The Downs Community Choir was started by the Headmaster, Andrew Auster, in the late 1980s and I took over when he left in 1994. There were about 85 singers in total with good numbers for two parts in all voices - what a treat!

In addition to the usual choir repertoire, I must admit I enjoyed a bit of eclectic programming. Examples were:

‘An Evening of American Music’: I arranged a lot of the music, starting with a traditional Navajo song, working through spirituals to Ragtime and Jazz. The 2nd half featured The Steve King Big Band accompanying the Choir in songs from ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ and finishing up with the original jazz version of Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue.’ (To view the programme and my Navajo arrangement, click HERE.)

Verdi’s ‘Requiem’: Standard choral music, I hear you say, but with a twist. There wasn’t enough space in the hall for the audience AND a choir AND orchestra, so… I kept the choir and audience and arranged the orchestral music for two grand pianos and four pianists.. it was exciting to see all four musicians go airborne when they played the opening chords of ‘Dies Irae!’ (To view my hand-written arrangement of ‘Dies Irae’ please click HERE.)

‘An Evening of Russian and English Music’: Loving the music of both Stravinsky and Elgar, the idea of a Russian - English programme was in the back of my mind for some time. Also, one of the parents was the Director of Trans-Siberian Railways and when I spoke about the concert he said had a balalaika group he could bring across! So that was it… English music = Elgar’s ‘Bavarian Highlands’, Stanford’s ‘Bluebird’ and Warlock’s ‘Songs to be sung on a Summer Night on the Water.’ Russian = Rachmaninov ‘All Night Vigil’ and Stravinsky’s ‘Symphony of Psalms.’

I had a local artist, Philip Downs, paint a huge mural for the evening, having seen what amazing artwork he did when he decorated some of the Music Department rooms.