A brief history of East Bridge Chorale
In 2009 Benedict Preece was invited to become the organist of Wickhambreaux and Ickham churches, which shared a choir. In 2010, before Benedict left the post of organist to take up studies in London, a larger choir was formed to perform the Fauré Requiem…
In June 2022, members of East Bridge Chorale sang at the Wickhambreaux Beacon Lighting event, to mark the beginning of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
This was the start of East Bridge Chorale which, after a year of performing in the local churches to raise funds, became a registered charity community choir, run on the lines of a choral society.
The choir is open to anyone who enjoys singing and has over 120 singers on its contact list. We perform three concerts a year in varying venues in East Kent. Our main concert is at the beginning of September so that people who want to keep singing through August can join us from other choral societies which do not rehearse then.
Our first performance (of Fauré’s Requiem), on 20 August, 2010, in Ickham church, was directed by Benedict with organ accompaniment by Dr. David Flood. It was a huge success. The choir appeared on BBC South East Today as a result of the concert.
Now, in 2017, we are in our eighth year of singing, have performed more than 20 concerts and have become a much-valued part of the East Kent musical landscape.
We are proud that Benedict’s Caritas Chamber Choir was formed as a spin-off from East Bridge Chorale when he selected some of member to sing in a charity concert for ‘Catching Lives’ in March 2011. Caritas is now an auditioned choir who are regularly invited to sing in the Cathedral and further afield but still perform for charity concerts.
