More than 250 singers from all over Kent gathered at Sutton Valence Preparatory School on Saturday (13 November) for a unique day with John Rutter, one of Britain’s most celebrated composers.
The composer – who is particularly recognised for his Christmas carols and sacred music, including a work commissioned for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee thanksgiving service in St Paul’s Cathedral – shared some of his musical secrets and expertise with the choristers, who had flocked from all over the county to take part.
The event, arranged by the Sutton Valence Choral Society and hosted by Sutton Valence Preparatory School was held in the school’s Bates Hall, which reverberated to a range of pieces composed by Rutter and introduced with a series of amusing and interesting anecdotes.
The school provided morning and afternoon refreshments, as well as a soup lunch for the singers, who were then thrown in the deep end to sight read – then sing!
Described by America’s famous Today show as “the greatest living composer and conductor of choral music,” Rutter shared his ‘Gift of Music’ – a piece inspired by and written for an 80-year old lady in County Cork who sent him a fan letter. He also described the conflicting dilemmas in writing a piece for Cancer Research UK’s Service of Thanksgiving in 2007 – a dilemma resolved with the piece ‘Look to the Day’ – before taking time to sign CDs and sheet music, while chatting to some of the choristers.
The ‘Singing Day with John Rutter and his Music’ is part of an ongoing commitment by Sutton Valence School to engage with community groups and is reflective of the school’s strong musical traditions.
Jeremy Cross, committee chairman of the Sutton Valence Choral Society, said: “It was a tremendous coup for us to attract a musician of John Rutter’s calibre and a privilege for us to learn a little about the man and his music – as well as some of the sources of his inspiration.”
Richard Johnson, Headmaster of Sutton Valence Preparatory School, who dropped in on the day’s events, said: “We are blessed with excellent facilities here at Sutton Valence and it is a pleasure to be able to share them with the wider community. It was wonderful to be able to welcome someone of Rutter’s standing to the school and to hear the magnificent sound created by the massed choir.”