Dean Close School
Organ Appeal Trinity Update 2013
ORGAN APPEAL
Last chance to visit the Organ Loft at Commem If you feel you can brave an awkward and vertical climb through a restricted gap to a dark and dusty attic, you will be rewarded with an atmospheric walk and talk amongst the old pipes to get a feel of how the great beast of an organ works. There will be a rota of organ loft tours running at Commem so do reserve your slot on the day.
An enormous thank you to all our supporters We continue to fundraise hard and since our last newsletter the appeal has really gained momentum. Construction of the new organ is planned to start in Easter 2014. It will arrive on site during the latter half of the summer and will then be installed and voiced in the Chapel by Christmas 2014. It is a hugely exciting prospect to think that in just over 18 months we will have a wonderful bespoke pipe organ to lead our choirs and congregational singing for the next century. Please do support the
project now if you have not yet done so. In the meantime, maintaining the existing organ is no longer viable so it will be removed from the Chapel at the end of the Trinity term and replaced with a temporary digital instrument until the new organ is installed. Thank you again to everyone who has supported the appeal so far – all donations of any size are extremely welcome and we must now double our collective efforts to finish raising the funds needed to purchase our new organ.
Target £250,000
Almost 2 /3 rds of the way to our appeal target!
If you would like to support the appeal please contact the Development Office on 01242 267439 or development@deanclose.org.uk
It’s been a fantastic 8 months... There has been much to enjoy since arriving at Dean Close last September. There are several events that have stood out for me personally. The Chapel Choir’s Service of Nine Lessons and Carols at Christmas was wonderfully atmospheric, and the choir rose to the challenges of learning a large corpus of repertoire. Schola Cantorum performed an exciting and polished rendition of Handel’s oratorio Messiah three days later, which was a real delight to conduct. The Chamber Choir gave a very moving and emotionally charged performance of works by Purcell, Sanders and Finzi in their Lenten Sequence in March, and the Choral Society’s contribution of Mozart, Requiem to the concert at the Pittville Pump Room in February was musically assured and immensely stylish. I am very much looking forward to this Trinity Term and completing my first full year at Dean Close. Simon Bell, Director of Choral Music
StopPress! All Bronze Stops Sponsored Following huge demand we are delighted that all of the bronze stops have been sponsored. After discussions with Nicholson of Malvern, who will be building the new instrument, we have new bronze console options for our supporters who wish to make a £1,000 donation. Please contact the Development Office if you would like to find out more.
New Bronze Console options available.
FUNDRAISING NEWS Drinks Party at DCH At the end of Lent Term a drinks party was held at Dean Close House for supporters and friends of the appeal. Simon Bell updated guests on progress and ideas were shared to keep the campaign on track.
Chorister Football There is more to life than singing as some of the Choristers found out at the Salisbury Cathedral football tournament. The tournament started badly with a 1-0 loss against Salisbury and a 0-0 draw with Truro. Eventually the boys came back against Bristol and Exeter and went on to win the Plate Trophy, the tournament ending in an exciting 9-8 penalty shoot out against the choristers of Llandaff Cathedral. Well done boys!
Will Foulkes’ Scholarship to Guildford Cathedral Pre-Prep Fundraising Fundraising in School has begun and the children and staff at Dean Close PrePreparatory School have already donated £250. They hope to add to this over the coming term and sponsor a Pre-Prep Stop.
Will Foulkes, currently Organ Scholar at Dean Close, has been appointed Organ Scholar of Guildford Cathedral for the academic year 2013 - 2014. This prestigious award will offer him valuable work experience and tuition whilst working in a professional environment in this magnificent Cathedral.
Oscar’s Choral Successes Oscar Osicki, a current Sixth Former, has recently been awarded a Choral Scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge. Oscar was also awarded a place in the prestigious Rodolfus Choir. Founded and directed by Ralph Allwood, Rodolfus is one of the finest youth choirs in Britain. Oscar is following in the footsteps of many Old Decanians including Henry Neill and Alice Williams.
