Mayfield Festival Choir Society

Mayfield Festival Choir

President Neil Mackie CBE

The Mayfield Festival Choir was re-founded as a Society in 2004, following the appointment of Graham Caldbeck as musical director and conductor. The choir performs at least two concerts a year in St. Dunstan's Church, Mayfield, the May concert every other year being part of the Mayfield Festival. The choir enjoys rehearsing and performing a range of music unusual in its breadth and challenge and has become noted for its vibrant and committed performances of an exciting repertoire.

The standard was set by Graham's highly successful debut concert of works by Mozart, Beethoven and John Tavener in May 2005. Since then, the choir has embraced a repertoire spanning 400 years of musical history: from Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610, with the period instrument ensemble Canzona and soloists from the Royal College of Music (2008 Festival) to Jonathan Dove's Bless the Lord, O my Soul (composed 2000, performed in 2009). The latter provided a contrasting element in a "Composers' Anniversaries" concert which also included works by Purcell, Handel, Haydn, and Mendelssohn.

Not every concert contains such a varied diet, but viewed as a whole, the music performed to date demonstrates the choir's versatility and its director's innovative programming: the variety of styles runs from "Baroque Masterpieces" (Bach's Magnificat and Handel's Dixit Dominus, performed in May 2009, also with Canzona) through major works by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, to 20th century pieces by Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams, Stravinsky and Britten (his rarely-heard cantata The Company of Heaven was performed in November 2006). Contemporary composers are represented by Tavener, Arvo Pärt, James MacMillan and (planned for Spring 2011) John Rutter and Tarik O'Regan.

The choir makes these exciting excursions from a firm foundation in the classic choral tradition. In the 2010 Mayfield Festival, the choir and London Primavera performed Fauré's Requiem under the direction of the 90-year old Sir David Willcocks (while in the same concert, Gounod's St Cecilia Mass was conducted by the choir's somewhat younger director). This tradition is constantly reinvigorated, for example by the use of new editions (giving the first performance of Neil Jenkins's new translation of Haydn's Creation in the 2006 Festival, which received a very favourable review in The Organ magazine) and by collaboration with some outstanding young artists. These include the baritone Jacques Imbrailo ('Billy Budd' at Glyndebourne, 2010 season), tenor Ben Johnson (winner of the 2008 Kathleen Ferrier award), countertenor Christopher Ainslie and mezzo Charlotte Stephenson (both currently appearing in Glyndebourne Touring Opera's The Coronation of Poppea), and sopranos Eliana Pretorian (Zerlina/Don Giovanni for GTO) and Mary Bevan (ENO Young Artist), to name but a few.

The choir recently enjoyed singing in Hebrew, Czech, Latin and English in a vibrant and challenging programme of music by Janáček, Tarik O' Regan, Bernstein, Arnold, Copland and John Rutter with London Primavera, a very strong solo team from the Royal Academy of Music - Jennifer France, Leo Tomita, Stuart Jackson and Charles Rice - and with around 30 children from Skipper's Hill Manor School and St Dunstan's Intermediate Choir (including pupils from Mayfield Primary School). Everyone looks forward to invoking St. Cecilia, through the works of Purcell and Handel (with a dash of Peter Philips and Britten) in November 2011, when they will be joined by the distinguished period instrument ensemble Canzona and soloists from the RAM.

The Committee

Our President

The distinguished international tenor and teacher Neil Mackie studied initially in his native Scotland before winning several scholarships for postgraduate training in London. He was subsequently awarded a substantial Gulbenkian Fellowship which enabled him to continue his studies with Ernst Haefliger in Munich and with the legendary English tenor, Sir Peter Pears.

