- Elmbridge Choir: On Song for Two Decades!
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Date Posted: Sat, 15 Mar 2025
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In September this year, Elmbridge Choir will celebrate a remarkable milestone – 20 years of bringing people together through the joy of music!
Since its founding in 2005 by Cliff van Tonder, Elmbridge Choir has been a musical force in the community, inspiring audiences with its uplifting performances and charitable spirit. Choir members will no doubt agree that Elmbridge Choir offers a sense of belonging that extends far beyond the rehearsal room. The shared experience of making music together, coupled with the many varied performance and social opportunities offered, create a lasting sense of camaraderie among members, and it is a testament to this that many of the choir’s original members are still enjoying their weekly rehearsal some 20 years later!
How many can you spot in both photographs, taken nearly 20 years apart?
With a steady flow of new voices, the energy and dedication of the choir’s Musical Director, Hugh Beckwith, a hardworking committee and team of volunteers inspired by the endless passion and enthusiasm of its c100 members, the choir looks set to continue for at least another 20 years! But for this year, the choir has several celebratory events lined up......
Elmbridge Choir will be performing a special 20th Anniversary Concert, aptly named “The Joy of Singing”, on their official anniversary, Saturday 6th September, at Church of the Good Shepherd in Pyrford, Woking, where supporters old and new will be able to enjoy some of the choir’s favourite songs from the last 20 years, together with some great celebratory pieces! Known for their enjoyment of a good party, choir members will continue the celebrations with a dinner dance towards the end of September, and at the very end of November, an intrepid party of 72 will enjoy a three-night anniversary tour in Yorkshire, where they will perform this year's Christmas repertoire before unveiling it locally at the choir's Christmas Concert on Saturday 6th December.
What a fantastic year this will be! Congratulations to one and all!
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- Cosying up at "A Winter Warmer"
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Date Posted: Fri, 27 Dec 2024
What a fabulously festive and joyous concert, and a perfect end to the year!
Our Christmas concert, "A Winter Warmer", took place with a full and appreciative audience.on Saturday 14th December, at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Pyrford
In a cosy, cabaret-style setting, our guests settled in with wine, beer and sumptious festive grazing boxes, seated at round tables adorned with ambient lighting, and were treated to a wonderful programme of seasonal choral pieces, led by Musical Director Hugh Beckwith and accompanied on piano by Harry Baker. Around 80 members of the choir performed several new seasonal pieces alongside some old favourites (given a bit of a jazzy and - in one case - gospel twist!), and a couple of traditional carols which the audience joined in with gusto!
It was the first public outing of a version of a traditional carol, "Wassail", arranged especially for Elmbridge Choir by Charlie Perry , a friend and musical colleague of Hugh. We were thrilled that Charlie joined us for the evening to hear his composition performed for the first time. The choir also performed a carol which was selected as a finalist in the BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition in 2022, Set to a poem by Niall Campbell, "A Winter's Brightening", written by local composer and professional freelance singer, Donna Deam, the piece conjures up a mood of love, winter, warmth, cosiness and hope - perfectly fitting for "A Winter Warmer".
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oining us for the evening were the Mayor and Mayoress of Elmbridge (Cllr Neil Houston and Veronica Houston), the Mayor of Woking (Cllr Louise Morales), and Andy Robertson from Rentstart, our beneficiary charity which supports those experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness. Following the concert, Andy wrote "I had a really lovely time on Saturday, the whole event was excellent and the choir were amazing! We raised £650 on the door, which I am really happy with!".
- Special Christmas Visitors
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Date Posted: Sun, 8 Dec 2024
What an exuberant night! The penultimate rehearsal for our Christmas concert saw our MD Hugh Beckwith and a full house of excited choir members welcome some very special guests indeed.
We felt privileged (and a little anxious!) to perform “The Winter’s Brightening” to the song’s composer, Donna Deam, who said she thought we sounded wonderful. Giving us some really helpful tips and suggestions she said she was ‘inspired by our enthusiasm’. Donna's composition was a finalist in the BBC Radio 3 Carol Competition in 2022 and we are delighted to be performing it.
Joining us from Elmbridge Borough Council was Arts Development Officer, Leah Zakss, who said she was excited to be in a room with so many singers! (Well, there are nearly 100 of us!) We are excited to have received an invitation to perform at Elmbridge Borough Council’s Festive Event and are looking forward to singing in the gallery of the council chambers!
Our super-talented and simply superb concert accompanist, Harry Baker, joined us for a pre-concert rehearsal, skilfully mastering complicated pieces on sight with ease, and leaving us all in awe! Bravo Harry!
And Hugh, unfazed by our illustrious guests, was his charming, warm, engaging and funny self, gently and cleverly coaxing us to perform to our best, as only he can do!
Such a brilliant rehearsal, full of enthusiasm, warmth, joy and, perhaps most most importantly, humour!
- Supporting the Rentstart Sleepout 2024
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Date Posted: Sat, 7 Dec 2024
We were delighted to be invited to support the Rentstart Sleepout 2024, when around 75 local people hunkered down in their bed for the night - a large cardboard box - to help raise funds for those experiencing homelessness or vulnerably housed.
