DCOCA
Durham Cathedral Old Choristers' Association
DCOCA (Durham Cathedral Old Choristers' Association) is the alumni or former pupils’ association for ALL former pupils of The Chorister School. Our aim is to maintain contact between members, and to promote their association with The Chorister School and Durham Cathedral. The Association is run by a small committee of loyal members who meet around five times a year in Durham but who are always looking for more assistance from other members!
We hold an Annual Reunion at The Chorister School and Cathedral, typically in October. In recent years this day has included a morning coffee reception at School, during which pupils offer tours of the building and facilities for those attending, followed by a short music recital by pupils of all ages in the Assembly Hall before lunch in the Dining Hall. In the early afternoon the AGM takes place in the Song School, and a Young Persons’ Forum meets in The Assembly Hall. Former Choristers who wish to take part in Evensong attend a rehearsal in the Quire before a cup of tea in The Prior’s Hall. Evensong is at 5.15pm when those who have once again during the afternoon come under the discipline of the Master of the Choristers and Organist sing part of the service with the Cathedral Choir. After Evensong, we usually have a short drinks reception in The Treasury followed by Dinner in The Undercroft Restaurant with the usual speeches, including, alternating the years between them, one from The Headmaster or Master of The Choristers. A very convivial atmosphere throughout the day allows old acquaintances to be renewed and new ones to be formed. Many members of school staff as well as of Chapter are around at different times of the day and are always most pleased to see those who return.
DCOCA enjoys a good relationship with both the Master of the Choristers and the Headmaster, as well as all others around both school and cathedral. We enjoy supporting the activities of both school and choir. Members are always invited back to take part in the regular concerts which the Music Department puts on in The Cathedral. Many were there in March, 2006 for the concert which celebrated 20 years of the school’s music department. In 2009 the invitation is extended to all former pupils and others connected with the school to take part in another celebration concert in the Cathedral on 18th July as the concluding event of the School’s Jubilee Year – 60 years a Prep. School – 60 years since Non-Choristers were first admitted into the hallowed precincts of the Cathedral School. The programme for the concert, as well as staging a performance of ‘The Armed Man – A Mass for Peace’ by Karl Jenkins with choir and orchestra, includes the first public performance of movements from a Mass setting composed by a former Non-Chorister Dayboy, John Bowcock. DCOCA is proud to be giving financial guarantees towards the staging of this concert.
Membership of DCOCA is open to ALL former pupils of the school and is free to all former pupils under the age of 22. Thereafter a small annual subscription of £10 applies. This covers the costs of two Newsletters annually as well as our other administrative costs. Accrued surpluses are donated to school or choir and we are proud in recent years to have been able to assist with the purchase of music, instruments, staging and recording equipment, as well as assisting with the costs of the Cathedral Choir going on tour to Versailles in 2008 and, more recently, helping with the costs of setting up the new girls’ choir which commences its duties in the Cathedral in Autumn 2009.
DCOCA is also proud to have spearheaded a fund raising appeal to have a permanent memorial created to the memory of Cyril Maude, Sub-Organist in the Cathedral for many years, Acting Organist during the war years when Conrad Eden was away on war service, and one of the most versatile, modest and hard-working musicians in Durham in the mid-twentieth century whose influence on many generations of choristers who knew him cannot be over-emphasised. The memorial takes the form of a music stand used by the Master of the Choristers to direct the Choir whenever the Nave Choir Stalls are in use. It was constructed with great care and talent by the Cathedral’s own craftsmen and dedicated by the Dean, Michael Sadgrove, at the Reunion Evensong in 2008.
DCOCA is a member organisation of the National Federation of Old Choristers' Associations, and hosted a very successful festival in 2005 attended by almost 200 members from all over the UK and some from as far away as Australia. Paid up Chorister members of DCOCA receive an annual copy of the journal ‘Once a Chorister’ published by the Federation.
For more information about DCOCA, please e-mail alastair.pollard@ntlworld.com or simon.tasker@btinternet.com .
