John Powell MBE 1931 - 2024 at his choir 90th birthday party in 2021
St John Singers are very sorry to announce that our amazing Founder and Emeritus Director of Music has died. John Powell was a huge influence in many areas of Salisbury’s church and secular music. He began as a cathedral chorister under Sir Walter Alcock in the 1930s, and founded St John Singers 50 years ago, using it to raise well over a hundred thousand pounds for mostly local charities. A highly competent musician himself, he was playing the organ in local churches and singing in his choir until a few weeks before his death. It is notable that, in his nineties, he was still being asked to augment the cathedral choir for big events.
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Our Spring concert in the very warm and comfortable Methodist Church on March 9th was well supported and coffee, tea and cakes contributed to a satisfying interval break. We sang the wonderful service music of Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, in his centenary year, some of his motets, and the supremely peaceful "Blue Bird. ÂŁ700 was raised for Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital.
The 2023 Magic of Christmas concert sold every ticket and lifted everyone's spirits for the final week before the big day. The audience enjoyed singing traditional carols to fantastic fanfares and spine tingling accompaniments, provided by Ben Mills on the organ and Gallery Brass. Our guest artist, Mary Chelu, played some lovely flute solos. ÂŁ5000 was raised for Alabare, who kindly provided wine and mince pies for the interval.
Our 2023 Summer Concert entertained a large audience in St Thomas’s and we hugely enjoyed singing with an outstanding orchestra led by Daphne Moody, under the direction of Steve Abbott, our Musical Director. The concert opened with Hear My Prayer by Mendelssohn with Susannah Groome and Rosanna Wicks sharing the sublime solo passages and Sam Bristow on the organ. This was followed by Haydn’s Saint Nicholas Mass for which Susannah and Rosanna were joined by Clement Hetherington and Robert Blakey together with the choir and orchestra.
After an interval glass of wine, Malcolm Archer’s Vespers was the newest and most keenly anticipated work of the evening. Challenging to learn, the choir reaped the reward in its performance and it was well received both by a very appreciative audience and the composer, who attended the concert. Malcolm wrote warmly to Steve commenting on “beautiful shaping” and that “the choir and orchestra were so well integrated”.
Last Lent, we sang at St Andrew's Church, Great Durnford on Friday 7th April when we sang Music for Holy Week and Compline. The pieces were appropriate to Good Friday, followed by a short plainsong service of Compline.
"Magic of Christmas" photos by kind permission of Ash Mills