History

The Orpington Chorale 

was formed in September 1961 by Sheila Mossman and her husband John Brown, as a result of an approach by parents of the members of Sheila's highly successful children's choir, the Orpington Junior Singers.  

The initiative took the form of a surprise item at their 50th concert, when the adults sang for the first time. This group was to become the nucleus of the Orpington Chorale, which gave its first concert on the 30th of March 1962. She remained their conductor until her early death in 1971.They had given 95 concerts, both locally and in concert halls across 

London under her leadership.

After Sheila, Ann Handy took over direction of the choir, then Jane Attfield, who later went on to conduct in Germany. Michael Blackley became the Chorale's conductor in 1974 and continued for 40 years.  We have been very happy under Dom Wells’ leadership since 2014.     

The Chorale currently has 60 active members and performs three major concerts a year including a family Christmas concert in partnership with the choir of St James’s Primary School, Petts Wood.

The Chorale also performs in charitable and other local community events. We are delighted to call All Saints’ Parish Church our home, and to be a part of its rich musical contribution to the life of Orpington.

In our 65th year, we asked Diana Chester, our longest standing and most senior member, to tell us about her career in the Chorale. 

Diana’s mother was a semi-professional singer and she has loved singing since childhood.  She sang in her primary school choir and remembers being taken to London with them to the BBC to sing in the Children’s hour programme. She joined the Orpington Chorale in the spring of 1961 after a neighbour asked her along. Her first musical director was Sheila Mossman who had founded the chorale after parents of the Orpington Junior Singers asked for an adult choir.
       

Diana remembers going to Sheila Mossman’s house for small group singing lessons. There have been a few other musical directors but she particularly enjoyed her time singing with Michael Blackley.

The earliest performances Diana remembers are The Messiah and Elijah: “the usual choral repertoire at that time,” (her words). The Messiah remains her favourite work to sing but she also loves the Christmas concerts especially the traditional carols.