CHOIR HISTORY
St Germans Priory has to be one of the oddest churches in the country: over the centuries, walls have fallen down and been hastily reconstructed in the wrong places. But when James Sargent walked though its door in 1965, that’s not what he noticed. Instead, he marvelled at the huge, richly carved Norman entrance arch and the massive stone pillars that spoke of power and wealth – the domination of what was the cathedral for most of Devon and Cornwall in the 11 th century. The screams of those Cornish who thought that they could achieve salvation through their own good works rather than the Church, and whom the Alsatian bishop Germanicus took personal delight in running through with his own sword, had long since died away, to be replaced by a cold, echoing silence that pleaded to be filled with music.
When James got home, he picked up his phone and asked the music teachers in Cornwall if they would form a choir and orchestra to create a St Germans Festival – a concert on a May Saturday evening, followed by sung evensong on the Sunday. In those days, the state believed that music was an important part of the curriculum, and the County Music Adviser was an influential figure. So many music teachers said yes – and the first St Germans Festival took place. It was such a success that the following year, the participants thought – why don’t we do it again?
Now, 60 years on, the choir is still flourishing. Its organisation still echoes its foundation – it still does not rehearse in main or half term school holidays, and only competent musicians pass its friendly auditions. And the choir still sings its repertoire, which ranges from Bach, through Mozart and Faure, to Lauridsen and Tavener, in St Germans Priory and other local churches. Its dedicated audiences number up to 200, but nevertheless cannot cover the costs of its professional musical director, soloists and instrumentalists, so it is also supported through choir subscriptions from its members, and generous donations from many sponsors.
The choir looks forward to many more decades of making magnificent music in beautiful places.
To view some recent concerts and photos, click here
The history of our music directors
Founded in 1965 by James Sargent, then County Music Adviser, the choir has had eight music directors, all of them distinguished musicians. James held the post himself for 9 years. His vision was to create an annual choral festival at St Germans, in the old Celtic Cathedral of East Cornwall, and to provide a culture of excellence of the classic choral tradition. He drew his singers largely from experienced teachers and other musicians, in East Cornwall where he identified the need. The choir's endeavours were centred around an annual May Festival and greatly benefited from the generous hospitality of the Earl of St Germans at Port Eliot. Christmas and Spring concerts were slowly developed at other venues in Liskeard, Callington, Saltash, Menheniot, St Neot, Calstock, North Hill, Cardinham, Altarnun, Polruan, and latterly Bodmin, especially for Christmas.
Nigel Amherst, Director of Music at Dartington, took over from 1974 to 1987, widening the repertoire, and directing tours to Brittany, Freiberg and Constanz. Nigel had extensive contacts that brought us eminent soloists before they became famous, such as the young John Mark Ainsley as Evangelist in the St John Passion. Nigel established the choir's reputation for contrasting 20th century works with the music of Bach and his contemporaries.
John Railton only had two years with us, but he directed some epic works, from the B minor Mass to a sell-out African Sanctus in front of 500 people. His especial gift was to involve children. He conducted the choir when it was featured at Cotehele in the ITV programme Highway, with Harry Secombe.
Caroline Stephenson, whose breathtaking innovations and musicianship dominated our activities for ten years, succeeded John. The choir undertook all its main repertoire while engaging in exciting commissioned new work, tours to Italy and Denmark, new venues such as Truro and Lanlivery, and cross-over experiments in Bach, with folk music, jazz and projects involving children.
Simon Ible was with us for four years. He brought a completely new style, boundless optimism and inclusiveness, and a wave of new younger enthusiastic singers joined the choir. His connections with Ten Tors Orchestra and Plymouth University built our membership and our confidence and his performances were grand occasions, with superb orchestras and soloists. He also introduced the annual Choral Singing Day which has proved most popular. Simon left in 2004 to become Music Director at Plymouth University.
Paul Ellis was our musical director for the next 10 very successful years. His concerts drew in some impressive soloists like Emma Kirkby, Barbara Degener and musicians from the Globe theatre as well as young performers fresh from the Royal Academy. His very precise and highly skilled style of choral direction brought us to new heights of performance with some truly memorable concerts, including the St. John Passion, the Lady of Shalott, Mozart's Requiem and Beethoven's Mass in C. We greatly enjoyed singing and learning with him and will continue to use the skills he taught to us as we move forward into our 50th anniversary year with our next new conductor.
In 2016 Chris Howarth joined the choir as the Music Director and in his first season conducted the
glorious 50th anniversary concert, a great start to his excellent tenure which included Beethoven's Mass in
C minor and the wonderful Mozart Requiem. Bach music featured regularly throughout Chris's years with
the choir, and the two-day festival 'Celebrating Bach' was a particular highlight. His concerts included
shorter works by Finzi, Brahms, Elgar and lovely Christmas music by Charpentier and Poulenc plus
music from a host of other well-loved composers. Sadly for the choir, Chris resigned after completing the
2021-2022 concert season, to relocate to Salisbury.
The choir was delighted to appoint a new Director of Music, Simon Dunbavand, from April 2022. Simon is an outstanding organist, pianist, conductor, and teacher who works with choirs across Devon and Cornwall. Simon continues to introduce new music, in a variety of styles and genres, to the choir’s repertoire.