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As we prepare for the summer 2025 concert, here are my personal reflections on the experience of singing with Royston Choral Society.

Music has always been part of my life, starting with piano from a young age, working through the grades, teaching myself the guitar, then taking up the opportunity to have cello lessons so that I could play in orchestras.

Singing was something that took off in my mid-forties when I joined a small chamber choir in my local village, where I learned singing basics like how to breathe, how to produce an expressive sound, and gradually gained confidence in my voice and ability to hold a line against the other singing parts. I also enjoyed the chance to sing in many different music genres including renaissance, classical, romantic, sacred, jazz and pop.

Since then I have sung with quite a few different choirs in Sussex, Essex and South Cambridgeshire. Finding the right choir to join has been a major factor whenever we’ve moved to a different area. For the past five years I have been singing with larger choral societies tackling some of the bigger works of the choral repertoire.

I joined Royston in September 2024, and was pleased to find a good quality choir near to where I now live. The first concert in the Autumn term comprised works by Faure, Parry and Britten, then in the Spring we tackled Bach’s St Matthew Passion, sung in German!

Now for the Summer concert we are going back still further in time to the music of Purcell, in particular, Dido and Aeneas, one of the first English operas to be written.

So why do I enjoy singing? For me the benefits of singing in a choir are many: it’s enjoyable, it’s educational, it can be challenging, it’s sociable, and it’s healthy for mind and body.

1. What is your earliest memory of music in your life? 

I cannot remember a time I did not want to sing. Earliest? Probably BBC Light Programme jingles from the radio in our kitchen in the 1950s. 

2. What was your first 'public performance' of music/ drama/ or both? 

Primary school, aged about five. We had a song "Little Robin Redbreast" which the class sung, and I (with bright red hair) stood up and mimed to it pretending to be a robin. I remember it to this day. Terrifying!

3. Who is your favourite composer/ songwriter, and why? 

For classical, Ralph Vaughan-Williams. Mike Oldfield, but also classic 1970s/1980s rock/pop - The Quo, Shania Twain, Don Maclean.  

4. What composition/ piece/ song would you recommend to a friend to brighten up their day? 

I have no idea! People's likes are so individual. 

5. Do you have a musical 'claim to fame'? 

I have written and performed a few slightly silly songs for my Cambridge postgraduate classes (when I was teaching them) and ditto for the 'filk' sessions at science fiction conferences in the last few years (not a typo - see http://filk.co.uk/index.html). So if 'fame' means less than 100 people, there you go. 

In this broadcast from the Choral History of Britain BBC Wales series, Roderick Williams explores whether Britain has lost its singing culture and, if so, how it can be recovered. Have we lost our memories for the words and tunes that enabled us to sing together? Roderick Williams is worried that the future of Britain's great choral tradition might be under threat.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b0979f3z?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

Choirmaster Gareth Malone takes on his biggest challenge, coaching eight amateur singers to perform Bach’s St John Passion alongside a world-class orchestra and professional choir.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m001xpv0/gareth-malones-easter-passion

Amid the rubble, in makeshift tents, children in Gaza are singing - and practising the violin, guitar and traditional instruments such as the ‘oud. Why - and how - do they go on singing? And what does music mean to them now? Tim Whewell finds out.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0024mxc

My earliest musical memories

I’ve always loved music from the very earliest age.  I can remember singing myself to sleep, making my own songs up.  My granddaughter does the same now!  I danced at every opportunity and cried at sad-sounding music. Thanks to an enthusiastic music teacher at school, I learnt to play the piano and have some great memories of singing in school choirs and taking part in plays and musicals. I was put into competitions which I found terrifying, so since then I’ve always preferred to hide in a group!

My favourite music

I love any music that moves me in some way, whatever genre. I have thoroughly enjoyed singing in the Royston choir for nearly 10 years, discovering some amazing pieces to sing, as well as making some wonderful friends.  Highlights include the Messiah (twice), Dido and Aeneas, and Verdi’s Requiem. I think the standard of productions we put on is very high, and I feel very privileged to be part of it: I am always in awe of the soloists, both from within the choir and outside.  

A musical claim to fame

I was one of the first two female choristers in Gonville and Caius College Cambridge choir.  As a result, I was singing in Florence on the day of my 21st birthday: that whole tour to Italy is a special memory.

A happy musical memory

Before I retired, I was involved in introducing music to pre-schoolers…highlights include seeing a little boy’s face light up in awe and wonder whilst listening to Nessun Dorma during snack time.  Another time I invited my Scottish friend to play bagpipes outside the nursery, which was a bit much for one child who hid under the table!  

Quick plug: I organise voluntary monthly music groups in old people’s homes where parents and grandparents bring young children along.  If you would like to join us, please do let me know.  It’s incredibly rewarding.

Since childhood, I never expected to be any good at singing. When I was in junior school – I think it must have been about 1970, when I would have been eight – one of the music teachers told me to stop singing because I was flat. I took her at her word, and that was it for over 20 years. As a teenager I learned the piano and then the flute, and I took my flute with me to Bristol University. I never quite made it into an orchestra, although I did play in church, and I looked enviously at friends in the various choral societies.

