picnics before its annual summer concert.

The programme was warmly received by the audience, who enjoyed music by Purcell and Telemann from the brilliant young Istante Collective, whose members include many principal players from the most prestigious European historical performance ensembles.

Those at the front of the audience commented on the joy of seeing, as well as hearing, the original Baroque instruments.

The first half concluded with Charpentier’s Te Deum, with the choir accompanied by four impressive young professional soloists whose singing delighted the audience.

They were joined by sopranos from the choir, Sally Jay and Mary Snuggs, for Fiat misericordia before the final chorus.

Their beautifully matched voices blended well with the soloists and showed the skill and versatility within the choir’s ranks.

Sally and Mary also joined the soloists in the second half of the concert, for Suscepit Israel in Bach’s Magnificat.

Edward Sadler was at the concert, and wrote to commend the choir.

He said: “It was such a well-balanced programme, with plenty of opportunity for the excellent Baroque chamber group to show their mettle, as well as substantial works for the choir and soloists. It was a treat to hear the whole of the Charpentier Te Deum, and not just the well-known Prelude.

“The test of a good Bach performance - well, perhaps aside from the Passions - is whether it makes you want to get up and dance for joy in the aisles. Do all those springing triple and dotted rhythms in the choral numbers drive it forward with exuberance?

“We certainly thought so with the choir's performance on Saturday, coping very well with what I think is some of the trickiest music Bach wrote for choirs.

“It is always a pleasure to hear young soloists - we thought that the stand-out moment was the alto aria in the Magnificat, but they each gave a confident and convincing performance.

“It was another memorable concert in a long line of excellent concerts under Sue Clegg as chair. The varied programmes over the years have shown the enterprise and versatility of the choir over that time, as it has gone from strength to strength.”

After 13 years of leading the choir, and many more spent singing with the sopranos, Sue is now stepping down as chair. She has produced countless concerts over that time and has welcomed many new members, nurturing them all with her infectious enthusiasm.

Froxfield Choir has never been stronger, with 42 singers now on the register and a popular conductor who has been with the choir since 2016. The choristers gave their heartfelt thanks to Sue for her efforts.

She will be succeeded by Chris Allen, who has sung with the tenors for many years and has the support of all the choir. The choir is confident he will do a great job and Froxfield Choir will continue to thrive.