Three long-standing members of the Hallé Choir were each presented with commemorative pins this summer to mark 50 years of service singing in the Hallé Choir. The Hallé’s Principal Conductor, Kahchun Wong, marked this huge achievement by presenting the pins during a rehearsal at The Bridgewater Hall in July.
Vin Allerton (bass), Clare Knight and Sue McKinlay (altos) all joined the choir in 1975 and have treasured memories of their half a century singing in the Hallé Choir.
Sue McKinlay says the best thing about singing in the choir is the friendships she has made:
“The friendships were very important. When I started, I had a 3-month-old baby and a 3-year-old toddler and for me to have some time to myself, singing, was just so important. That continued while I brought up the family and had a full-time job, there was always choir and singing that gave me something to come to, gave me space, something for me, something where you could forget everything else and just enjoy the singing”.
She has enjoyed singing Elgar the most in her 50 years, particularly the performances at the BBC Proms and her most memorable performance was a trip to Chemnitz in Germany to sing Britten’s ‘War Requiem’: … “it’s a fantastic work, and to sing it on that occasion, 50 years after they’d been bombed at the same time as Dresden in 1995 was very emotional.”
Clare Knight says it is a privilege to sing in a choir of such a high standard,
“it has been a constant through my adult life and we have had so many opportunities. We’ve learned all the major choral repertoire”.
She recounts a memorable performance of Elgar’s ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ in 1977 with Janet Baker singing the part of the ‘Angel’ – “we were right above where Janet Baker was singing, and I just couldn’t sing because I was so in awe of her, her fantastic voice and musicality, it was just an amazing occasion. It was very emotional”.
Vin Allerton describes the variety of the music as the best thing about singing in the choir,
“where else would you be able to sing such a wide variety of music in so many different styles, at such a standard? It has been a tremendous joy to sing with these wonderful people, for the last 50 years. It’s great!”
Vin’s most memorable performance was, like Clare, the time he sang ‘Dream of Gerontius’ with Janet Baker as the Angel. “It was the first of 18 times I’ve sung Dream of Gerontius and that was my favourite”.
