Parkside, Burnthill Lane, Rugeley, Staffordshire WS15 2HX
Mob: +44(0)7866 770360

E-mail: ece@paulspicer.com
Website: https://englishchoralexperience.co.uk

NEWSLETTER No.14

Dear Friends

As our week in Abbey Dore approaches I thought I would write to you all to highlight various things which are coming up under the ECE banner in the hope that you will find them interesting.

Even at this very late stage, if there are any tenors out there who would like to come to join us at Dore Abbey between 16 and 22 July you would be hugely welcome. We have never had a shortage of tenors before and I’m not sure what has happened this time but we could do with at least one more if possible.

Talking of Abbey Dore, I wrote about the death of Hazel Prowse, one of the churchwardens at the abbey, now I have to tell you that Philip Wilcocks, the other churchwarden, also died soon after Hazel. This is a tragic loss on so many fronts, and Philip was relatively young and incredibly active across a number of fronts including being a deputy Lieutenant for Herefordshire.

We were also very sad to hear of the death of Tony Hemson recently. Tony was an Abbey Dore resident who directed the Abbey Singers and was also organist of Belmont Abbey just outside Hereford until a few years ago when he moved with his wife to Shropshire. He still regularly came to both Abbey Dore and to Gregynog Hall as recently as last year. But sadly the cancer he was living with finally caught up with him. He was a fine musician who was also a significant composer. He will be much missed.

In September (16/17) we have our annual upper voices weekend in the beautiful coastal village of Orford in Suffolk. St Bartholomew’s church, where we sing, is a beautiful building with a fabulous acoustic and has many associations with Britten and the Aldeburgh Festival. We are singing a great variety of music and I hope that we will get some more sopranos and altos signing up. Do visit the website (address above) and book up if you can. We always have such a happy experience.

The Winchester St Cross weekend at the end of October is now full and the dates of the next Winchester weekend are 26/27 October 2024 if you want to put them into your diaries.

We will be returning to Chateau Rieutort near Montpellier in the south of France after Easter again next year between 3 and 10 April. This may be our last visit there as sadly the current owners are selling the place. We will advise you when booking is open for that course.

We return to the wonderful church of St George, Cullercoats just north of Newcastle-upon-Tyne between 10-12 May next year and I have devised what I hope will be a really interesting musical programme for us to work at in that glorious acoustic. Situated right on the seafront above a lovely sandy beach this great JL Pearson church (same architect as Truro cathedral) is one of the north-east’s finest buildings and we are very lucky to be able to use it for three days. Booking will open soon.

Abbey Dore next year will be between 21 and 27 July. Do please put the dates in your diaries. Orford upper voices will be 14/15 September 2024.

In case any of you may be interested, my biography of Sir Arthur Bliss is now finally out (after eight years of research and writing!). It is available from www.crowood.com – the Crowood Press and I am hoping it may spark a revival of interest in this fascinating composer.

I really look forward to seeing many of you again over the next year. Thank you for your friendship and support.

With warmest good wishes to you all