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ST CLEMENT DANES
On Friday 3 February 2012, with temperatures around zero, members of the choir boarded two coaches with friends and families, bound for St Clement Danes church in The Strand, London.
St Clement Danes is the RAF church and stood as an empty shell after the blitz in 1941. In the 1950s, the RAF began restoration as closely as possible to Wren’s original design, fundraising from this country and from Air Forces from around the world. It was re-consecrated in 1958. There is much more information at www.raf.mod.uk/stclementdanes/
We had been invited to perform as part of the Brandenburg Choral Festival 2012, see www.brandenburgchoralfestival.co.uk/. The programme was to be The Armed Man, Jenkins; A Little Jazz Mass, Chilcott; The RAF March, Davies, as an organ solo; Old Hundredth, Vaughan Williams; God is our Strength and Refuge, Coates (Dam Busters March); and Jerusalem, Parry. 8 hours of rehearsal the previous weekend left us eager to go!
On the night, the church was well filled despite the bitter cold. We were introduced by Bob Porter, Brandenburg Artistic Director, before George Jones on the podium and Alison Manton at the piano took us into the Armed Man with Gilly Boarer singing the solos. A rousing ovation from the audience was followed by the interval, with refreshments.  The second half began with A Little Jazz Mass, followed by George Jones on the organ and Alison Manton conducting for the remaining items.
The hugely appreciative audience and the many individual congratulations sent us back to the coaches with heads held high!

THE GOLF
On Wednesday 10 August 2011, 26 members of The Angmering Chorale and Billingshurst Choral Society met at Rookwood Golf Course for our annual golf day, organised by Robert Benton. Although quite breezy it was a warm and sunny day - well organised Robert! Billingshurst won the Treasurers' Shield for the second year, congratulations again. There was a problem with the nearest the pin prize - not a single player found the green, the wind was blamed by most. Justin Brown of BCS won a very impressive longest drive and Duncan Simpson of BCS had the highest Stableford score of 39 points. Peter Seamer won the Holmes Cup with the highest AC score of 32. Ham, eggs and chips rounded off a great day.

THE NETHERLANDS
The choir travel to The Netherlands on 28 April 2011 to visit Breda and Oosterhout. In Breda we will sing in the Grote Kerk or the Church of Our Lady and in Oosterhout in the St. Antonius church. Their repertoire will be choral classics ( Zadok the Priest, How lovely are Thy dwellings, Cantique de Jean Racine) and Feel the Spirit spirituals arrangements by John Rutter.

LEICESTER PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
On Saturday 30 October 2010, members of the choir joined their coach at 7.30am in East Preston and travelled to De Montfort Hall, Leicester. There we joined members of Billingshurst Choral Society and Leicester Philharmonic Choir to rehearse, with the Philharmonia Orchestra, for the evening concert under the batons of Brian Kay and Karl Jenkins. After a short break, we were back on stage before a sell-out audience to perform a selection of well-known works conducted by Brian Kay. A short interval was followed by a performance of The Armed Man - its tenth anniversary - conducted by its composer Karl Jenkins. A very appreciative audience gave a standing ovation - a great ending to a long day!

ST MARGARET'S CHURCH, ANGMERING
Following our performance in the church in 2009, celebrating the major re-furbishment, we were invited to perform again this year. On Saturday 25 September 2010, members of the choir performed a range of music to a very appreciative audience. Later, members of the choir led the singing at the civic service for tthe new Chairman of Arun District Council, Cllr Dudley Wensley, on Sunday 17 October 2010.

GOLF DAY
On Wednesday 25 August 2010, The Angmering Chorale and Billingshurst Choral Society met at Goodwood Park Golf Course for our annual golf day, organised by Jack O'Neill. The day started off damp and then became seriously wet! The ham, egg and chips helped us to forget the weather. The Angmering Chorale men's cup was won by Lawrie South with 32 points, whilst Rick Simpson of Billingshurst had the highest score of the day with 35 points. The inter-choir Treasurers' Shield was won by Billingshurst Choral Society, who will organise the 2011 day.

LEICESTER PHILHARMONIC CHOIR
We are delighted to have been invited to sing with Leicester Philharmonic Choir in their 125th anniversary concert on 30 October 2010. To be held in De Montfort Hall, the performance will include The Armed Man under the baton of its composer Karl Jenkins OBE. Karl Jenkins is Patron of both The Angmering Chorale and Leicester Philharmonic Choir.

LEN LEE
It is with deep regret that we announce the death of Len Lee. Len was our accompanist for over 20 years until eyesight problems led to his resignation. Since then he has sung with us as a bass. He died peacefully in St Barnabus at the end of September 2009 and will be greatly missed.