The Shaken Not Stirred Ball We are delighted that a proportion of the proceeds from the Ball will go towards the organ appeal. If you have not yet booked your tickets please contact: SummerBall@deanclose.org.uk
Second Hand Uniform Shop If you have uniform that is in good condition and no longer needed, please donate it to the Second Hand Shop. Ros Fraser and her team would be delighted to sell it and put the proceeds towards the organ appeal. We are enormously grateful for funds already raised to help the appeal. Please contact Ros for more information on mainz77@hotmail.com or 07964 058897.
Concert Our very own String Quartet in Residence is performing in the Bacon Theatre on Friday 10th May at 7.30pm in aid of the Chapel Organ Appeal. Please do book tickets and support this event. Tickets: £15 String Quartet Op.76 No.3 "Emperor" - Joseph Haydn Three Divertimenti - Benjamin Britten String Quartet Op.96 "American" - Anton Dvořák To book tickets please contact the Box Office on 01242 258002 or www.bacontheatre.co.uk
Schola Cantorum The Trinity Term will be as busy as ever for the choristers of the Schola Cantorum. In addition to singing their regular services at Tewkesbury Abbey, they have several events to keep them occupied. On Tuesday14th May, they will be joining the choirs of St Paul’s and Norwich Cathedrals at the Annual Festival Service for the Corporation of the Sons of the Clergy, which is held at St Paul’s Cathedral. On 1st July, the choir will travel to Beaminster in Dorset to take part in the annual festival. The boys will finish their term taking part in two performances of the Cheltenham Music Festival’s production of Noye’s Fludde. This musical drama by Benjamin Britten will be staged in Tewkesbury Abbey, and should be an exciting end to this year’s singing.
Well done to both Oscar and Will
OD NEWS OD Reunion and Community Evensong In November last year, over sixty Old Decanian leavers from the 1950s came back to School for a reunion lunch. For many it was their first visit back since leaving Dean Close over 50 years ago. After a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, the ODs and their guests joined Parents and Friends of the School for an atmospheric and moving Choral Evensong at which the Chapel Choir and Schola Cantorum came together to sing Evening Service in B flat by Charles Villiers Stanford and The Souls of the Righteous by Geraint Lewis. It was a long awaited and emotional return to Chapel for many who fondly reminisced about their memories of singing at Dean Close.
Nick Henderson returns to Chapel Former Head of School, Nick (Gordon) Henderson (Gate, 1944), recently visited school after many decades. In Chapel he was thrilled to hear Simon Bell play the Wedding March that was composed by his late brother Roger (Gate,1942) for Nick’s son’s wedding. Roger learnt how to play the organ at Dean Close. “It was so moving to be back in Chapel, remembering past times. Singing in Chapel is one of my fondest and most enduring memories and I am so very glad to be supporting the appeal for a new Chapel organ, particularly as my brother Roger played the organ during Chapel services.”
Matthew Martin We were delighted that one of the pieces sung in the live broadcast of the 2012 Advent Carol Service from St John's College Cambridge, was composed by Matthew Martin OD (Organ Scholar, Gate, 1994). Matthew also played at the Enthronement of the Archbishop of Canterbury in March 2013. He is a keen supporter of the organ appeal.
Ben and Ashok After battling through the blizzards, Ben Powell (Dale, 2005) and Ashok Gupta (Dale, 2006) performed before a large audience in the PMH in January. Having studied jazz violin in Boston, USA, Ben now performs regularly in jazz and concert venues across North America and Europe. Ashok was Organ Scholar at Clare College, Cambridge and studied at The Guildhall. This concert was a very special return to the Music School where they both spent so much of their time.
For more information about the Organ Appeal, please contact the Development Office: Tel: 01242 267439 Victoria Waddington: vrwaddington@deanclose.org.uk Felicity Copp: fjcopp@deanclose.org.uk