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9th to 15th June

FREE OF CHARGE

PHOTOS FROM WATERLOOVILLE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2023

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TEAS, COFFEES & LUNCHES SERVED from 12noon

12.30pm at St George’s Church:

MORNINGTON DU0
Karen Kingsley
Piano

Robert Blanken
Clarinet

Rob Blanken studied with Sidney Fell and John McCaw at the Royal Northern College of Music, gaining the GRNCM, and ARCM in Performance.  He is principal clarinet of the Petersfield, Havant Chamber and Solent Symphony Orchestras.

Karen Kingsley studied with Jean Harvey at the Royal Academy of Music, gaining prizes and commendations for solo and ensemble performances.  She is a regular concerto soloist, her repertoire including works by Beethoven, Chopin, Gerhardt, Gershwin, Grieg, Mozart, Rachmaninov, Rubinstein and Shostakovich.

PROGRAMME

Salience & Samarkand Op 5
Martin Eastick (1957 - )

Sonata Op 129
Charles V Stanford (1852-1924
Allegro Moderato
Caoine
Allegretto Grazioso

Les Confidences D’un Joueur de
Clarinette Op 141
Charles Koechlin (1867-1950)
Romance de Kasper
Les Bouquet de Fleurs des
Champs Pour Magrédel
Rage de Kasper

Duo Concertante (1886)
Charles H Lloyd (1846-1919)
Andante Sostenuto -
Allegro Con Brio

St George’s Church, Waterlooville, 7.30pm - licensed bar opens 7pm

TICKETS £8 IN ADVANCE,  £9 ON THE DOOR

In the presence of The Worshipful the Mayor of Havant, Councillor Peter Wade

  HAMPSHIRE POLICE MALE VOICE CHOIR

Musical director: Geoffrey Porter B.Ed (Hons)

Established 1941 - Hampshire’s leading Male Voice Choir for over 80 years
On the Beat

2024

In 1941 Portsmouth was subjected to intense attack from the air. Officers of the Portsmouth City Police together with War Reserve and Special Constabulary colleagues were called upon to add civil defence and emergency duties to their conventional police ones. Many hours were spent on stand-by between air-raid alerts and Sgt F T (Tommy) Holland saw a chance, when the men harmonised, of roping in the best of them to form the nucleus of a choir. It gradually improved to such a standard that the Chief Constable approved the formal establishment of the Portsmouth City Police Choir. Its first conductor was Special Sergeant (later Inspector) James Cracknell.

Very soon the choir was in demand to raise morale and for fundraising activities in the battered city. Many concerts were given with the Band of HM Royal Marines, then, as now based in the city. Invitations also followed to broadcast on the Home & Overseas programmes of the BBC. This activity continued after the war and included appearances in ’Friday Night is Music Night’. After the rationalisation of police forces in 1967 the choir became the Hampshire Police Choir. Its size has remained at about 60 with serving and retired police officers, special constables, civilian staff and others associated with the service.

In recent years the choir has sung with choirs from Duisberg and Kiel, Germany, Oslo, Norway, Le Havre, France as well as the Rhos Cwmtawe Choir from South Wales and the St Colomba choir from Cornwall. The choir has exchanged visits with most of them. The choir sang in both the British Police Male Voice Choir concerts in the Royal Albert Hall, London in 1987 and 1990, and also with the massed bands of four regiments of the Brigade of Guards, directed by Owain Arwel Hughes, at the Cardiff Arms Park, in Wales in 1992 for the concert of the World Choir.

The choir has a long history of community involvement and has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charitable purposes. This was marked in 1991 by a notable 50th Anniversary Concert with the band of HM Royal Marines before a capacity audience of 2000 in Portsmouth Guildhall. The choir is non-competitive but in 1993 it was invited to sing in the 5th Malta International Choir Festival with choirs from many European countries. In the male voice section the choir was placed first and received the Gold Award, bearing testimony to its quality.

