After 14 glorious years Stephen hands over the reins
to Em
Saturday 5th October, 2008
14th AGM, The Royal College of Music
In the history of the RVW Society the 14th AGM will always
be considered amongst the most special occasions. Held at the Royal College
of Music in London this nostalgic event was tinged with a little sadness
and as well as memories of happy times. Marking the 50th anniversary of VW's
death, we were reminded of the occasion when some years earlier Ursula, who
although crippled by a series of strokes turned up unexpectedly to the delight
of members to sign her book which had just been published by the Society. How
we would have delighted in her company at this AGM, and this the year of the
50th anniversary of her husband's death. Significantly this was also
to be the last AGM chaired by Stephen Connock who has resigned as Chairman
after 14 years at the helm.
We are eternally grateful that in 1994 along with Robin
Barber and John Bishop,
Stephen formed The RVW Society. Since those early days Stephen has led the
Society from its origins as a tiny fan club to the significant and academically
respected world-wide organisation it has now become. Under his leadership the
Society has become a publisher of scholarly articles through its well respected
Journal of which Stephen was the editor, a publisher of academically acknowledged
books and now in Albion Records, a lifelong long ambition of Stephen, it has
its own recording label!
Through his encyclopaedic knowledge of Vaughan Williams and
English music in general, and his special friendship to the two people closest
to Ralph: Ursula Vaughan Williams and Michael Kennedy, he has been able to
give the Society a credibility and presence which otherwise might have been
impossible to achieve.
As editor of The Journal he was responsible for the publication
of many groundbreaking articles in
his own write. Tirelessly promoting RVW and the Society he has been interviewed
on radio and is in demand as the writer of sleeve and concert notes. He has
organised and chaired numerous symposiums on English music, instigated concerts
and championed the publication of hitherto unjustly neglected Vaughan Williams'
works. He was involved in major recording firsts such as the The original London
Symphony and The Poisoned Kiss to name just two. His passion for VW
has often meant not only countless hours of work, raising funds, arm bending,
cajoling, persuading and also dipping into his own pocket, something he has
often cheerfully and uncomplainingly done just so that some event or project
that he considered important enough might happen.
In 1998 he conceived The Garland
Appeal as a tribute
to Linda McCartney which raised funds for cancer research. A
Garland for Linda brought
together specially written works by 9 living composers including Sir Paul McCartney,
Sir Richard Rodney Bennett, Judith Bingham, John Rutter, David Matthews, John
Tavener, Rosanna Panufnik, Michael Berkely and Giles Swayne. A
Garland for Linda was premiered at the Charterhouse Chapel, part of Charterhouse School
in Surrey on Sunday 18th July 1999 by The Joyful Company of Singers, at a concert
at which all nine living composers were present. The performance officially
launched the Garland Appeal.
Mixing a successful career in business, for which he was awarded
the MBE, with the RVW Society has hardly been easy and it was only due to enormous
pressure from the Trustees and membership that he was persuaded from resigning
once before. Sadly, after 14 years the time has finally come when, with the
greatest regret and reluctance, that we really must let Stephen go.
However, in Stephen's successor Em Marshall, we can look forward
to a great new chapter in the Society's history. Em who read Greats
at Brasenose College, Oxford, is the Director and founder of The
English Music Festival for which she has organised two hugely successful
festivals, bringing together the celebrated actor Jeremy Irons and conductor
Hilary Davan Wetton in a performance of Oxford Elegy as well as many many other
ensembles in a critically acclaimed festival. As one of the original members
of the Society, which she joined when she was only 15, Em’s passion
for English music is unquestionable. Em says this
is directly attributable to her father who used to sing Linden
Lea to her when
she was a child. Em is also a music critic as well as a journalist writing
about travel (particularly to places like Morroco and India), fine foods and
wines, real ales, and English culture and heritage (theatre, opera, concert
reviews, castles, churches, countryside etc) and brings with her not only passion
but much needed youthful and vibrant energy.
The event was concluded with an absolutely wonderful celebrity
recital from Roderick Williams (baritone) and Iain Burnside (piano) who gave
us an opportunity to hear live, songs from the recently released CDs from Albion
Records.
To daffodils
Rondel
Linden Lea
Songs from "Pilgrim's Progress"
Songs of Travel
To visit the Albion Records web site click on the link below
http://www.albionrecords.org/index.php
TK