About The Chigwell Choir
The Chigwell Choir (formerly the Chigwellian Choral Society) is an amateur choral society. The choir is under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Campkin. The choir currently comprises about 50-60 singers, drawn from a wide area including Epping, Loughton, Woodford, Ilford, Romford, and further afield.
The society started in the autumn of 1952 with 15 singers under the baton of John Auton, Director of Music at Chigwell School. Membership grew steadily and subsequent Directors of Music have built on this firm foundation.
Alexander Campkin
Our current Music Director is Alexander Campkin. Alexander Campkin studied Music at Oxford University, where he was Choral Scholar, Assistant Organ Scholar, and conductor of the Oxford Chamber Choir and Arcadian Singers of Oxford University. He completed a Masters at the Royal Academy of Music, and then a Postgraduate Diploma in Vienna.
Photo courtesy of Matt Brown
In 2005 Alexander founded the Oxbridge Singers, a professional
chamber choir based in London, and a 60-person orchestra dedicated
to contemporary music and minimalism called minimaLIST ENsemble, of
which Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is the Honorary Patron. With each of
these, he has conducted performances and broadcasts around the UK
and internationally. The next major project with the Oxbridge
Singers is a series of tours starting with Vienna in November 2011,
then Berlin, Prague, Belfast and London. He also conducts the
Wingrave Singers, the RAMSU Chamber Choir and guest conducts the
Fulham Camerata Choir and Orchestra, the News Corp. Choir, the Royal
Academy of Music Choir, The Amici Ensemble and the Byrd Consortium.
Alexander won the NCEM/Tallis Scholars Young Composers' Award, was
finalist in the 2008 British Composer Awards, prize winner in the
2010 'Musica Sacra' International Composition Competition in Poland
and highly commended in the BBC Proms Young Composers' Competition.
Alexander was recently appointed Composer-in-Residence in Neresheim
Abbey in Germany and of the Fulham Camerata; other commissions have
been from the BBC Performing Arts Fund, the Southbank Centre, the
Royal School of Church Music, the Manson Ensemble, the Royal Academy
String Orchestra, the Kaxan String Quartet and Pusey House Choir,
Oxford. His music has received performances by the London
Sinfonietta, the BBC Singers, the Vilnius Municipal Choir
(Lithuania), Trinity Choir Cambridge, Polish Chamber Choir, National
Youth Choir GB, Jeunnesse Kammerchor (Vienna) and the Tyler Youth
Orchestra (Texas).
He presently is a Choral Scholar at St Martin in the Fields,
broadcasting on BBC Radio 3, Radio 4 and BBC 1 television. In his
spare time he enjoys Lindy Hop swing dancing, and playing the
didgeridoo.
What we sing
We sing a variety of choral works for four and eight part harmony (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) ranging from major oratorios to shorter modern pieces. Most recently we have performed Bach's St. John Passion, Durufle's Benedicite, Rutter's Mass of the Children, and pieces by Vaughan Williams, Handel, Britten and Karl Jenkins.
Where and when we rehearse
We rehearse in New Hall, Chigwell School from 7:45 - 10pm each Wednesday evening during term time (with a short break for tea or coffee).
Where and when we perform
We perform a major concert each term. Over the past few years we
have been joined for our spring concert by the Chigwell School
choirs. We also perform a concert at Christmas, which is
traditionally followed by mulled wine and mince pies.
Concert venues are typically local churches. We perform regularly in
St. John's Church, Epping and in Waltham Abbey. Sometimes we perform
further afield, for example in Brentwood Cathedral or St James'
Church, Clerkenwell.
Usually two concerts each year are performed with a full
professional orchestra and soloists.
How to join
If you would like to sing with us, please contact the membership secretary. You are very welcome to come along to rehearsals and sing with us for a few weeks to see if you like it before deciding whether you want to join the Society and become a member (see Membership).
Do I have to audition and be able to read music?
An audition is not required. It is not necessary to be good at sight-reading, provided you have a good ear to learn music quickly.
The dress code for concerts
Men - Black shirts, purple ties, black trousers.
Women - Long sleeved black top, long black skirt or trousers with an
purple scarf (available from choir committee)
Other activities
There are a number of other activities in which you may wish to
become involved:
Choral tours abroad: these are usually long weekends. The choir has
visited Wales, Bruges, Antwerp, Dublin and Cyprus
Social events: theatre trips, concerts, barn dances, an annual
summer barbeque, and drinks in the pub after rehearsals
Fund raising events: quiz nights, auctions, boot sales.