KBC 50 years

We asked some of our members for their thoughts and memories

Our founder, John Sloboda:

'I am delighted that the choir I founded in 1975 is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year in such good health. I am happy to offer a few memories of the years when I was most closely associated with it.'

Read what John has to say here.

See a list of all concerts performed

KBC members over the years

See our programme for the 50th Anniversary concert

Our Memories

Marjorie Seddon (1975 - date)

I'm celebrating 50 years with Keele Bach Choir.

One of the premier chamber choirs in Staffordshire celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Keele Chamber Choir (as it was originally known) was established in 1975 by John Sloboda, a psychology lecturer and later professor at the University.

The choir is still going strong after five decades with around forty members drawn from across Staffordshire and surrounding counties, and I was at the first rehearsal! Yes! I've been singing with the choir for 50 years. I turned up in trepidation for the first rehearsal because I personally wasn't a member of Keele, but I found the most wonderful musical collaboration. It was one of those chance meetings that changed my musical life.

Initially the appeal for me was the repertoire and the way that John Sloboda took the rehearsals. For me he was the perfect conductor. It was all about his style of training the choir and his musical integrity, which is continued with our present conductor Neil Taylor.

The reason I am still singing with this choir after 50 years is that Keele Bach Choir challenges the musical ability of all its singers. This is especially true for our Golden Anniversary concerts! We hope you can join us.

Andrew Smith:

I served a year as chair in 1999-2000, following Andor Gomme's retirement.

I have some very happy memories from my years with Keele Bach Choir.

I joined for the Christmas Oratorio in 1997, a superb period performance under our then conductor Marion Wood. Another highlight was singing Brahms' Requiem four times in 1998: two performances in Keele chapel and two in Czechia. After a mammoth but memorable bus trip to Czechia with the Keele Philharmonic, a trailer full of instruments and great craic from some singers from the Belfast Philharmonic Choir, enlivened by tour guide and polyglot tenor Paul Brown, we gave our rendition in the splendours of the Casino Hall, Mariánské Lázně, and in the romantic setting of the Dvořák Hall, Prague, across a moonlit Vltava from the castle.

After KBC joined an impressive festival chorus of Staffordshire and Erlangen singers in The Dream of Gerontius for the finale of 1999's North Staffs Triennial Music Festival, I was asked to chair the choir for a year on learning of Andor Gomme's retirement. It was a time of transition as Marion Wood had moved to London and the choir had just engaged Christopher Hand from Worcester as conductor.

Pressures of work brought an end to my time with KBC, but not before I had time to enjoy singing a double Bach Magnificat concert (JS and CPE settings), thus bookending my time with two of the most joyous and singable (with practice!) of the works of the great JSB."

Matt Hamilton

It’s hard to believe it’s not far off 10 years since I’ve conducted Keele Bach Choir. For a good while after I left I got a strange twitchy feeling around 6pm on a Thursday, as if I really ought to be doing something fun and musical with some very lovely people somewhere…

I have only fond memories of my time at KBC - I arrived as a pretty inexperienced young conductor, and the help and support I received from committees and choir members was invaluable. I particularly valued how fearlessly the choir threw themselves into some of my more off-the-wall repertoire choices, and as often as not introduced me to some wonderful pieces that I didn’t know. Certain bits of the repertoire will always be connected to this choir for me - Vic Nees’ (not Vic Reeves) Magnificat; Gabriel Jackson’s Requiem; Respighi’s Lauda to name just a few. Mostly, though, my abiding memory of the choir is of the great people who committed so much of their lives and skills to it, whether from the university or wider local area. It was a real privilege to be part of this positive and cheerful musical community - congratulations of 50 years!

Jim Howell

I joined the choir in March 1989. I had been to the performance of Monteverdi Vespers and was so impressed that I thought I might give it a go. My friend and colleague Denis Dixon took me to the next rehearsal and the rest is history. I had sung in a cathedral choir as a treble and played the double bass in high school, but had never sung as a bass. I took a break from 2003-2016 after Christopher Hand’s tenure and so regrettably missed Matthew Willis and Matthew Hamilton. I was lured back in 2017 by Alison Hendricken just after Neil started.

Peter de Cruz

I have been singing Bass with the Keele Bach Choir since 1984, when I took up a Law lectureship at Keele University. It was my neighbour Sue Whitehouse, who suggested I join the choir in which she and her husband, Roger, were members. It was a small chamber choir then and I thoroughly enjoyed singing under founder John Sloboda, who trained the choir to perform with confidence, musicality and authority. Over the years, the choir continued to build a reputation as a quality group which sang Renaissance repertoire a capella but also sang Baroque and more modern pieces, occasionally with orchestra. John Sloboda then decided to perform the Bach B minor mass with an expanded choir and a professional orchestra, and its performance was critically well received and enjoyed by the choir. The choir has never looked back and following John’s departure, it employed a series of professional conductors, while still employing up-and-coming young conductors to take some rehearsals. It has been my pleasure to have sung with some excellent singers in the choir with John Cox (tenor), John Cliffe (bass/ baritone), Richard Newman (tenor), and Marjorie Seddon (mezzo) among many memorable soloists. Marjorie joined in 1975 and still sings with the choir, doing solos and still gives recitals with other musicians. We have also had some excellent conductors, including our current conductor, Neil Taylor, who has broadened and developed the choir’s repertoire. The choir continues to perform challenging repertoire and my lasting memory of the past forty years with the choir is of the variety of ancient and modern music we performed to a high standard, especially with orchestra, including works like The Messiah. No other choir would have provided the opportunity for me to sing such classic choruses accompanied by a quality orchestra and professional soloists.

Finally, my most cherished memory will be of the wonderful people I continue to meet through singing with the choir. Long may that continue!

“I joined in 1990” says Sue Coffey who sang soprano in the choir. For me it was the quality of the singing that made me join KBC. I always thought it was a bit more special and had a certain quality of performance with high standards, and choir members had to be auditioned - we just didn’t take anybody ! I was also attracted by the fact that the choir did a lot of interesting music that is challenging and not always mainstream”.

Others to follow ...

See the list of all our concerts.