Durham Choral Society

Next Concert: December 15th 2007

Christmas Concert

History of the Society

In 1946 Conrad Eden, the Cathedral organist formed a choral society which at its peak had 112 members but by the middle 50s this had dropped to such a low number that it was decided to disband the group. From 1958 to 1962 the only society of its sort was the Durham Colleges Choral Society which was, naturally gown rather than town.

In 1962, Maurice Armsby, a Cathedral lay clerk found that there was a strong desire to re-form a choral society, so, after a public meeting in June, the decision was taken to go ahead and rehearsals began in September for the first concert which was given in the Cathedral on 30 November 1962.

The new choir did not have an untroubled beginning. Initial enthusiasm produced a membership of 70 but again numbers began to drop slightly. After three years the conductor moved to Winchester Cathedral. His successor only directed three performances before he too left Durham. In 1966, Raymond Hall, Principal of the Bernard Gilpin Society and a local organist took over as musical director. In 1970 the performing venue moved from Elvet Methodist Church to Wearside School. Numbers dropped to about 40 and audience figures decreased, possibly due to the uncompromising hardness of school chairs! This trend was reversed when the concert venue was transferred to the Town Hall in 1974.

After 13 years Raymond Hall decided to retire and Richard Brice, the present conductor, who had been assistant conductor for a few years took over. Under his direction membership began to increase and numbers grew until the only suitable venue was the Cathedral. On several occasions the choir has joined with other local choirs to give performances of works that neither group would have had sufficient numbers to tackle alone including Verdi’s Requiem and Britten’s War Requiem. The Society has been well served by its orchestra of mostly local musicians ably led over the years by Florence Wilson, Derek Downes and now Jean Provine. Currently numbers exceed 100 a handful of whom sang in the first concert, indeed, one member who has died only this year sang in the 1946 group. In its thirty eight years the choral society has presented concerts with the best of local, national and internationally known soloists, including among others Sheila Armstrong, Jill Gomez, Thomas Allan and Ian Bostridge. The society also makes a point of engaging up and coming young artists, both vocal and instrumental and ended its current season with a choral and orchestral concert including a saxophonist playing Glazunov and Milhaud.

Richard Brice, Conductor

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 and this enabled Richard to sing in a number of cathedrals throughout the country including St Paul’s, Exeter, Coventry, Liverpool, Canterbury and in 1963 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.

Richard Brice conducting Durham Choral Society 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 the conductorship 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 Conductor of the Society.

last updated: August 23, 2007