The creation of the Swell Singers began in April 2011 when Harvey placed a notice in the Parish magazine asking for interest in starting a local Singing Group. The first meeting took place on the 3rd May with about 20 people in attendance and a pattern of fortnightly rehearsals then followed as we continued to gain confidence in our singing. A Name? “The Swell Singers”, as suggested by Peter, seemed the perfect choice.
During this period, Harvey had the challenging task of acting as both Leader and Accompanist so it was with much joy that we welcomed Pam in the November of this year as our highly professional Accompanist. As a choir we soon blossomed under their joint leadership and our first supporting performance was given at the Rainbow Aid Supper in February 2012. Our repertoire included amongst others, “Torrents in Summer” by Elgar, so even at this early stage, Harvey was setting a high bench mark. A part in the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations on the Village Green plus singing at the Christmas Fayre soon followed and although we still only numbered 20 people, our name was becoming known in the community.
Our debut “Swell Singers” Concert took place in December 2012 and was an overwhelming success. Our enthusiastic singing obviously captured the imagination of the community for thereafter our membership more than doubled and to date we have a total of 53 members on the books.
The formation of a Committee and creation of a Constitution meant that we could apply for a grant from the Coalfield Regeneration Trust and in November 2012 we were successful in receiving a most generous grant which enabled us to purchase our very own electronic keyboard which has proved invaluable at all our performances.
In early 2013, Geoffrey joined the Swell Singers and with his huge experience in choral work he was quickly co-opted into the role of Assistant Choir Leader. This gave Harvey much needed support in assisting with future rehearsals and performances.
In March 2013 we sang Stainer’s Crucifixion at St. Andrew’s Church in Shepherdswell followed by a Summer Concert in August and our Christmas Concert in December. These Concerts plus other supporting performances in the locality greatly helped to increase our confidence as a true Community Choir. The construction of our own website created by Iain and our Swell Singers Logo designed by Jan, further assisted in giving us a greater profile and a more professional image.
In 2014 we repeated our performance of singing The Crucifixion at St. Andrew’s Church in Shepherdswell but this year we included an additional performance at St. Andrew’s Church in Deal. Our name was beginning to be recognised in the wider area and this resulted in regular requests to perform and entertain at other venues in the village and surrounding area, Rainbow Aid, The Wednesday Club, The Women’s Institute, Church Fayres, Crabble Corn Mill and local Carol Singing to name but a few.
Our Christmas Concert in December 2014 was perhaps our most ambitious yet and reportedly our best. We look forward to 2015 and its exciting new programmes and again give heartfelt thanks to both Harvey and Pam for all they do to encourage us, and indeed the whole community, in the love and sheer joy of singing.
2015 saw us performing Gabriel Faure’s Requiem on Good Friday at both St. Andrew’s Church, Shepherdswell and also St. Andrew’s Church, Deal. It was a very moving and emotional occasion for the choir. Our August concert saw us singing “DISNEY” for the village. An afternoon performance for children and their families and an evening performance for the adults. Both performances were a huge success and emphasised our importance in the village as a true community choir. Our Christmas Concert was a usual “sell out”, further promoting how valuable singing is to our village. Our rendition of the John Rutter carols was particularly well received.
2016 - We repeated our singing of the Requiem on Good Friday at St. Andrew’s Church. Although we performed the piece by Gabriel Faure last year there was still much to perfect. We were pleased to welcome on this occasion the addition of a child soloist to sing the Pie Jesu and also a harp and organ accompaniment which made this year’s performance extra special and meaningful. Since last year we have sadly lost a few members but also delightfully gained some, so our numbers have remainder more or less static at 50 active members. Most regretfully we said goodbye to our Assistant leader, Bass Soloist, and loyal Committee member, Geoffrey but thankfully his son Andrew has stepped into his shoes and has agreed to assume all three roles. We are truly most blessed. We ended the year with our usual lively and successful Christmas Concert marking the end of another Swell year.
2017- In spite of huge family worries, Harvey continued leading the Swell Singers and both he and Carol gained much strength, comfort and support from the fellowship of the choir during the illness of their son Dan. Even with immense sadness, the choir felt it a great honour and indeed a huge privilege to sing at Dan’s memorial service at River Methodist Church on 27th May in front of a packed church. Being led by Dan’s wife Melissa was a truly moving, emotional and very personal experience for the whole choir.