ARUNDEL FESTIVAL
Members of our choir, together with members of Arun Choral Society and other choirs, performed in Arundel Cathedral on Sunday 30 August 2009 as part of the annual Arundel Festival. The highlight of the evening was the performance of Dark Sun, composed and conducted by Stephen Montague. This work was written for orchestra and amateur singers to commemorate the destruction of Hiroshima by atomic bomb on 6 August 1945.

GOLF DAY
On Thursday 20 August 2009, The Angmering Chorale and Billingshurst Choral Society met at Rookwood Golf Course, near Horsham, for our annual golf day. The weather was kind, apart from the wind, 27 players turned out for this enjoyable event plus some family and friends who turned up for the ham, egg and chips. The Angmering Chorale men's cup was won by Jack O'Neill and the ladies cup by Maureen Fraser. The inter-choir Treasurers' Shield was narrowly retained by The Angmering Chorale.

NEW YORK
Following our hugely successful performance in Carnegie Hall, New York, in January 2007, we were invited back to New York in January 2009. With members of Billingshurst Choral Society, we sang Stabat Mater, by our patron Karl Jenkins OBE, in the Lincoln Center. This was one of the first performances of this work in North America and was followed by a standing ovation.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW'S CHURCH, BRIGHTON
Symphony No. 2. ‘The Resurrection’. Gustav Mahler, Sussex Symphony Orchestra, Choirs and Soloists. The choir was joined by Billingshurst Choral Society once more on November 8 to sing in this amazing church, and were honoured to have the rare opportunity take part in this tremendous work. The choral section of the symphony is only a few minutes at the end, but does require serious concentration and effort. The last few bars have the composer’s instruction ‘with maximum force’ but although the orchestra numbered 130 musicians the choir was still heard as required. Mark Andrew James was the inspirational conductor who ensured everyone had a wonderful experience.

ARUN YOUNG MUSICIANS
The annual Gala Concert of Arun Young Musicians' Festival was held in The Alexandra Theatre, Bognor Regis, on Sunday 2 November 2008. The Angmering Chorale vocalist bursary was, this year, shared by two contestants. Jessica Black sang By Strauss, Gershwin and Dominique Hawken sang her own composition I Will Let You Down whilst accompanying herself on guitar. Young Musician of 2008 is Tom Griffiths on trumpet.

ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
The choir travelled to London on Sunday 19 October to perform again in the Royal Festival Hall. This was a beautiful autumn day which resulted in a good audience to hear parts of Requiem, Fauré and Feel the Spirit, Rutter.

GOLF DAY
Our annual golf day was held on August 26 at Chichester Golf Club. We were joined this year by a group of golfers from Billingshurst Choral Society. On a gloriously sunny day, the Angmering Chorale men's cup was won by Bryn Goodfellow and the Angmering Chorale ladies cup by Jane Seamer. New this year was the Treasurers' Shield for the winning choir, which was won by The Angmering Chorale.

CHOIR TOUR
A large group from the choir, including our Musical Director George Jones and our Accompanist Alison Manton, travelled to France on 29 May 2008. On 30 May, they performed a selection fromThe Armed Man, Jenkins, and Messiah, Handel, in St Peter's Cathedral, Beauvais. The next day they travelled to Amiens. There, in Notre Dame Cathedral, the largest Gothic cathedral in France, they took part in aconcert in aid of La Ligue Contre le Cancer. This was a hugely enjoyable trip, building upon the success of our trip to Belgium in 2005.

ST BARTHOLOMEW'S CHURCH, BRIGHTON
We are invited to perform Resurrection Symphony, Mahler on Saturday 8 November 2008 in St Bartholomew's Church, Brighton, with Sussex Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Mark Andrew James.

NEW YORK
As a result of our hugely successful performance in Carnegie Hall, New York, in January 2007, we have been invited back to New York in January 2009. More details later.

ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, SOUTH BANK CENTRE
Following our successful performances at the re-opening weekend of The Royal Festival Hall, we, with Billingshurst Choral Society, were invited to participate in the Royal Gala Concert on 9 October 2007. We are immensely proud to have been chosen to sing in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen. With London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Paul Daniel, we sang Zadok the Priest, Handel and Symphony No 9 (Choral) - Fourth Movement, Beethoven, special lyrics by Billy Bragg.

VOICES FOR HOSPICES
The Angmering Chorale, with Billingshurst Choral Society, presented excerpts from Handel's Messiah in the magnificent Lancing College Chapel on Saturday 6 October 2007. We were delighted to be able to take up this invitation to help with fund-raising for St Barnabus House and Chestnut Tree House.

