My wife and I were recently on holiday in London. Prior to our departure, I went on line to find an activity to keep us awake on the evening of our arrival from New York. I am an avocational singer, singing with the Oratorio Society of New York since 1980. Naturally, I thought a concert of choral music in a good venue would be ideal. The worst it could be was muddy, but a way to pass the time.  After an overnight flight, a day walking throughout London and dinner in the crypt, we took our seats in the church. When the sopranos made their first entrance sounding as if they were one person, I knew we were in for a treat. I cannot tell you how much we enjoyed your singing. The music was beautiful and alive, especially the Vivaldi Gloria. You made that old war horse exciting and vital.

Thank you for starting our time in London in a place of musical beauty.

Alan Meltzer - Audience Member

The East London Chorus, which is based in the University of East London, celebrated 30 years of music-making in both Central and East London with a concert on 20 March at St John’s, Smith Square.  It was accompanied by the London Pro Arte Orchestra, conducted by Murray Stewart, who opened the programme with Brian Chapple’s beautiful tribute to his late parents entitled In Memoriam.  Composed for string orchestra in a single movement it seemed to unfold in one long, unbroken span of music, solemn yet uplifting.  Solo parts for viola, cello and violin created a central focus, then this short but intensely-felt work lasting some 15 minutes, built up to a celebratory climax.  It was a profoundly moving filial tribute, a living memorial dedicated to two cherished lives, infinitely more meaningful than any stone monument and finely executed with smoothly polished string playing.

The Chorus maintained the mood of solemnity with Pablo Casals’ short Motet 0 vos omnes, which he composed for the Benedictine monks of Montserrat on a text from the Book of Lamentations, and later rearranged for mixed voices. The sopranos sang with particular clarity.

George Dyson took the words of St Augustine for his Hierusalem, composed in 1957 for Sopranos, Choir and Orchestra.  The 16th-Century version of St Augustine’s text sings better than it reads off the page and was a rewarding vehicle for the East London Chorus. The soprano, Martene Grimson, sang the first and later evocations to Hierusalem with precision and crystal tone, while the Chorus filled out the picture of the “happy home” in the Saint’s yearning words and Dyson’s boldly-coloured, expressive choral writing, although perhaps not impeccably articulated.

Fauré’s Requiem, in contrast, drew a performance of lighter, airier textures from the combined forces, the choral singing refined and mellow and the Violin solo soaring over all from the Gallery.