Waverley Singers

"Breadth and Magic Captured"

The following review of the concert was contributed to, and was published in the Herald newspaper on 26 June 2015:

Local choir the Waverley Singers held a celebratory concert on June 13, performing Haydn’s Creation at Guildford Cathedral as the climax of a year's celebration to mark 60 years at the forefront of choral singing in southwest Surrey.

The choir gave a superb performance in a glorious evening of powerful and rhythmic singing which captured the breadth and magic of the Creation story.

The choir was supported by the Brandenburg Sinfonia and conducted by Richard Pearce. There were three excellent soloists sponsored by the Josephine Baker trust. Sophia Larson, soprano, gave a strongly voiced and lyrical presentation of several solo arias, showing pure tonal quality and an ability to engage with the audience, which produced an enthusiastic response. The sound of her voice soaring above the choir was quite beautiful. Gyula Rab, tenor, also sang strongly with a pleasant and warm tone on his second visit to the choir. Matthew Buswell, bass, was tentative to begin with, but grew in strength as the work progressed particularly in duets and the trio.

The concert finished on a powerful note in the final chorus Sing the Lord ye voices all, performed by choir and soloists to round off a most memorable evening.

The choir was formed in 1955 by a group of old girls of Farnham Girls Grammar school, who met at a house in Waverley Lane - from which the name Waverley singers was chosen - and they were joined by men in 1960. It was a great privilege to welcome three of the founder members to the concert and post event reception held at the Holiday Inn. Molly Goddard, who was the first choir secretary, Rosemary Godfrey, who had come all the way from her home in Canberra, Australia, and Joan Cotterill shared many happy reminiscences of the early days with current members.

The choir has had three conductors in 60 years, John Cotterill, the first, was conducting elsewhere on Saturday, but the choir was joined by the second, Malcolm Hicks and his wife Judith, a former secretary of the choir and by the current conductor, Richard Pearce. Richard is about to embark on a short tour of China to perform the ‘Organ Symphony’ by Saint Saëns with Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

 As the three founder members cut a celebratory cake, the choir toasted the past 60 years and looked forward to a successful future.