Our regular rehearsals continued as we prepared for another popular Christmas Concert. The Twelve Days of Christmas was sung (and acted !) with the usual gusto by both audience and choir and has really become our signature at Christmas. Our annual charitable donations went to Food Bank and the Dover Night Shelter.
2018 - In May the choir were invited by Rev’d Miriam from River Methodist church to sing at their 150th Anniversary celebrations. The Beatles Medley fitted the bill nicely. This was followed by our ‘Summer with the Swells’ Concert in July. A most enthusiastic performance but sadly our final one with Pam, our brilliant accompanist, who had decided to retire after six marvellous years with the choir. Thankfully later in the summer we welcomed Claire Middleton as our Accompanist and in September we sang at the ‘Big History Day’ event in the village hall organised by the Shepherdswell and Coldred History Society. December saw us leading the now annual carol singing on the Village Green at the Tree Lighting ceremony followed by another most successful Christmas Concert. As was our tradition, we donated to a local charity, this year to Cross-Links in Dover.
2019 - A busy schedule this year as we performed our Summer Concert in July and later in the month we joined with Sibertswold School at their ‘Sibertsfest’ Summer Concert. August saw us singing at the East Kent Railway’s 30th Birthday celebrations and in December we led Carol singing at the Tree Lighting ceremony on the village green and finally our wonderful Christmas Concert. Every Christmas we also sing carols at the two local Nursing Homes in the village and this proves rewarding to both residents and choir alike.
2020 - We started the year in good form. Our membership was averaging about 45 members with about a quarter coming from outside the village. Subscription fees were £55.00 per annum which also included the cost of music scores. At this time we decided to set up our own Music Library with the opportunity of loaning out scores to other choirs and earning a little income. This was progressing well and then …….the Covid Pandemic hit! Sadly all face to face rehearsals were cancelled by the middle of March as the country went into the uncertainty of lockdown. Thankfully, due to the diligence and dedication of our wonderful leader Harvey and his wife Carol, we were able to resume our weekly sessions in May as we continued on Zoom. In the safety of their own home Harvey played the piano and Carol sang a variety of songs while members listened on Zoom and sang along in their own muted version. At a suitable interval, we all paused, shared our news, told a few jokes and therefore kept the choir alive and active. This coming together to sing proved a lifeline to many and gave much needed support to those who were really struggling under the enforced restrictions and the scary circumstances of living through a Pandemic.
2021 - Our Zoom rehearsals continued on a weekly basis up until June and as restrictions began to ease, we were able to get out and about and enjoy a break for the summer. We were however so very grateful to Harvey and Carol for their tremendous support in seeing us through the long and traumatic Covid period. Over the summer we enjoyed a summer social together in the large private garden of one of our members which was full of fun and laughter and of course much joyous singing. Thankfully by September we felt confident enough to resume face to face rehearsals again at the school. Unfortunately we were very sad to loose our wonderful accompanist Claire who retired due to ill health but very thankful to welcome Peter in October as he stepped into the role and we began to rehearse in earnest. In December we joined with Sibertswold School as they performed an outdoor Concert with ‘Carols under the Stars’. It felt fabulous to be singing together again and it was a great success. For our own Christmas Concert we were conscious of keeping the choir and our audience safe so it was decided not to perform in front of a live audience this year but to record our Concert and stream it on YouTube. Sadly, at the last minute, Covid got in the way again and so the Concert had to be cancelled but we were grateful for a whole term of singing together.
2022 - Restrictions continued to ease as we resumed our regular rehearsals in the school hall in January and a new year slowly brought a welcome return to normality. Singing together again as a choir was truly a tonic after months of lockdown. At this time we also felt it was a joy and a privilege to welcome Hanna, Serhii and Ivan, dear Ukrainian friends, who arrived in Shepherdswell under the government scheme ‘ Homes for Ukraine’. It was so special to share with them the support and friendship of our wonderful community at such a personal and emotional time in their lives.
By June we were thrilled to perform our Summer Concert and to kick start a weekend of celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in Shepherdswell. Singing in front of an audience again was so uplifting and the atmosphere in the village hall from both the choir and the audience was truly electric. A real boost after so many months of worry and uncertainty. Our charitable donations on this occasion went to the Ukrainian Appeal raising over £1000.00 for such a heartfelt cause.
