MUSIC DIRECTOR’S REPORT 2024
2024 was a full year for the choir including the Brahms’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, two works by John Rutter, Beethoven Mass in C and Bruckner Te Deum and then our ever-popular Christmas Concert. I think the high point of the year was Handel’s Messiah which was sung with incredible intensity. If you remember, I was still suffering from Hepatitis and had to sit for that performance! But it was an amazing concert. We had a variety of music last year and works which we had not sung for a very long time, namely Bruckner and Beethoven and I think it was a very successful year.
I have noticed a marked improvement in the quality of singing and I think this has also contributed to renewed interest in the choir and the attraction of younger singers. Looking forward to 2025, we have got some interesting features with a concert with Andrea Bocelli, Last Night of the Proms coming back and the joint concert with the Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town.
A renewed thanks to all our Patrons, Sponsors and Friends, who continue to support us through thick and thin. And a huge vote of thanks to the committee, who have been working very hard behind the scenes to maintain our long-term stability and viability. This is an issue which is challenging for us all, and we will deal with this in the months ahead. I would also like to thank Sue, who helps me with the Choir rehearsals and to Eugene Joubert who accompanies the Choir. And a very big thank you to Pridwin School and St Vincent’s who make their facilities available to us for our weekly rehearsals.
The process of finding a new director of the choir is well underway and a short list has been drawn up.
RICHARD COCK: Music Director
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 2024
2024 began with a performance of Brahm’s Ein Deutsches Requiem, followed by performances of Handel’s Messiah, Rutter’s Requiem & Gloria, Beethoven’s Mass in C Major & Bruckner’s Te Deum and two Christmas concerts. As usual, the Easter and Christmas concerts were performed for full houses, which subsidised the other less well-attended concerts.
The Choir received donations totalling R30,000 in 2024; one in memory of Hugh Huggett and the other as a result of the disbandment of the Johannesburg Welsh Male Voice Choir (Men in Red); both sad events.
The Choir’s 2024 concert programme was performed at breakeven, before taking into account income from Patrons, Sponsors and Friends. The annual financial statements reflect an overall operating surplus for the year of R310,000; and the Choir finished the year with reserves of R1,255,000.
My thanks go to Richard Cock and Jenny Gill for their ongoing contribution in raising corporate sponsorships. My thanks also go to the regular Patrons, Sponsors and Friends, many of whom are Choir members, who continued their generous giving in 2024 which is essential to the Choir’s sustainability.
Thanks are also due to all those who gave of their time and skill to ensure that Choir activities continued to run as smoothly as possible. In particular, I would like to mention Debbie Kruger for Choir administration; and all the members of the Choir Committee, for their advice and efforts.
Special thanks must go our incomparable Music Director, whose expertise, energy, humour and entrepreneurial skill so ably facilitate the sustainability of the Choir. Nevertheless, in line with Richard’s wishes, the Choir Committee has embarked on a process to find a replacement Music Director. The intention is for Richard to retire from the Choir before the next AGM. The process is being administered by Gerrit Meerkotter, who has also agreed to take on the role of Chairman in 2025. I wish him well in the role.
STEVE BALL