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Mayfield Festival Choir

The Mayfield Festival Choir was founded in 1970 by Kenneth Pont who conducted over 100 concerts embracing a repertoire of all the standard choral works from the St. Matthew Passion & St. John Passion of J. S. Bach to the world premiere of Mass in Time of Persecution by Francis Grier at the Central Hall, Westminster.

Previously, he was an organist at Mayfield Parish Church and Director of Music at St. Leonards - Mayfield School and took his choirs to sing in Chartres and Rouen Cathedrals.

After Kenneth's retirement the Mayfield Festival Choir was re-founded as a Society in 2004, following the appointment of Graham Caldbeck as conductor. Since their highly successful debut concert or works by Mozart, Beethoven and John Tavener in May 2005, the choir has rapidly become noted for its communicative performances of a wide range of choral repertoire.

In the 2006 Mayfield Festival, the choir, London Primavera and soloists Ida Falk Winland, Ben Johnson and Jacques Imbrailo gave the first performance of Neil Jenkin's new translation of Hadyn's Creation, receiving a very favourable review in The Organ magazine. In November of that year the choir performed a rarely heard cantata by Benjamin Britten, The Company of Heaven, which was greatly enjoyed by the audience and in April 2007 the choir gave a memorable performance of Bach's St. John Passion.

In the 2008 Mayfield Festival the choir performed Monteverdi's Vespers (1610) with the renowned early music group Canzona, and in November that year performed a programme of Vaughan Williams (50th anniversary of his death), Holst and Mozart's Mass in C minor. In May 2009 they sang another highly acclaimed Baroque concert with Canzona of Handel's Dixit Dominus and Bach's Magnificat. In November 2009 a 'Composers' Anniversaries' concert of works by Haydn, Mendelssohn, Purcell, Handel and Jonathan Dove was given; In the 2010 Mayfield Festival, the choir performed Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine and Pavane with Gounod's St. Cecilia Mass, conducted by Graham Caldbeck, and gave a memorable performance of Fauré Requiem conducted by Sir David Willcocks who has a long association with the choir.

The Committee

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 2010 have included a programme of Austrian music with Nonsuch Singers in St Martin-in-the-Fields in January as part of the church's Mozart Festival; Orff’s Carmina Burana and Jonathan Dove's The Passing of the Year in Taunton in February, and a Passiontide programme of works by Allegri, Palestrina, Victoria, Gesualdo, Bax and Martin at St James's, Piccadilly, with lutenist Lynda Sayce, in March.

Future engagements include Rachmaninov's Vespers on 25 June 2010 in St Martin-in-the-Fields and a programme of motets by Schütz and Bach, alongside contemporary works by Knut Nystedt, Arvo Pärt, Henryk Górecki and Pawel Lukaszewski in St James', Piccadilly on 16 October 2010. On 3 December 2010, he conducts Handel's Messiah in Christ Church, Spitalfields with Nonsuch Singers, Canzona and soloists Julia Doyle, David Allsopp, Nicholas Mulroy and James Oldfield. Outside these London concerts, he is directing works by S. S. Wesley, Parry, Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Judith Bingham on 31 July 2010 in Wells Cathedral with Somerset Chamber Choir, Southern Sinfonia, violist Alan George of the Fitzwilliam Quartet, and mezzo-soprano, Sara Fulgoni.

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: Thu 20/05/10 10:27