CHARTER CHOIR OF HOMERTON COLLEGE

Dr Daniel Trocmé-Latter, Director of Music

January – much like the Roman god from whom the month takes its name – is associated with transitions, time, beginnings and endings. Although it tends to be one of the quieter times of year for the Charter Choir (Lent Term usually only begins in the middle of the month), it presents the perfect opportunity to reflect on the past 12 months as well as to look ahead to the exciting prospects of the year to come. At the time of my last contribution to the Annual Review, a tour to Northern Italy in the planning and the choir was still singing in a socially-distanced format. However, we reverted to singing in the choir stalls in April 2022, and having been doing so ever since, despite a recordbreaking choir intake in October; this has led to the biggest Charter Choir on record, with 12 new singers – almost half the total number. The culmination of the term (and the calendar year) was the carol service, attended by students, staff, fellows, and alumni (followed by Christmas Formal Hall, and – for the choir – the ever popular annual wine and cheese party!).

Other highlights have included a visit to Ely Cathedral in February to sing Evensong, and the long-awaited première of Douglas Coombes’s Five Psalms of Praise, written for the Charter Choir on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of Homerton’s Royal Charter, but whose performance had to be delayed from 2020 until now.

The much-anticipated tour to Italy, unfortunately, did not take place, but was instead replaced by a six-day-long trip to Gibraltar, speedily organised by our Assistant Organist and Music Administrator, Shanna Hart. This gave rise to two concerts and three church services, television coverage, the discovery of rocks, beaches, caves, and panoramic views, and encounters with macaques and dolphins. We were the recipients of generous hospitality sponsored by a local restaurant, a parent of a choir member, and both the Catholic and Anglican cathedral communities. We also enjoyed an organ recital performed by Shanna along with Homerton Organ

Scholar Lorenzo Bennett and the Director of Music at Gibraltar’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, Michael Stevenson. We were sorry to lose so many graduating choir members, but we wish them well and hope to see them back soon.

Some readers will have seen our Christmas greeting in the form of a performance of Peter Warlock’s Bethlehem Down Plans for next year include a new full-length recording release –watch this space for details! – as well as a tour to Iceland. Alumni and friends are always welcome to any of the Charter Choir’s performances, but are invited especially to our Choral Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral on Monday 19 June 2023 n

In the meantime, please follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/homcharterchoir) or Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/charter_choir), and keep an eye on our website at www.homerton.cam.ac.uk/charterchoir.