Hampshire Police Choir has also been privileged to visit the States of Jersey by special invitation, and to have shared platforms with the band of the Scots Guards, the Central Band of the Russian Army (formerly the Red Army Band) and the band of the United Air Forces in Europe and many other local amateur bands like the Solent Concert Band who have won many prizes. The sustained quality and reputation of the choir was marked by an invitation to join the massed choirs in the National 50th Anniversary of VE Day celebrations in Hyde Park, London, before members of the Royal Family, Heads of State and an audience reported to be about 200,000! In 1997 the choir made a week long tour of Croatia at the invitation of the government. The choir sang in Zagreb, Pula and Dubrovnik in support of children’s charities looking after the many orphaned children following the dreadful civil wars in the region. The choir was overwhelmed by the generosity and friendliness of the Croatian people and very much hopes to host a Police Cadet choir in the near future. Despite the war, Croatia is certainly an exceptionally beautiful country with many ancient sights and monuments.

For 21 years the choir was conducted by Trevor Ibbotson, but in 1997 the choir appointed its first female Musical Director, Mrs Terri Freeman LRAM, LTCL, ISM. In the following years under their new conductor the choir has continued to grow and now has an expanded repertoire covering many genres including songs from the musicals, classical works and popular music from the past. The choir has sung at exciting new venues such as Romsey Abbey, Winchester Cathedral, Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral together with a special invitation to take part in the BBC ‘Songs of Praise’ programme for Remembrance Day. The Choir has also participated in the Cornwall International Male Choral Festival. The choir’s accompanists are Sian Bibby-Hsia, Nigel Smith BA, and Lisa Timbs.

The Choir is very popular and much in demand - their previous visit to Waterlooville Music Festival in 2019 was a complete sell-out. Advance purchase for tickets to this event are strongly recommended.

The Musical Director and Conductor of Hampshire Police Male Voice Choir is Geoffrey Porter.

During the Advanced Music Course at Portsmouth College of Education, Geoff studied with the tenor, Gerald English in London and became a Lay Clerk in Portsmouth Cathedral Choir. He was soloist with many local choral societies.

He has been Director of Music at Portsmouth Grammar School, Lower School and St. Alban’s School, Havant, as well as MD for Opera South and operatic societies in Chichester and Littlehampton. He co-founded Havant Light Opera and The Bognor Regis Music Club Singers.

Geoff runs his own vocal quintet, ‘Los Ladrones’ and was Assistant MD to The Solent Male Voice Choir, becoming MD in 2016.

In 2020, he was appointed Musical Director of The Hampshire Police Male Voice Choir, after the retirement of Terri Freeman.

Piano Accompanists for the Choir are:

Nigel Smith

Sian Bibby–Hsia

PROGRAMME:

Directed by Geoffrey Porter

Soloist: Cass Alabaster

Accompanists: Sian Bibby-Hsia and Nigel Smith

Alexander’s Rag Time Band Irving Berlin   arr. Denys Hood

Benedictus    Robat Arwyn    

Gwahoddiad    arr. John Tudor Davies

When the Saints   Traditional    arr. Denys Hood

What a Wonderful World  G. Weiss & B. Thiele arr. Gwyn Arch

Llanfair    Robert Williams  arr. Mansel Thomas

Solo: Cass Alabaster ‘It Never Entered My Mind’  L.Hart & R. Rodgers

Fly me to the Moon  Bart Howard    arr. Alan Simmons

What Would I Do    H. Middlebrooks & B. Belland arr. A. Humphreys

The Gendarmes   Offenbach    arr. Henry Geehl

INTERVAL

The Carnival is Over Tom Springfield arr. Dave Paul & Geoff Culbertson

The Rose    Amanda McBroom   arr. Alwyn Humphreys

Let the Lower Lights  P. P. Bliss    arr. Alice Parker

She Was Beautiful   Stanley Myers/Cleo Lane  arr. Alan Simmons

High on a Hill   Moorhouse/Rees/Bradley arr A. Humphreys

Young and Sentimental  Gordon/Myrow & Brown/Green/Homer arr. Gwyn Arch

Solo: Cass Alabaster ‘I Fall in Love Too Easily’ S. Cahn & J. Styne

Nessun Dorma    (Turandot)  Puccini  arr. Alan Simmons   

Speed Your Journey (Nabucco) Giuseppe Verdi arr. Sydney Northcote

The Anvil Chorus    (Il Trovatore)    Giuseppe Verdi

The Radetzky March  J. Strauss (the Elder) arr. Tony Royse