40 Years of Keswick Hall Choir

The choir was originally established by the late Geoffrey Laycock in 1970, an amalgamation of the Choral Society and Madrigal Choir of Keswick Hall College of Education; its membership then comprised students, former students, staff and friends. Following the college’s absorption into the University of East Anglia in 1981, the choir developed an independent existence under its present Musical Director, John Aplin, himself a graduate of the UEA. Whilst the name and one or two of the original members remain, successive years have seen the choir attracting the most accomplished and experienced amateur choral singers in the area, and receiving critical acclaim for performances of challenging repertoire spanning five centuries.

Over the years the choir’s programmes have included some first performances, in particular forging a link with the Kings Lynn based composer Paul Johnson. In 2000/2001 the choir commissioned two sets of pieces from him with a grant from the Eastern Arts Board’s voluntary music development fund and, in 2010, presented the première of his Requiem. Also, in 2001, the choir recorded Norfolk composer Roger Mayor’s new work Julian – Mystical Revelations and, in 2004, sang in the première of Gavin Bryars’ From Egil's Saga with the London Sinfonietta.

In 2003 the choir appeared twice at the Norwich Theatre Royal, in May providing the vocal accompaniment for the Northern Ballet Theatre’s Requiem!! (based on Mozart’s Requiem) and later taking part in the Dame Kiri Te Kanawa ‘Christmas Concert’. In October 2008 the choir returned once more to the Theatre Royal, performing, with the Rambert Dance Company and London Musici, a newly-commissioned work for the unusual combination of choir, orchestra, soloists and dance by Howard Goodall, entitled Eternal Light: A Requiem.

Much of the choir’s work is a cappella and, in February 2006, it recorded a selection of this repertoire in Norwich Cathedral - the resulting CD The Shining Road was released to mark John Aplin’s 25th season as the choir’s Musical Director.

The choir is also recognised for its interpretation of early music, collaborating with internationally-renowned ensembles such as the Gabrieli Players, Fine Arts Brass Ensemble, His Majesties Sagbutts and Cornetts and The Brook Street Band. Norwich’s own Academy of St Thomas has also performed with the choir on a number of occasions over the years.

One early work has held a particular significance for Keswick Hall Choir, Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers. The fledgling choir presented the work’s very first Norwich performances on two consecutive evenings in December 1971 in Norwich Cathedral. Under Geoffrey Laycock’s direction, Monteverdi’s original scoring was explored by local players, using modern instruments, joined by the London Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble. Geoffrey was to present a further performance in this vein four years later, at London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, with the London Bach Orchestra. It was then to be another fourteen years before the choir revisited the score, now able to benefit from the burgeoning interest in “period” instruments, presenting performances in Norwich and Cambridge with the Cambridge Baroque Camerata and His Majesties Sagbutts and Cornetts, directed by John Aplin. Each decade since has seen a repeat performance as Monteverdi’s masterpiece has progressed from obscurity to universal popularity, culminating in one last season to mark the work’s 400th anniversary.

On Saturday 27th November 2010 the choir returned to the venue of its very first concert on 17th November 1970, the Church of St John the Baptist, now Norwich’s RC Cathedral. The evening’s programme A Centenary in Music was designed as part of the centennial celebrations of the consecration of St John’s, comprising British choral music from the past 100 years and including that first performance of Paul Johnson’s Requiem.