Wow, what a day! Saturday was amazing, from the afternoon rehearsal through to the concert finale. Our 200th anniversary was well and truly celebrated in style!
Singing again with our Yorkshire friends Halifax Choral Society was wonderful, thank you for making the journey down to Suffolk and celebrating with us. Britten Sinfonia were fantastic, it was a delight to watch them during rehearsal and in the concert. The soloists, Anna Dennis, Ryan Vaughan Davies and Dan D’Souza were absolutely fabulous. We were blown away by their amazing singing. Our accompanist Mark Blatchly was also there on stage with us, playing the chamber organ superbly.
Last but certainly not least, celebrating his birthday as well as the anniversary Robin Walker. A huge task preparing for the concert and directing everything on stage, all that hard work paid off! Thank you Robin from us all Ipswich Choral Society.
The message from Cem Mansur, ICS president, says it all!
Congratulations to you all for such an exciting and moving performance at Snape. Your work, dedication and love of the music shone through in every bar. Great work by Robin and all of you.
I felt once more, privileged and proud of our association and can’t wait to make music together again.
Best wishes to you all,
Cem
Very special for ICS, also on stage with us for the afternoon rehearsal and the concert, was one of the handwritten scores used by the founding ICS members. The book of 23 religious anthems scored for the Alto voice is inscribed on the cover “Ipswich Choral Society 1824”; the manuscript paper is watermarked 1822.
Choirs are all about people. We meet and sing together every week at rehearsal, as do many thousands of choir members across the UK. ICS members have been meeting for 200 years, and then delighting local audiences with concert performances.
To have a piece of ICS history on stage with us was incredible. Many thanks to Suffolk Archives for allowing us to have the 1824 score for the day. Certainly helped make the 200th anniversary celebration memorable and allowed the 2024 members contribute to that rich heritage of the Ipswich Choral Society.
Special thanks to Matt Clarke for the photography.
