About Us
With its roots in the Bridgwater Choral Society, Harmonia Chamber Choir carries a long tradition of music making in the Bridgwater and surrounding area.
The formation of Harmonia is explained by Jackie Ayres:
"After the pandemic and sudden resignation of the conductor, the BCS committee decided to close down the society. Such strong emotions were expressed at the AGM that I and a few other dedicated BCS singers decided to keep it going by offering myself to take over the role of Conductor of the Choir.
A group of 6 had been singing throughout the last stages of the pandemic in a garden, then I arranged for us to use the church of St. Mary's in Bridgwater and Cannington for a Christmas service or two. Once we were allowed, more joined and after a while we needed a small committee.
I spent many hours researching music for our depleted resources, we had no basses for a year, and I arranged music for them to sing which was within their capability. The choir has developed into an excellent ensemble.
Eventually basses joined and other voices and the repertoire became easier to find. Graham Box suggested the Salvation Army Hall as a replacement rehearsal venue, and more singers joined.
The Summer concert of 2023 was a great success, repeated in Holford . We sang Shearing's Songs and Sonnets from Shakespeare, and many arrangements of songs from around the world, and parts of the Rutter Requiem.
At Christmas we had a successful concert again in St Mary's Bridgwater, repated to great acclaim and a full house in Nether Stowey. We included extracts from Handel's Messiah, and various unusual carols from abroad. This was enhanced by Flutes, Oboes and cello accompaniments."
Our People:
Musical Director
Jackie Ayres
Jackie conducted a choir whilst still at school before gaining a place on the graduate course at the Guildhall School of Music, London. She was fortunate to study with many inspiring conductors and musicians. She was assistant organist at a London church and on graduating appointed head of music at two London schools. On moving to Somerset she founded and developed a prize winning youth orchestra playing in the UK and abroad. She has also coached a string quartet which came second in the National Festival of music for Youth. Jackie has been an accompanist for recitals and masterclasses at Bristol University and has taught in Bristol, locally in schools and at home. Many of her students have progressed to university or music college. She has home educated her three daughters all of whom are professional classical musicians. Music has always been her vocation and source of great joy and leading this choir is just that.
Accompanist
Kath Sugden
Kath has recently moved to Somerset and runs Chard Music with her husband Charles. She is an accomplished flautist and pianist who performs and teaches both locally and further afield. She spent many years in Russia directing the work of crescendo, a Christian outreach to professional classical musicians.
Like all similar organisations we could not function without the hard work and dedication of our committee members who give up free time to help the choir run smoothly and effectively. Our current committee team are:
Sue Pow - Secretary: For enquiries or information call 01278 662755
Ann Dyer - Chairperson
Graham Box - Treasurer
Celia Smith - Librarian
Graham Pow, Lesley Burge and Sheena Coates
Current choir members:
Soprano soloist
Mary Morgan
Mary has a long association with BCS, often appearing as a soloist for many of the large scale choral works in the repertoire. She studied singing with the mezzo-soprano Eileen Davis in Ohio earning a masters in vocal pedagogy. She has enjoyed a long career teaching both academic music and singing at Wells Cathedral School and Queen's College Taunton. Mary has sung in many locations across Europe. We are very fortunate to have Mary in the choir as our resident soprano soloist.
Sopranos: Sue Pow, Anne Dyer, Linda Curtis, June Score, Itziar Simo. Mary Morgan
Altos: Celia Smith, Rachel Boyd, Rachel Olley, Gill Sayzland, Ingrid Schaffelhofer, Elizabeth Lowder, Judith Ballard, Sheena Coates, Lesley Burge, Mary Rowe.
Tenors: Steve Lodge, Ann Philcox, Graham Pow, John Bird, Sue Brownlie.
Basses: Graham Box, John Scott, Sam McDougall, Graham Morley.
Join Us!
We are a very friendly group that meet on Wednesday evenings between 7-9pm at the Salvation Army Hall, Moorland Road, Bridgwater TA6 4JS. We rehearse from September for our December concerts and from January for our June concerts.
If you have never sung in a choir before but have always fancied having a go, we can help you to find your voice part and help with singing for the first time. You will be with experienced singers that you will find friendly and helpful.
If you are a singer and want to join an extra choir or are returning from a break - let us know!
For all enquiries please email us: harmoniabridgwater@gmail.com