Musical Director: Richard Brice
 Richard
was educated at Brentwood School, Essex, where his father was Director of Music
from 1926-1967. He was nine years old when he made his conducting debut at the
annual music festival conducting the preparatory school percussion band! By this
time he was already singing in the school chapel choir and the school choral
society in which he sang in a wide variety of choral works and oratorios before
his voice broke. During his time at school Richard learned to play the violin
and oboe. He also gained further experience of choir training and conducting in
the annual inter-house music competition.
The school choir was affiliated to the Royal School of Church Music. This
enabled Richard to sing in a number of cathedrals throughout the country
including St Paul’s, Exeter, Coventry, Liverpool and Canterbury. In 1963
Richard made a visit to Canada for the Anglican Congress where he sang in front
of a congregation of 60 000 in Toronto Maple Leaf Stadium.
But it was in Oxford that his musical education was really broadened. During
his adolescence he would be sent to the home of his Aunt Enid and Uncle Aidan
during the school holidays to allow his parents some respite from the rigours of
running a boarding house at school. Both aunt and uncle sang in the Oxford Bach
Choir and he attended their concerts in the Sheldonian Theatre.
In 1962 Richard came to Bede College where he took a teaching certificate,
specialising in music and later became chapel choirmaster. After leaving college
Richard entered the teaching profession, starting his career in Annfield Plain.
In 1968 he was appointed music teacher at Belmont Secondary School. In 1977 he
became Deputy Head at the now Belmont Comprehensive School, the post he held
until his retirement in July 2003.
 He
joined Durham Choral Society in 1965 and was soon accepted as assistant
conductor by the then Musical Director, Raymond Hall, who guided and encouraged
him. Richard shared the job of taking rehearsals and was given the
opportunity on a number of occasions to conduct part of the society’s
concerts. He made his conducting debut in Elvet Methodist Church in 1966 when he
conducted Britten’s Festival Te Deum. Richard had also by this time become a
member of the Palatine Opera Group and in 1971 became chorus-master.
Working with a number of established professional musicians including Denis and
Eleanor Weatherley, John Wilks and Alan Fearon, he was involved in performances
of Mozart’s Idomeneo, Stravinsky’s Rake’s Progress and Bellini’s
Sonambula.
In 1980, Richard took over as Musical Director of Durham Choral Society after
the retirement of Raymond Hall. Personal highlights since then have included
performances of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius,
Verdi’s Requiem, Britten’s War Requiem, Strauss’ Four Last Songs,
Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony, Brahms’ Requiem,
the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony and the organ concertos of Poulenc and William
Mathias.
In 2004, Richard celebrated his Silver Jubilee season as Musical Director of the
Society.
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