There was a buzz in the air as we performed two sets: one jolly and uplifting, the other more reflective, and as people started to settle down for the evening, the reality hit as we all remembered why we were there.
But while most of us went home to a warm bed, one brave choir member, Richard, crawled into his sleeping bag, laid down on a cardboard box and joined the other hardy souls sleeping under the stars to raise funds for Rentstart. Richard's efforts alone raised around £600, and the event as a whole raised more than £20,000! Well done to everyone involved for an incredible awareness-raising and fundraising event.
- We Shall Remember Them
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Date Posted: Fri, 22 Nov 2024
It was an honour to be invited once again by Surrey County Council to lead the singing of the National Anthem at their Act of Remembrance. A group of our choir members enjoyed paying their respects alongside civic dignitaries and representatives from the Armed Forces and Emergency Services in the Memorial 
Garden at Woodhatch Place.Attachment: 
- Elmbridge Choir's Musical Director, Hugh Beckwith, reveals all!
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Date Posted: Mon, 28 Oct 2024
Don't miss this!
We're so thrilled and excited to see our Musical Director, Hugh Beckwith, featured in November's issues of Community Life magazine, in which Hugh reveals some interesting and insightful facts about his musical career.
Copies of this great free community magazine are widely available locally, or you can read the article here
It's a great read. Well done, Hugh!
- Elmbridge Choir hits the airwaves
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Date Posted: Mon, 16 Sep 2024
Never one to miss an opportunity to talk about Elmbridge Choir, Debbie, our Communications Officer, visited the studios of Brooklands Radio in Weybridge on Sunday 15th September, and spent around 10 minutes talking to presenter Dave Jemitus about her favourite topic!
You can listen to the interview here:
https://www.brooklandsradio.co.uk/podcasts/ElmbridgeChoir2024-09-15.mp3
- Harry Baker makes his mark on the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
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Date Posted: Sun, 11 Aug 2024
Our regular concert accompanist, Harry Baker, is a long-time friend and colleague of our Musical Director, Hugh Beckwith. Harry is a supremely talented pianist and composer, working with jazz and classical musicians at the highest level, including regular collaboration with cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
We were delighted (and just a little proud!) to hear that Harry's music was to be featured at the BBC Proms this year. Harry arranged almost all the pieces for Prom 20: Songs and Dances with the Kanneh-Masons."Superstar siblings Sheku and Braimah, and captivating Brazilian guitarist Plínio Fernandes, perform an eclectic and surprising playlist from Brahms to Bob Marley.
The concert is made up of a range of music inspired by Sheku and Braimah’s inspirations and Plínio's Brazilian roots. With songs born from folk, reggae and soul, expect unique arrangements of much-loved hits such as I Say a Little Prayer, Redemption Song, The Girl from Ipanema, and Brahms’s Hungarian Dances.
The dynamic Fantasia Orchestra makes its Proms debut under its founder, Tom Fetherstonhaugh. "
If you haven't already seen this, it is well worth a watch. At the end of the concert, conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh credits Harry with arranging the music, As the spotlight shines on Harry he stands to receive huge and well-deserved applause from the whole of Royal Albert Hall. What an honour and such a proud moment!
BBC Proms - 2024: A Kanneh-Mason Playlist at the Proms - BBC iPlayer
Congratulations to Harry on a fantastic achievement!
- Cabaret concert brings audience to their feet!
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Date Posted: Sun, 11 Aug 2024
A sell-out audience and a standing ovation left us in high spirits after an incredible concert at Holy Trinity Church in Claygate on Saturday 27th July 2024.
"Life is a Cabaret", featuring a programme of beloved songs from well-known musicals, was performed under the baton of our fantastic Musical Director, Hugh Beckwith, while our enthusiastic audience enjoyed the cabaret-style seating and delicious grazing boxes and drinks from the bar.
We were honoured to have the Mayors of Elmbridge and Woking join us, along with representatives from our concert beneficiary, Andys Man Club, a men's suicide prevention charity. Their heartfelt message moved our generous audience to raise an amazing £526.04 for the charity.
A special shoutout to our MD Hugh, who led us through a fantastic set and wowed the crowd with his solo of "Maria" from West Side Story. Our accompanist, Harry Baker, blew us away with his incredible piano improvisation, while we enjoyed a delightful ukulele accompaniment for "Over the Rainbow" from Simon Cushing, who had earlier welcomed guests with an acoustic guitar set.
Thank you to everyone who made the evening unforgettable!
- 2023 Prague Advent Choral Meeting
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Date Posted: Thu, 7 Dec 2023
We had a wonderful weekend reprising our inaugural Choir tour of 2008 at the 2023 Prague Advent Choral Meeting. This time we joined ten other choirs from Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Germany, Hungary and Croatia. We sang in St Nicholas' Church, St Michaels' Church and finally in the Old Town Square Christmas market.
When not performing we all enjoyed a Czech Folklore dinner with local musicians, a sight-seeing boat trip down the Vltava River and plenty of socialising, forging new friendships, reviving past memories and creating very many more new memories.
