‘ It has been humbling to be reminded that what we do as conductors and musical directors can create a remarkable community , bringing people together to become something so much greater than the sum of their parts , not only musically but as people .' Rufus Frowde ( b 1977 )
In 2009 , Rufus , our musical director , was approached to set up a choir in Hemel . The first meeting on the 10th November attracted 30 people to a small room in Astley Cooper School , and so Dacorum Community Choir was born . He makes no secret of the fact that it took some considerable persuasion from the School Head to embark on this project . However , he is so glad that she did persevere . DCC quickly became an integral and valued part of his working week .
How lucky we were .
Rufus was recently appointed Artistic Director of the renowned English Chamber Choir . The extra workload has meant that he ' s been forced , reluctantly , to give up some of his other commitments . The quote above is taken from his Facebook page and marked his standing down as Musical Director of the Hardynge Choir .
I joined D . C . C . in 2013 , at the age of 72 and I didn ' t think singing was for me , but I so wanted it to be . The help and support I got from Rufus , Judi and the rest of the choir took me on a musical journey which has changed my life .
In the fifteen years since our inception , we have grown in size , we now number over 100 , range and ability . But the main thing we ' ve gained is our absolute joy in singing together and our ability to communicate that to our audience . We have indeed become so much more than the sum of our parts .
In August we ' re embarking on tour to Shropshire . Of course there will be singing , with two performances over the weekend , but tours are also a fantastic way to get to know other people in the choir really well . They are filled with laughter and fun ( though of course we take the music seriously ).
Singing is not all we do together . We also run social events . On July 4th we went on a boat trip to Hampton Court for the RHS flower festival
and two weeks later we held an energetic Ceilidh , dancing to Cloudburst , with Wendy Harrup and Paul Moran ( both choir members ).
Our rehearsals are on Tuesday mornings in term time at the Church of the Resurrection in Henry Wells Square in Grovehill . You ' ll find us there between 9.45 and 11.35 in the morning . We ' re on our summer hols now but we ' ll be back on September 3rd . We welcome all comers , men and women , total beginners and experienced singers . If you ' d like to join a friendly choir with an inspiring leader , just come along and give us a go .
Have a good summer !
Photo Linda Davidson
6 < Boxmoor Direct < August 2024 <