Our Christmas Concert, the first in three years, was also an outstanding success and the love and support generated by our most loyal patrons was heartwarmingly special. The end of year however came with mixed emotions as our Leader Harvey announced his retirement. 12 years earlier he had created a choir, seen it grow and flourish and achieve tremendous success but now it was time to hang up his baton. We were relieved that he wasn't going far……only into the back row with the Basses, but the Swell Singers owed him so very much. To show our appreciation a generous gift was presented to both Harvey and Carol at his joyous Retirement party. This event was combined with our annual Christmas Social and along with the specially created ‘Swells Angels’ who performed so fantastically, there was much fun, laughter and frivolity and a great sense of camaraderie. We ended the year with another fabulous Christmas Concert and with relief and gratitude we learned that Peter, our most talented Accompanist was to take over the Leadership of the Swell Singers. With his now familiar face and excellent music skills we knew we were in good hands and that he would take us safely through the transition.
2023 - Peter stepped up to the Leadership to a full house in January and we welcomed his new style and his diversity in singing ideas and material. As he preferred to ‘lead from the keyboard’ we were grateful that we didn't have to find a new Accompanist at this stage. Peter’s position as leader did however herald a change for the Swell Singers as we committed to a paid leadership and not a voluntary one we had previously enjoyed with Harvey. This change meant an increase in membership fees to £60.00 per annum but Music was still included and members felt it good value for money.
Our rehearsals continued with a unique mix of singing material, from Old English Ballads sung in rounds to modern songs and some choral music. Our new style of singing drew in a number of new members and this generated much enthusiasm. Most sadly however, Peter became unwell and by April had to step down from the Leadership. Harvey very gallantly stepped into the breach to keep the choir going but we didn't feel adequately prepared for our proposed Summer Concert in July and sadly this had to be cancelled. We then took a break for the summer during which time an appeal to the public saw us realise our goal of raising £2000.00 allowing us to purchase a new digital piano which was most beneficial for our singing as well as for musical instruction for the children of Shepherdswell School.
Thankfully Peter was able to return in September. We enjoyed a busy term learning a whole new repertoire with a diverse range of music from Rutter carols to acapella singing with Gaudette. Our annual Christmas Concert was therefore a great success and our most loyal patrons made it a sell out performance and were most generous in their giving to our chosen charity called DoverSmart.
2024
A new term and a new year under Peter’s leadership and we certainly got off to a flying start with a rapid succession of new songs which certainly kept us all on our toes. In June we joined with the children of Sibertswold School in their charity Concert supporting education for young people in Malawi and this was closely followed by our supporting part at the Coldred Fete and another of our most successful summer Concerts in July. Our autumn term also started well with lots of new members joining but unfortunately, half way through, Peter announced he had to ‘pause’ his leadership again due to ill health. With only 6 weeks to go Maddie bravely stepped in as our temporary leader and successfully guided us to a most lively and well received Christmas Concert. Our end of year social with a return of the Swell Angels just proved what a Swell year we had despite the ups and downs.
2025
Sadly Peter felt unable to resume his position as leader and so we welcomed Christopher Price in January as our new Director. Chris soon proved he had a vast range of musical experience and knowledge and introduced the choir to a variety of new styles of singing and began guiding us along a more professional pathway. The choir rose to the challenge in learning and especially in perfecting some complex harmony singing which was very well received at our Summer Concert. Unfortunately, sadness this term in the sudden passing of dear Michael, one of our longstanding Swell members. We felt privileged to sing at Michael’s funeral and made it feel a very special and memorable occasion.
During the summer we were pleased to sing at the annual Coldred Fete and Brass on the Grass events within our community. A recruitment drive in August led to 6 more people joining the choir and we also made the decision to allow 11-18 year olds to join as long as they had adult support. The choir now numbered 34 adults and 3 children with a subscription of £100.00 per year for adults and a reduced rate for children.
As we moved into our autumn term the complexity of the singing became more challenging and many were finding it more difficult to cope with the added pressures of a more intricate repertoire. We achieved success at our busy and entertaining Christmas Concert but decided thereafter we would prefer to enjoy a more relaxed and informal style for our regular Tuesday rehearsals and a return to a true Community choir style of singing. Chris wished us well but decided to step down from leading the choir.
2026
In January, Sam Sutton, already a choir member, applied for the position of leading the Swell Singers. Sam had joined the choir the previous September as an Alto. Although she had sung and played the clarinet at our Christmas Concert, her impressive resumé and many experiences and achievements in the musical profession were a surprise to many. Her fresh new approach was soon welcomed by members and she was overwhelming voted in as our new leader at our AGM in February.
Compiled by Lynn Regan