We always welcome new or returning members of whatever age but particularly value the involvement of more recent school leavers wishing not to lose touch with their colleagues and the place where we all enjoyed such a privileged and special education.
JUBILEE CELEBRATION CONCERT – CATHEDRAL 18th JULY, 2009.
The final event of the Jubilee Year – 60 years a preparatory school- takes the form of a choral and orchestral concert in the Cathedral on Saturday 18th July, 2009.
The School Choir, The Galilee Choir, former pupils, parents, staff, friends, the Boy Choristers and those Girl Choristers-elect already at the School in advance of taking up their duties in the cathedral in Autumn, 2009 will all take part and ALL former pupils of the school are cordially invited to come along to sing.
The programme includes ‘‘The Armed Man – a Mass for Peace’ by Karl Jenkins and movements from a Mass composed and specially arranged for the occasion by John Bowcock, a non-chorister who left school a couple of years ago.
In 2006 the concert to celebrate 20 years of the school’s music department saw over 100 singers performing Britten’s ‘St Nicolas’. This time the organisers would like to see an even larger choir for this important occasion. Rehearsals will take place on the day and arrangements can be made to send out music in advance.
Anyone faintly interested in taking part should get in touch with Jenny or Simon Tasker by leaving a message at School or e-mailing jenny.tasker@choristers.durham.sch.uk or simon.tasker@btinternet.com and they will send you more details. If you think you have already said you will take part but are not sure whether the message got through, don’t hesitate to say so again. They won’t mind!
DCOCA REUNION AND AGM, 2009
This year’s Reunion will take place on Saturday 31st October, at School and in the Cathedral.
It is hoped that the format will be similar to that in recent years but further details will be published on this site and included in a Newsletter to members once they are confirmed.
Any former pupil of the school who does not normally receive the DCOCA newsletter but would either like to join/rejoin DCOCA or simply be informed of events, etc. should e-mail simon.tasker@btinternet.com with their details.
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF DCOCA BUT DON’T GET OUR NEWSLETTERS?
Maintaining a mailing list is a thankless task and with the best will in the world things do occasionally go wrong. We may have lost you or your address but, equally, you may have moved house and not told us where you now are! We know that there are those among our members who don’t receive our post and there are also those who have overlooked their membership.
If you think you are one of these ‘missing persons;’ or think you may be, don’t hesitate to let us know. Drop a line to DCOCA c/o The Chorister School or e-mail alastair.pollard@ntlworld.com or simon.tasker@btinternet.com with your details and we will do the rest.
Similarly, if you know of any other old boys or girls of the school who don’t receive our information, let us have their details and we will sort things out.
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF DCOCA BUT NOT HAPPY WITH WHAT IT DOES FOR YOU?
We are constantly asking ourselves what more we could or should be doing for our members. The Young Persons’ Forum at the Annual Reunion is one way to try to find out. However, we are very open minded to any suggestions which you, our members or potential members may have to put forward to improve our offering to you all. We would obviously appreciate any assistance we can get from members in the running of the Association but will look at any requests or ideas from old boys and girls to help us become more inclusive of the desires and aspirations of any and all former pupils of The Chorister School. Just let us know what you want!
OLD CHORISTER CHOIR?
We raised the possibility of a choir of former pupils of the school being formed in 2008 in a Newsletter. The response was patchy but we have not yet given up the idea!
Jenny and Simon Tasker are prepared to set up and run the choir if enough old boys and girls express interest. It will not necessarily meet on a regular basis but as and when its members decide and, as a consequence, permanent proximity to Durham is not essential. We thought it might be fun to get together to sing occasionally at the same time as renewing old acquaintances. We thought that if we worked at it we might be good enough to sing the occasional service in the Cathedral when one of the main choirs is not available, for instance when they are away on tour. But, it cannot be done without your support, so, if there is anything in the idea which even vaguely appeals to you, contact Jenny or Simon now – don’t put it off or you will forget and the idea will disappear for lack of support!
