SIXTY YEARS OF THE KEMSING SINGERS
In December 1963 a group of singers in Kemsing, conducted by Thomas Denyer, got together to perform a Christmas concert. It was such a success that they decided to meet and sing on a regular basis, and in 1964 Kemsing Singers was born: a choir which enjoys singing not just major choral works but also opera, tunes from the shows, folk songs, even rock and pop classics – something, in fact, for everyone. Throughout 2024 the choir will be looking back in its concerts over six decades of ‘fun and fine singing’, reprising some of the things they’ve most enjoyed in the past and remembering those who have directed and encouraged them along the way.
NOTE: this page will be updated and added to throughout 2024, so be sure to bookmark it and come back!
1967 WE SANG AT THE SEVENOAKS FESTIVAL
From the beginning the choir gave at least two concerts a year, in the spring and at Christmas, in St Edith Hall in Kemsing - something it does to this day. In the first few years the choir also sang at numerous other venues, including: St Mary's Church Kemsing, at Dorton House in Seal, at churches in Otford, Sevenoaks, Chelsfield and at Combe Bank Convent in Sundridge.
1976 - A CHANGE OF CONDUCTOR
In May 1976 Tom Denyer, the choir's founder and chairman since 1964, conducted his last concert - "a fun evening of music on a nautical theme", culminating in some of the best loved pieces from Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore. He was replaced as conductor by Christopher Knox-Johnston, who had been his assistant for two years. Tom was to remain closely involved in the choir, but from now on as a singer. And KJ, as he came to be known by the choir, was to lead it for over 25 years.
1979: WE MADE A RECORD!
In 1979 the choir recorded Kemsing Carols, accompanied by the Grimethorpe Colliery Band and featuring work specially written by choir member Peter Skellern, a musician of international repute. While you might now struggle to find a copy of the album, its carols have remained a key part of the choir’s Christmas repertoire, and “Were You There?”, was performed at the choir’s 2023 Celebration of Christmas concert.
Listen to the original recording from 1979: Were you there? A Lullaby
1980: WE WERE ON TELEVISION!
In 1980 the choir sung Peter Skellern's King Henry's Ayr in the Great Hall at Penshurst Place. The performance was filmed by BBC2 as part of a series about the composer. It was the last of six programmes, and Peter Skellern accompanied the choir on the harpsichord and piano. The programme was to be re-broadcast several times over the following months.
1982: WE SANG AT BRANDS HATCH - AND IT WAS ON THE RADIO
As part of the Camping and Carvanning Club's annual 'National Feast of Lanterns' at the Brands Hatch racing track, Kemsing Singers provided continuous live entertainment alongside the Paul Savage Band with "all types of music to suit everyone". The performance was broadcast live on Radio Medway.
1983: LANDMARK PERFORMANCE AT THE STAG THEATRE
After a long period of uncertainty over its future and a concerted campaign by local supporters of the former cinema, the Stag Theatre had its grand opening on 18 December 1983. Just a few days later the Kemsing Singers were the first choir to perform there with its 'Carols for All' programme, with proceeds going to the Sevenoaks Theatre Action Group. The carol concert would go on to become a regular fixture on the Stag schedule for many years to come.
1984: ROYAL ALBERT HALL, HERE WE COME!
In December 1984 the Kemsing Singers appeared at the Royal Albert Hall as one of two guest choirs invited to sing alongside the internationally renowned Alexandra Choir in programme of traditional Christmas music. In its review of the evening the Sevenoaks Chronicle wrote how this "humble little village choir" celebrated its 21st birthday by singing in a "grand citadel of the arts". For the performance the Singers added 22 new carols to their growing repertoire of music, which already included oratorios, madrigals, folk and popular songs.
1989: OUR 25TH ANNIVERSARY
In 1989 the choir celebrated its major anniversary with a busy year. The spring concert in May featured 'Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo'. In July Kemsing Singers were invited by the National Trust to join the Wells Cathedral Brass Ensemble for 'A Concert Under the Stars' at Ightham Mote, pictured here. An outbreak of flu prevented the Ensemble from making made a return visit to accompany the choir at its annual Carols for All concert at the Stag; as the Chronicle reported, however, the Singers adjusted the programme with some extra carols, "with great aplomb, as would be expected from such seasoned performers".