CHORALE GOLF DAY
Our annual golf tournament took place on Thursday 23 August 2007 at Rusper Golf Club. Open to all choir members and their families, the men's cup was won by Martin O'Neill and the ladies cup by Maggie Skelton. .

ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL, SOUTH BANK CENTRE
The Royal Festival Hall, part of the Southbank Centre, London, has been closed for an extensive refurbishment. We were invited to perform during the opening performances covering the weekend of 8 to 10 June 2007. On Sunday 10 June, we sang items from The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace and then were part of a huge final choir singing part of the Beethoven Choral Symphony.

CARNEGIE HALL 2007
On Friday 12 January 2007, 80 members of the choir and 20 friends and relatives flew to New York. At 8.30am on Saturday 13th, with members of Billingshurst Choral Society, Dublin County Choir, Lincoln Memorial University (Tennessee) Choir, and Tri-State (Tennessee) Community Chorus we assembled in the ballroom of our hotel for a four hour rehearsal under the baton of Dr Jonathan Griffith. Another four hour rehearsal on Sunday was followed on Monday by two hours on stage at Carnegie Hall, with orchestra and soloists. Finally, on the evening of Monday 15 January, before an audience of over 2500 people, the mixed choirs performed The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace, by Karl Jenkins OBE, our Patron. Karl travelled to New York for the performance and, with Jonathan Griffith, greeted each singer as they left the stage. This was a night which none of us will forget!

CAROL CONCERT 2006
The Angmering Chorale returned to The Angmering School for our carol concert in December 2006. Although the choir was originally formed from parents of the school pupils, we have not performed
there for many years. The hall was packed to capacity to hear the Chorale, together with guest choirs
from four local primary schools and the Patcham Silver Band, perform a selection of carols old and
new. The audience joined in with enthusiasm for some of the carols.

 

CHORALE GOLF DAY
At the Chorale Golf day at Rookwood on 16 August 2006, the men's cup was won by Bill Skelton and the ladies cup by Mavis Constable. An excellent day in brilliant sunshine.

OUISTREHAM
Following our visit to Ouistreham last year as part of the D-Day anniversary celebrations, the Chorale de Ouistreham came to sing with us for our Summer concert in Arundel Cathedral on July 8 2006. Under their conductor Agnès Lesage, they performed several pieces alone and several more with The Angmering Chorale. The visitors were hosted by our choir members for their two-night stay.

 

NEW YORK 2007
We are greatly honoured to have been invited, with Billingshurst Choral Society, to perform our Patron Karl Jenkins' work The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace, in Carnegie Hall, New York City, in January 2007. The concert, to honour the memory of Dr Martin Luther King on a national day of recognition of his life and work, is organised by MidAmerica Productions Inc. We are greatly excited by this once in a lifetime opportunity.

 

TOUR
The Chorale undertook a tour across the channel in Autumn 2005. Over 80 singers and partners took part in this exciting event. The choir sang to very receptive audiences in two cathedrals in Belgium.

 

RETIREMENT
Leonard Lee, our accompanist for over a quarter of a century, retired at Christmas 2004. He will be maintaining his association with us by joining the choir as a singer. We hope that his singing career will be long and enjoyable.

 

PRESENTATION TO MR LEONARD LEE
Our accompanist Leonard Lee is a talented musician who has helped and entertained the local community for many years. He plays for The Angmering Chorale, is organist at Rustington Methodist Church, and has supported other choirs in the district.
On 16th November 2003 at a packed Arundel cathedral our Patron, Karl Jenkins, presented Len with an illuminated scroll in recognition of his services to music over many years.
Singers and audience greeted the presentation with prolonged applause.

DEATH
It is with great sorrow that we announce the death of our founder and President, Leslie Harverson.Leslie died peacefully in hospital just before Christmas 2003. We offer our commiseration to his friends and family, he will long be remembered by the Chorale.

PATRON
The Angmering Chorale is honoured that the celebrated composer Karl Jenkins OBE, BMus, ARAM, LRAM, FWCMD, has agreed to be our Patron.
Perhaps best known for his Adiemus project, Karl Jenkins also composed the Armed Man: A Mass For Peace and will be present when this work is performed by us in November 2003.

We have sung in:
Arundel Cathedral, Chichester Cathedral, Carnegie Hall NY, Angmering School, Festival Hall, Littlehampton Community School, Lancing College, Local churches, Felpham Community College, Arun Leisure Centre, The Brighton Centre, Angmering Square.

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