It would be fair to say that 2011 had many remarkable memories that all of our choristers will hopefully treasure.
Our pilgrimage from Poole to Sherborne was a truly amazing experience and we met many fantastic people along the way.
All of the churches we sang at gave us an extremely warm welcome and it was great to see so many people attend the evenings in order to worship through Choral Evensong.
My personal memory of being offered a shower in a complete stranger’s house during our stay at Winterborne Whitechurch is certainly something I won’t forget in a long time. The feeling of utter reliance on other people’s hospitality is one that I think you may only find when on a journey of pilgrimage.
Singing in Sherborne Abbey, and towards the end of the summer also in Salisbury Cathedral, was a huge achievement for us as a choir and certainly brought out some of the best singing we have done in recent times.
To cap off the year, Christmas 2011 had some of the most adventurous services undertaken in recent memory. From the giant stained glass windows that we produced as a backdrop to Carols by Candlelight at the beginning of December right through to the wonderful solos each of our junior choristers performed at Nine Lessons And Carols, there was never a dull moment in Advent! There were great moments from every single chorister, young and old, right through the Christmas period and it was really exciting seeing everyone stepping up to sing at different points.
One particular event of last year that also stuck in my mind was Elliott Beauchamp, our deputy head chorister achieving his Dean’s Award. Having never taken a musical exam before, it was particularly poignant to see Elliott achieve this as he works extremely hard in choir and will never shirk responsibility. Head Chorister Alex Wehlau also went on to achieve her Bishop’s Award with Merit, an achievement which also was long overdue given the amount of the work Alex puts in over the year.
So what of 2012? The beginning of the new year seems to have split into 2 main projects. The first has been a commitment to see as many of our choristers achieve the RSCM Dean’s Award. Last year, we had several new junior choristers join us. Together with other members of the choir who haven’t previously had the opportunity to take the award, they have joined up and all being well will be entering the exam at the end of April.
The second project is to record a CD. It has long been the idea to record the choir so that people can have access to some of the music we sing. We’ve already set about fundraising for the project and are hoping to record this in May/June. One of the tracks is being written to one of the Bishop of Sherborne’s poems specially for the recording. The CD should be finished and ready for sale in September of this year – just in time for Christmas!
Easter is also fast approaching and this year we’ll also be taking part in the 3rd Performance of the Poole Community Passion Play. Easter is always a beautiful time at church and there is something spectacular about the worship at 5am on Easter Sunday morning. As always, looking forward to it!
Richard McLester
Director of Music
One of the most exciting projects happening this year is our Choir Tour combined with a Youth Group Pilgrimage from St Peter’s to Sherborne Abbey.
Next weekend is the 2nd of our big carol services – the traditional service of Nine Lessons And Carols.
A huge congratulations to both Elliott Beauchamp and Alex Wehlau for passing their latest RSCM exams!
The Hymn Sheet for our 10am Morning Eucharist Sunday 17th October 2010 can be downloaded 