And of course there were the traditional carol concerts in St Edith Hall Kemsing, which were followed by an appearance on Radio Kent's Together on Sunday phone-in request show with Pam Gilham on Christmas Eve! Four of the original founder members were still with the choir to celebrate twenty-five years of fun and fine singing with a special cake; one of them sings with us to this day - can you spot who?
1993: ALL THE BIG LONDON VENUES!
In June and September the choir, as part of Kentish Opera, performed in two Grand Classical Gala Concerts - the first at the Royal Festival Hall (pictured here), then back to the Royal Albert Hall a few months later. The programme included all the opera favourites, from Carmen to Turandot, with a few other choral classics thrown in.
... and a few months earlier we were the guest choir at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank. There, with the Sevenoaks & Tonbridge Concert Band, nearly sixty members of the Kemsing Singers rejoiced in the music of John Philip Sousa. Stirring stuff, and another memorable concert.
1995: ANY EXCUSE TO DRESS UP...
There's no way the choir would not be part of the annual Kemsing Festival, and this year the theme of their float was Hiawatha. The setting of the Coleridge poem has become a perennial favourite. A Kemsing Singers concert was for many years the highlight of the festival celebrations, but although the Sevenoaks Summer Festival continues to this day, the Kemsing Festival is sadly now a thing of the past.
1996: CAROLS WITH A LORD
In addition to the traditional two carol concerts in St Edith Hall, Kemsing, during the 90s the Singers spread seasonal cheer all over West Kent, including Knole, St Mary's Kippington, and of course the Stag Theatre, where they are pictured here. On several occasions it provided the choir with the opportunity to mingle with some famous names; in 1996 the former Speaker of the House of Commons, Lord Weatherill, was the narrator in the Stag of the fable set to Rutter's Brother Heinrich's Christmas, with Kemsing Singers providing the choral backing. In his thank you note he wrote that "you all sang like angels and showed your enjoyment [and] Chris was his usual ebullient self".
2000: USHERING IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
The choir's Spring concert was fittingly billed as a Birthday Celebration, one which deliberately "turned its back on the millennium hype". The programme reflected the singers' own choice of sacred choral music, with works by Brahms, Purcell, Mozart, Parry, Schubert, Faure, Handel and others. Described by a local paper as "a message of hope in a concert", it was a celebration of 2000 years of Christendom and the music it has inspired.
2002: HOW PLEASANT TO KNOW MR LEAR
In December we celebrated Christmas in a different way with the world premiere of Alan Bullard's Mr Lear, an entertainment based on the life of Edward Lear using many of his nonsense poems and limericks. It was jointly commissioned by Kemsing Singers, the Sawtry Chorale and the South Chiltern Choral Society. Performances were given at the Stag and at St Edith Hall, Kemsing with the brass quintet Eynsford Brass. The narrator was Radio 4 and Classic FM presenter Margaret Howard and the piano was played by the award winning young pianist Warren Mailley-Smith.
2003: ALL CHANGE
After 27 years at the helm, Chris Knox-Johnston retired as the choir's hugely successful Musical Director. In a valedictory piece in The Well, Ian Gilham wrote how amongst many other things Chris "chose the music...fronted the concerts...drove the trailer...helped with the publicity...and commissioned special works for the singers. What a hole will be left."
In September of that year that hole was filled by Brenda Ross. With a wealth of experience as a choral director and examiner for the Associated Boards, the choir was all set to go from strength to strength. In a newspaper interview about her new role with the Kemsing Singers Brenda said "I was very excited about taking over because they are so good".
2004: THE END OF ANOTHER ERA?
In 2004 founder member Robin Edmunds stepped down as Chairman of Kemsing Singers after 25 years of dedicated service, but his contribution to the choir didn't stop there. He is pictured here four years later presenting a cheque to the Spring House Family Support Centre. £750 was raised for this local charity at the Christmas Carillon concert under its new - and our current - Chairman, Jonathan Riley. And Robin sings with the choir to this day!