As the summer comes to an end, we've had reason to celebrate 32 wonderful years under our founding Musical Director, David Victor-Smith, culminating in a Celebration Concert at The Anvil, Basingstoke in July.
The changes haven't stopped there and the FYC team are looking forward to the new choral season by breathing new life into FYC's identity and website, bringing an exciting energy that really encapsulates the youthfulness, vibrancy and history of the choir.
Graham Noakes talks to Joanna Tomlinson about her vision for FYC, the connection between the choirs and welcoming Matthew Rickard our new accompanist.
Q: When did you first hear about FYC?
JT: A colleague forwarded me the job spec for vocal coach back in 2013. I was new to the area then and didn’t know about FYC, but listening to the choir on YouTube really bowled me over.
Q: How would you describe your FYC experience to-date?
JT: What struck me from day one, and continues to impress me, is the quality of performance that FYC consistently delivers. David has always had high expectations of each cohort of young singers and they achieve because he passionately believes that they can.
Q: Looking ahead, what are the key issues for you as musical director?
JT: Recruitment will remain a challenge as FYC responds to the pressures of a changing educational and social environment. Operationally I think we will become more streamlined, and forward planning will become even more important, as we look to build on our outstanding musical heritage.
Evolution rather than revolution will be key to staying relevant to tomorrow’s young singers and their parents. The good news for me in looking to achieve this is that FYC has an exceptional team of professional musicians, backed by a strongly supportive management team and enthusiastic parents.
Q: How do you see the choirs working more closely together?
JT: In September, the move to Wednesday as the common rehearsal day will be critical in creating a more flexible environment in which both the choirs and the musical team can work together and learn from each other. The opportunity for parents of all choirs to meet regularly will also help here, and greater visibility across all the choirs on a regular basis also has the potential to further increase both the professionalism and aspirations of younger choir members.
Q: How will your experience help in achieving this vision?
JT: As a trained singer and performer in some of the UK’s top choirs, I understand the importance of developing sound vocal technique from an early age and how to achieve this.
Having founded my own choir in London and worked with youth choirs in the UK and abroad, I also have direct experience of the importance of good leadership and management skills in driving change in a controlled and effective way.
And finally, although Julia Freeman has proved time and again that she is - without any exaggeration - one of the world’s great choral accompanists, I am very fortunate that Matthew Rickard has agreed to join us. I have worked with Matthew for many years and have no doubt that he will bring his own unique brand of sensitivity, energy and passion to this critical role.
After 32 years at the helm of Farnham Youth Choir, founder/director David Victor-Smith bowed out in style with a final celebration concert at the Anvil, Basingstoke to mark his retirement.
All five choirs which make up FYC came together to reflect the three decades of David’s and his wife Gillian’s leadership, with the 75-strong alumni choir including five original members of the choir which began back in 1984. The music too contained songs from these early years right up to the first performance of a new arrangement for combined choirs and orchestra of The Music’s Always There With You by John Rutter, a long-standing friend of the choir who was in the audience to share in the special occasion.
The whole evening, which also marked the retirement of FYC accompanist Julia Freeman after 30 years, was excellently kept on track by presenter Lt Col Stuart Watts OBE, husband of former Girls’ Choir Director and FYC vocal coach, Catherine Watts. The first half reflected the qualities which have made FYC concerts so entertaining over the years. The Junior Boys’ and Junior Girls’ Choirs, first in turn and then together, beguiled the audience with characterful performances of repertoire well-chosen to show off their skills in giving every song its own special character.
However, not surprisingly perhaps, the Training Choir - with some members as young as six - stole the show with their performance of I Once Saw an Elephant by Vo Fletcher, combining singing and actions to hilarious effect.
In sacred and secular songs spanning five centuries, the main Youth Choir itself showed why it had won so many national and international awards over the years, and in the second half was joined by alumni of each appropriate vintage to sing some old favourites. These included The Water of Tyne, the Northumbrian folksong arranged by Michael Neaum which first put FYC on the national map when they won the Sainsbury’s Youth Choir of the Year competition in 1992.
This reflected the greater party atmosphere of the whole of the second half of the concert, in which the Alumni Choir performed Rutter’s The Sprig of Thyme and was then joined by the Youth Choir and junior choirs in varying combinations. The choirs’ renowned breadth of repertoire was reflected in performances ranging from Mozart’smotet, Ave Verum Corpus, conducted by David’s successor as Musical Director, Jo Tomlinson, to a long-standing FYC favourite, Jerome Kern’s Can’t Help Lovin’ dat Man.
Following presentations to David, Gillian and Julia, the audience also got the chance to join in with a rousing performance of Parry’s Jerusalem, including a special descant written by David himself. The perfect sign-off.
Rome in April! What could be more attractive? The opportunity to visit iconic places previously only read about: the Sistine Chapel and Vatican, the Colosseum, Forum and Pantheon. Add to this the chance of ‘happening upon’ Bellini and Michelangelo statues and Caravaggio and Rafael paintings - and being able to test the marvellous acoustics of so many romantic places, with not only the appropriate repertoire in your head but the means to recreate it right then and there with your choir friends!
