Thame Chamber Choir marks 20 years of ‘great singing’ by inviting budding composers to help them celebrate their 20thanniversary – by writing a song. 

Anyone interested in taking up this challenge will need to get their skates on though, as the closing date is August 5.

The choir’s first-ever choral composition also celebrates one of Thame’s most famous residents, poet W.B. Yeats, whose former home in the High Street was marked with a blue plaque in 2011.

Entrants are asked to set any of Yeats’ poems for a 28-voice SATB chamber choir, either unaccompanied or with piano. The winning piece will be premiered during the Thame Arts and Literature Festival in October, and will attract a prize of £1000.

“Yeats lived in Thame for a while in 1921, but he’s all too rarely been set to music,” says Duncan Aspden, who has been the choir’s conductor since 2007. 

“A couple of years ago we ‘Adopted a Composer’ through a Making Music scheme, and Neil Tomas Smith wrote us a suite of pieces connected to the Thame Hoard held in the Ashmolean. The choir relished performing something which was truly theirs.

“The competition element is different – less immediate collaboration with the composer, of course, but we do get the final say as to what we perform.”

Duncan will be on the judging panel alongside choral conductors/composers Bob Chilcott and James Burton and pianist/singer Anna Markland. What will the panellists be looking for?

“Besides the essential business of creating something which works for voices – not something every composer masters – we’ll be looking for an imaginative response to the chosen text, and for something which our singers will relish performing and which our audiences will be intrigued to hear.”

The competition is the latest event in what has so far been an exciting anniversary year for Thame Chamber Choir. A concert with pianist Anna Markland in March was followed earlier this month by the choir’s second collaboration with the Coull Quartet, whose cellist, Nick Roberts, is a local resident. 

The collaboration with the quartet started in 2018, and Duncan is understandably proud of this connection with one of the UK’s leading chamber ensembles. 

“The Coull Quartet are brilliant to work with,” he says. “Of course they are superb players, performers who have been around the top of the profession for a long time. 

“But more than that, a great string quartet thrives on subtle interplay and detailed preparation so that their performances can really fly, and the Coull shared this commitment with us, joining us well before the day and preparing as they would for their ‘solo’ concerts. 

“The choir relished this extra energy and refinement, and based upon the long applause and the comments afterwards the large audience shared our feeling that it was a triumph.

“We have many other ideas in the pipeline, although we might need an enlightened sponsor or two if we are to bring them all to fruition!”

Since taking over as conductor twelve years ago, Duncan has expanded the choir’s repertoire and worked on improving what was already an exceptionally good sound.

“Thame Chamber Choir is an unusually good choir for a small market town,” he says. “When I arrived they sang with a fine sense of ensemble. Together we’ve worked to develop the sound towards a true singers’ legato. 

“St Mary’s Church in Thame, where we give most of our concerts, is a beautiful venue but it’s not an overly helpful acoustic for choral singers, so unlike many a college chapel or cathedral we have to do all the work as there’s no resonance to cover the gaps.

“Inevitably the membership has evolved too, and over the years we’ve been able to attract some very fine singers. Besides a number of choral scholars we have singing teachers, a wonderful pianist, singers who conductor other choirs, and a very successful performer/composer amongst our ranks. Audience members occasionally ask if we’re professional, but actually everyone comes together for the joy of sharing great music and great singing.”

Under Duncan’s leadership, the choir has become known for its innovative concert programming.

“We try to assemble programmes to create an ‘entertainment’ – a reason for great pieces to appear next to each other,” Duncan explains.

“Sometimes this is tied in with the spoken word – the actor Bruce Alexander is a great friend of the choir – for a satisfying emotional journey.”

Coming up later this year is a Christmas concert involving the Thame Children’s Choir (TCC2), which was founded in 2010, and a number of local schools. Encouraging youngsters to sing is one of Duncan’s passions.

“Great choral singing is a thrilling thing: the shared adrenaline buzz of a great rehearsal, the sense of satisfaction in mastering a tricky piece, and the emotional release of knowing you’ve brought pleasure to the listening audience is something we want as many young people as possible to experience.

“Beyond this we are also at the beginning of a couple of schemes to encourage the next generation – Changing Voices for young tenors and basses, and a Conducting Scholarship for a young choir leader to work alongside me for a year with both choirs. 

“Thame Chamber Choir is blessed with members of all ages and strong contingents in their 20s and 30s, but one can never become complacent!”

For more information about Thame Chamber Choir, TCC2 and the composition competition, visit www.thamechamberchoir.org

Nicola Lisle