Friends of the Vox Charity Launch
On Saturday afternoon, our singers from Vox Populi and Vox Anima Chamber Choir gathered at St Mary’s Church in West Malling, in preparation for their concert that same evening! The room was a buzz with excitement for not only the concert, but also the charity launch that was to follow at Mereworth Winery.
We were delighted to welcome so many audience members for the evening, and the programme included: “For a Breath of Ecstasy” by Michael John Trotta, a selection from Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Ceremony of Carols’ and Taylor Scott Davis’ “Magnificat”.
Vox Anima Chamber Choir then performed Dan Forrest’s arrangement of “In the Bleak Midwinter”, which had been specially commissioned for their conductor James Meaders. This beautiful setting transports the listener into Christina Rossetti’s beloved Christmas text written in London, with subtle hints of Big Ben!
The culmination of the concert was a joint performance from Vox Populi and Vox Anima Chamber Choir of Dan Forrest’s arrangement of Silent Night. A gorgeous arrangement, which begins with the smallest and simplest of musical ideas to paint “Silent Night… all is calm”, and gradually builds into an overwhelming statement of the profoundest of truths: “Christ, the Savior, is born.”
Congratulations to all our singers from both Vox Populi & Vox Anima Chamber on a beautiful Christmas concert. Thank you also goes to our accompanying musicians: Floriane Peycelon, Joanna Saul, Sara Thorpe Rachel Waltham, Dan Lloyd, and of course, not forgetting our accompanists, Richard Hammond-Hall and Hilary Dilnot.
Following rapturous applause, many of our choir and audience members travelled the short distance to Mereworth Winery to join us at our Friends of the Vox Charity Launch Party and Christmas Fundraiser.
We were delighted to be joined by so many at this event - a new charity has to start somewhere and it cannot get off the ground without support and good will from a community of people, so a huge thank you first of all to those who joined us, and are turning our vision into a reality!
As well as an opportunity to thank our supporters, the night was also a chance for us to share our vision, as well as to talk about how we have already been making a change within the choral world. We heard from our Chair of the Trustees, Laura Cloke, our Artistic Advisor, James Meaders, and from music teacher and Vox Anima Chamber Choir’s accompanist, Richard Hammond-Hall.
What was clear through these speeches was how much the charity has already achieved – multiple concerts, an American tour, hosting an American choir in Kent, providing outreach opportunities to local school children, commissioning new music to be written and performing and collaborating with many professional musicians! We were also pleased to announce the launch of an exciting project that has been made possible by and in collaboration with Dan Forrest Music - a composition competition for emerging composers! Stay tuned for more on this, and how to enter, in 2024.
A huge thank you also to Mereworth Winery for hosting us, and to all those local companies who generously donated prizes for our raffle: James Meaders, Vox Anima London, JLS Heating, Brownbills Optometrists, Mereworth Winery, Mojo Health Coaching, TaxAssist Accounting, Dressed by Dee, and Lucia Victoria Interiors.
As we start to firm up our plans for 2024, our supporters will be the first to know what we are doing and of course, we would love you to be involved in supporting us with our work and you can do this in several ways. We will always welcome donations, large or small, so if you would like to be involved with fundraising for specific projects do reach out us. You can Like and share our Facebook page. You can tell people about the work we are doing and connect us with people who need music in their lives. Thank you for all your support, and here’s to 2024, and the exciting musical projects that await us!