Since making his London début with the English Chamber Orchestra under Raymond Leppard, Neil Mackie has pursued an international career as a soloist for almost 30 years, appearing regularly at all the major British & European Festivals, with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, in Rome for the RAI, at the Lincoln Centre in New York, with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe etc under such conductors as Daniel Barenboim, Paavo Berglund, Riccardo Chailly, Sir Colin Davis, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Neeme Jarvi, Sir Neville Marriner, Lord Menuhin, Sir Roger Norrington, Sir Simon Rattle, Gennadi Rozhdestnevsky, Esa-Pekka Salonen & Sir Georg Solti. He has toured America with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, toured Mexico, Sweden, Hong Kong & The Island of Macao, the Ukraine and The Azores for the British Council and travelled to Moscow to perform ‘Les Illuminations’ with the Moscow Virtuosi with whom he has also appeared at the Colmar Festival in France and on tour in Spain.

Neil Mackie has a close association with the music of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. He has recorded ‘Into the labyrinth’ (written for him and voted the best contemporary recording of 1985) and he created both the title role in ‘ The Martyrdom of St Magnus’ and the role of Sandy in ‘The Lighthouse’, performing both works throughout the world with the composer and his celebrated group, the Fires of London. In 1988 he performed ‘Into the labyrinth’ at the Carnegie Hall in New York and also at all the major USA venues. In 1998 he premièred and recorded ‘The Jacobite Rising’ with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra again under the composer’s direction.

He has a large number of first performances to his credit which includes works by Benjamin Britten, Hans Werner Henze, Judith Weir & Kenneth Leighton as well as many other British composers. His historic recording for EMI of unpublished songs by Britten was released to tremendous critical interest; he has since recorded with the legendary hornist, Barry Tuckwell, Britten’s ‘Serenade for Tenor, Horn & Strings’ which was recently hailed by the London Times as a classic. He made a series of recordings of Mozart Masses with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge for Decca, for whom he also recorded Maxwell Davies’ ‘Solstice of Light’. With La Petite Bande under Kuijken he recorded Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ and Haydn’s ‘Die Schöpfung’.

Recent engagements have included Bach’s ‘Weihnachts-Oratorium’ under Peter Schreier at the Vienna Musikverein, the ‘St John Passion’ (Evangelist) in Norway under Brüggen and in Italy under Sawallisch (also televised), Handel’s ‘L’Allegro ed il Penseroso’ with the English Chamber Orchestra under the late Sir Charles Mackerras, Tippett’s ‘ A Child of Our Time and L’Enfance du Christ’ with Frühbeck de Burgos in Madrid.

As a champion of Benjamin Britten’s music, Neil Mackie has sung ‘War Requiem’ in Germany, France, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and the USA as well as ‘Serenade’, ‘Nocturne’ and ‘Les Illuminations’ world-wide, including performances under Sir Peter Pears at Britten’s Aldeburgh Festival in Suffolk. In the baroque repertory he is a celebrated Evangelist in the Bach & Schutz Passions and has performed on many occasions the ‘St Matthew Passion’ with Sir David Willcocks with whom he has recorded Handel’s ‘Messiah’. On several occasions he sang the ‘St Matthew Passion’ with the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge and The Academy of Ancient Music under Stephen Cleobury’s direction.

Neil Mackie has recorded for all the main recording companies and has an extensive discography to his credit which includes a coveted Grammy Award.

For his services to music, Neil Mackie was appointed a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1996 New Year Honours List. He now devotes most of his energies to teaching and helping the next generation of musicians.

After many years as Head of Vocal Studies at London’s Benjamin Britten International Opera School, he accepted a Professorship at the Royal Academy of Music. He is now Professor of Voice at the RAM and also Professor of the Fine Arts Faculty at Agder University in Southern Norway.

Director of Music

Graham Caldbeck is one of Britain's leading choral conductors, known for his wide-ranging musical skills, innovative programming and vital and stylish performances. After studying music at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was a Choral Scholar under Richard Marlow, he sang with the choirs of Guildford and Winchester Cathedrals and was Assistant Organist at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. In 1989, after nine years as Head of the Hampshire Specialist Music Course, he moved to the RCM, where for 15 years, he held senior academic positions and conducted concerts with the RCM Chorus, RCM Chamber Choir and RCM Junior Department Choirs.