It took a journey across the Atlantic to change me. My second post-doc was at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland, a small, friendly city about 50 miles from Washington DC. When I arrived in November 1990 I knew about half a dozen people in the whole country, and no one at all in Frederick. On my first Sunday, I went to a church that another of the young scientists had recommended to me. She introduced me to one of her friends, Denise Achey (now Berry), who was the church’s musical director and conducted its adults’ and children’s choirs. When Denise asked me to join the adult choir I accepted gratefully, but only because I thought it would be a good way to make friends. Denise, it turned out, was one of those rare people who could get music out of the most unlikely people. I sang in my first service on Christmas Eve, and that choir was a mainstay of my friendship group for the remainder of my time in Frederick. My first ‘big’ choral work was the Messiah parts 1 and 2 the following Easter.

I have sung in choirs for most of the time since my American adventure, although – perhaps looking back to that abashed eight-year-old – I still freeze at any thought of auditioning.  I have been delighted to share my husband Aidan’s hobby (he sings second tenor with the Cambridge Phil, which does audition). And Royston has been an ideal non-audition choir for me: it feels a very long way from two-thirds of a Messiah to the St Matthew Passion.

In 2000, to my great delight, I spotted a three-week South American trip that included a visit to Machu Picchu, a boat ride down the Amazon, and a flight plus boat ride in the Galapagos Islands. I’d wanted to visit all three and booked immediately; it was the first trip I’d made solo, although it was with a company.

We flew from London to Lima then on to Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas, high in the Andes in Peru. As we were leaving the airport, we heard a group playing pan pipes, they were selling CDs of their music, so I bought one. I was very fond of the music – it’s very iconic and on hearing that music, I’m immediately transported back there. I also went white-water rafting - a new, noisy and fun-filled experience - along the Urubamba River which flows from south east of Cuzco, to way below the Inca Trail to the ‘hidden city’ of Machu Picchu, feeding eventually into the Amazon.

The second part of the trip involved travel from Iquitos in Peru to Letitia in Colombia - a paddle boat trip along the Amazon that was full of nature’s music. We docked at night, and the sound of the cicadas was unmissable, as were the amazing calls of exotic birds and wild animals all around us. On arriving at Letitia on the morning of our fourth day on the Amazon, we were greeted by a thunderstorm - the sound was deafening. There can’t be anything quite like a tropical thunderstorm!

The incoming plane which was to take us to Ecuador was unable to land, so it flew back to Iquitos. We had to stay a night in Letitia and experienced the sounds of city activities until dawn. We woke to a bright, clear morning and boarded the plane to Bogota, where we changed for onward travel to Quito in Ecuador. After further flights to Guayaquil, and on to San Cristobal Island, we entered the Galapagos Islands volcanic archipelago in to our own little boat with a guide.

The natural music was outstanding. Once clear of the island, we saw and heard enormous rays [skate-like fish] leaping up out of the sea, flipping over and falling back. There were all sorts of other musical noises - from the sounds of people buying and selling their wares, including fish and produce for our meals, to the tropical rain pelting down on the tin roofs.

We lived on board for the full six days. One day when snorkelling in a bay of one of the islands, I heard a squeaky noise and felt something tugging; it was a pelican taking an interest in the bright blue neoprene shoes I was wearing in the sea!

At the Royston Choral Society’s concert at the end of June there were 68 choir members on stage in front of an audience of 169 – a wonderful gathering to enjoy fine music, made locally. While the singers were performing as a team on stage, the success that night was also very much down to the combined effort of a large number of people working behind the scenes.

The concert planning and preparation had, of course, started months earlier. The choir committee agrees the concert programme, developed by our Musical Director in consultation with choir members, up to a year ahead. Budgets and the availability of soloists, musicians, and venue are all considerations – needing research and booking. The planning process also includes fundraising, since ticket sales and member subs rarely cover all concert costs. Music for singers and musicians also needs to be hired, received and returned by our music librarian. The printed programme needs to be written, edited, designed and printed. 

Then there are the weekly rehearsals, led by our Musical Director and accompanist, with half time refreshments provided by volunteers. Beyond the rehearsals, choir members play an active role - part reps are a two-way link between the committee and their fellow singers. Choir members and their family and friends support and encourage each other with lifts, messages, and help with publicity and ticket sales.

On the day and night of the concert, when not rehearsing and performing, volunteers help put up and take down staging, and look after soloists and musicians. Others are ‘front of house’, serving interval refreshments and clearing up afterwards.

At Royston Choral Society we’re busy rehearsing for our next performance – Faure’s wonderful Requiem and pieces by Benjamin Britten and Hubert Parry - on Saturday 16th November at St John’s Church Royston. It’s a good time to appreciate just how many unsung heroes (more than 60 for the summer concert) will be involved in making it another night to remember.

You can book tickets for the November concert online now at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/royston-choral-society, by phoning 01920 822723, and – if available – on the door.

So many people say how uplifting it can be to sing out loud with other people – no matter whether or not they’re any good! Combine that with a great song - You’ve Got A Friend by Carol King - to raise awareness about mental ill-health and suicide, and to raise money for The Samaritans, and this performance becomes extra special. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3r3grL5q6E