Include the opportunity of singing to packed audiences in contrasting venues and to experience the privilege of singing in a Mass in the magnificent Basilica of St Peter’s in Vatican City and you have the makings of an unforgettable tour! Rome was experiencing sunny, warm Spring weather when the thirty-one choir members, supported by six staff, arrived. This helped immeasurably with moving the group around the busy capital city using the metro and on foot - by far the most effective modes of transport. For some choir members, so much walking came as a surprise but saved them from the excesses of pasta, pizza and ice-cream. (The choir were well-fed during this tour!)
For David, Julia and myself, this was to be our 27th and final tour with FYC. Our combined touring expertise was supported by three other staff members. Assistant Director Jo Tomlinson took the role of pastoral care (when she wasn’t warming the choir up vocally!) and choir mum Sophie Budd, whose experience of taking teenagers abroad on language courses proved invaluable, organised the FYC uniform. Leading the adult team, and touring with FYC for the first time was Fiona Blair, a friend of Jo’s whose day job is working with students at Reading University. Fiona’s meticulous preparation coupled with her ability to dot the i’s and cross the t’s meant that there were few surprises other than those of which we could have done little to pre-empt. Rome also proved attractive to many of the families who decided to holiday at the same time as the choir tour and to attend FYC’s public concerts: one in a school (where the platform was shared with three Italian choral groups, two of which were from the Donna Olimpia Music School), the other in a church (Sant’ Eustachio, near the famous Pantheon).
On both occasions, the concert was delayed while extra chairs were found to accommodate the crush of people. The enthusiastic audiences certainly enjoyed the English choral sound and were impressed by the way the choir could switch from sacred to up-beat secular and folk songs with
seemingly natural ease.
And FYC didn’t just sing in concerts. They delighted tourists whenever they burst into song. After hearing the choir perform in Santa Maria Del Popolo, (home of wonderful paintings by Caravaggio and Raphael) a priest-in-charge told the young people “Caravaggio and Raphael created great art with brush and palette: you do so with your voices!”
Gillian Victor-Smith
In July 2015, FYC took part in the European Choir Games in Magdeburg, Germany. Competing against choirs from all over the world, we came away with two gold medals and the title of Champion Children's Choir of Europe!!
The choir's winning programme included three of Ronald Corp's Four Elizabethan Lyrics, a work written for the choir in 1993 following its success in the 1992 Sainsbury's Choir of the Year Competition.
In April 2014, FYC embarked on its first tour to Ireland, with concerts in Cork, Kells and Dublin.
Day 1 – Cork
An excited choir boarded the coach after being photographed by the Farnham Herald for an article to be published (on the front page) later that week. We were off on the first leg of our journey to Ireland. Southampton Airport was our first port of call. There was plenty of time to chat, eat lunch or have a Costa coffee and sing a few songs for our fellow travellers before boarding our flight to Dublin.
After a short flight we landed in Dublin and after locating all the luggage (with the aid of our bright yellow luggage labels) we were met by our courier, Anne, and our coach driver, Enda. As we drove through the lovely Irish countryside we experienced typical Irish weather – sunshine and (heavy) showers.
We stopped for our evening meal just outside Cork at the Silver Springs Moran Hotel Tivoli for a lovely meal (roast no.1), then continued our journey to Kinlay House, pausing at Tesco to buy provisions including lots of cake!
Before bedtime we had a chance to unpack uniform and meet to find out arrangements for the next day.
Day 2 – Cork
Following breakfast, the choir walked to the CIT Cork School of Music for a rehearsal while I stayed at the hostel and prepared the uniform for the evening concert. After a light lunch at CIT, FYC put on a magnificent concert to a packed hall. This was part of the Life Long Learning Festival and the audience spanned the age range including groups of school children, all of whom gave FYC their first standing ovation of the tour.
After that, it was a short coach journey back to the hostel for well-earned cake! Some of the choir had a short visit to a local sweet factory while others crammed in a bit of revision. It was then time to travel to Carrigaline for our evening concert with the Carrigaline Choral Group in the Church of Our Lady & Saint John. Following a short rehearsal we went across the road to the Carrigaline Court Hotel for our evening meal (roast no.2). Another excellent concert.
Day 3 – Dublin
Today we were off to Dublin, stopping en route at The Rock of Cashel. Our fantastic guide pitched the tour really well. We had the opportunity to sing in two of the buildings and learnt about round towers. After lunch in Cashel village, we had some retail therapy at the Dundrum Shopping Centre. The evening was spent at Bewley’s Hotel, where, following dinner (roast no.3) we had a Soirée. Members of the choir entertained us with singing, piano solo, juggling and musical theatre. It was a lovely evening followed by an early night.
Day 4 – Dublin
The morning was a guided coach tour of Dublin with our guide Irwin. We visited Trinity College and then headed to Christ Church Cathedral for a short rehearsal, lunch outside and a concert in the Cathedral. It was a lovely acoustic to sing in and a wonderful concert.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at leisure at the hotel before departing for St Columba’s Church in Kells for our evening concert. Following a short rehearsal, we ate our evening meal at the Vanilla Pod Restaurant (not a roast!). Another fantastic concert.
Day 5 – Home
After a late night, we were able to have a leisurely breakfast. On our way to the airport we stopped at the village of Howth in Dublin Bay, where the choir were able to go off and explore in groups. Before we knew it, we were back at Southampton and were surprised to see Brian our coach driver from Monday waiting for us. We had given him a CD on Monday and he’d been listening it to all week!
Alison & John Nicholls