Between 1984 and 1999, Graham conducted the Winchester-based chamber choir, Southern Voices, which he co-founded and rapidly established as one of the leading choirs in Hampshire. He has directed the Somerset Chamber Choir since 1990, directing annual concerts in Wells Cathedral and elsewhere in Somerset and since 1996, has conducted the Nonsuch Singers, recently described by The Times as "the acclaimed chamber choir".

Graham has worked with many of the UK's leading singers, including Dame Emma Kirkby, James Bowman, Ian Bostridge, Jacques Imbrailo, Jonathan Lemalu, Andrew Kennedy, Sophie Bevan, Christopher Maltman and Elizabeth Watts; with period instrumental ensembles, including London Baroque, His Majestys Sagbutts & Cornetts, La Serenissima, The Band of Instruments, Nonsuch Baroque Orchestra (leader Catherine Mackintosh) and Canzona; and modern orchestras, including the London Festival Orchestra, Southern Sinfonia, Sarum Chamber Orchestra, Nonsuch Chamber Orchestra (leader Ruth Rogers) and London Primavera (leader Paul Manley). In addition to directing numerous concerts of music from the Renaissance to the twentieth century, he is a passionate advocate of contemporary British choral music and has conducted many performances of recently composed works, including the televised world premiere of Sir John Tavener's Exhortation & Kohima from the Royal Albert Hall and works by Gabriel Jackson in the Spitalfields Festival. Besides these two composers, he works regularly with such composers as James MacMillan, Jonathan Dove, Judith Weir, Roxanna Panufnik, Diana Burrell and Tarik O'Regan. He holds the Fellowship and Choir Training diplomas of the Royal College of Organists and is Director of Music at St Mary The Boltons in Chelsea.

His engagements in 2011 have included (with Nonsuch Singers) a programme of French sacred music in St Martin-in-the-Fields in February and a Passiontide programme of English 16th, 19th and 20th century works in St. Giles, Cripplegate in April: and (with Somerset Chamber Choir) a performance of Duruflé's Requiem and works by Langlais, Messiaen and Poulenc at King's College, Taunton in February. Future plans include Beethoven's Mass in C and works by Haydn, Mozart and Schubert in St Martin-in-the-Fields in June with Nonsuch Singers and London Primavera, and Bach's Mass in B Minor with soloists Emma Kirkby, Tim Mead, Nicholas Mulroy and Samuel Evans and Canzona in Wells Cathedral in July.

The Accompanist

Andrew Benians began his musical career as a chorister of St Paul's Cathedral, London. After studies at the Royal Academy of Music with Ruth Harre and Douglas Hawkeridge, he held the post of Assistant Organist at St Peter Mancroft Church, Norwich, and was then appointed alto lay-clerk of Norwich Cathedral. During this time, he also studied with John Scott, formerly of St Paul's.

In 1984, Andrew moved to Chichester Cathedral as alto lay-vicar and built a busy and varied career as conductor, recitalist, accompanist and teacher. He worked with some of the leading choirs in West Sussex, including the Chichester Singers under the direction of Jonathan Willcocks, and held teaching posts at the Prebendal School, Portsmouth Grammar School and Lancing College. He was also organist to the Wenhaston Boy's Choir, a post which took him to Italy, New York State, and the Cathedrals of Bristol, Ely, Peterborough, York and St Paul's, London.

Andrew is presently Director of Music at St Dunstan's Church and also accompanist and organist to the Mayfield Festival Choir. He has directed performances of some major choral works here including The Messiah and Mozart's Coronation Mass. He also teaches piano, organ, theory and singing at St Leonards-Mayfield School, The Schools at Somerhill, Tonbridge, and St Bede's School, Hailsham.

Last updated: Sun 23/10/11 10:56