Choral society looks for musical director

Janet Kelsey, Fakenham Choral Society’s inspiring musical director, is to leave the choir after 11 hugely successful seasons.

Under Janet’s dynamic leadership the choir has grown in both membership and reputation.

It is now seeking a new musical director to build upon these successes.

Fakenham Choral Society (FCS) is a friendly and ambitious mixed-voice choir of 100 singers from north and west Norfolk which punches well above its weight.

Whether it’s enticing the charismatic young composer Will Todd and his Trio to accompany the choir in his jazz Mass in Blue or bringing an enormous Verdi drum (one of only four in the country) to Fakenham for the Verdi Requiem, FCS does nothing by half measures.

The choir performs three concerts a year of both sacred and secular music, all with professional soloists and often a full orchestra.

Norwich Baroque accompanied the choir in a recent concert celebrating the stunning music of Henry Purcell, including Dido and Aeneas.

Other successes include Orff’s Carmina Burana, Haydn’s The Creation, Mozart’s Requiem, Britten’s Saint Nicolas and Rutter’s Requiem.

In addition to the concerts, FCS also runs a highly popular annual Come And Sing day attracting hundreds of singers from Norfolk and beyond.

The choir is looking for a musical director who has both experience and empathy with traditional choral music and the courage and leadership to continue its venture into new musical territory.

The successful applicant would, ideally, take over in late September.

For more information, please contact Tracey Thompson, FCS secretary, on fakenhamchoralsec@gmail.com