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Neil MacKenzie
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Many of the Jay Singers were members of the 1994 Norfolk
and Norwich Festival Chorus, which was directed that year by former King's Singer and now conductor, Jeremy Jackman.
Jeremy’s talent for giving his singers a lot of fun while getting the very best
out of them prompted a small group of us to organise a weekend reunion with him in
early 1995. Little did we suspect that within just a few years we’d have become
established as one of Norfolk’s favourite choirs with a lively style all our
own and a repertoire ranging from the thirteenth century to modern close harmony
– all delivered with the same care, commitment and infectious enjoyment.
We do not meet regularly, but get together every month or so
in Norfolk at the weekend for rehearsals. The
original core from the Festival Chorus has gradually been augmented by other
talented singers and we now number 28 at full strength. Some of the founder
members, who first joined as students, have moved away to work but several
still return for Jay weekends from as far afield as London. We range
in age from 20s to over 60s and most professions are represented as well as
some more esoteric occupations – such as preserving the ecology of a marsh in
the Norfolk Broads whilst managing a herd of black sheep and simultaneously
writing a book about Noel Coward ! When global warming raises the sea level
around North Norfolk so that the land between
the sea and the sky
disappears altogether, the Jay Singers will have enough
expertise among the scientists, farmers, gardeners, excellent
cooks, doctors, sailors, computer wizards and any number of
creative managers,
teachers, publishers and so on who make up the choir to build and equip
an ark
and sail – singing happily – into the sunset.
After
almost 15 years at the helm, Jeremy stood down as Musical Director at
the end of 2010. After an exhaustive search for a worthy succesor we
are delighted to announce that Neil MacKenzie has taken the rôle of
leading us into the next chapter for the Jay Singers'.
Neil MacKenzie
Director of Music
 A
graduate of Clare College, Cambridge, Neil made his debut on London’s
South Bank as the tenor soloist in Britten’s Winter Words while still
an
undergraduate. He also became a founder member of The Sixteen Choir
before being invited to join the internationally acclaimed BBC Singers,
with whom he has performed a huge and demanding repertoire
of every style and period, and broadcast from venues all over the
world. Neil
has worked regularly with Atherton, Boulez, Berio, Gardiner, Noseda,
Rattle,
Tortelier and many other leading conductors.
In
a developing part of his versatile music career, Neil works
with the education outreach programme of the BBC Singers, leading
sessions with
youth choirs, school groups and adult choirs. He particularly enjoys
working
with talented and enthusiastic amateur singers, both as music director
with a
number of choral groups - most notably Voix de Vivre, which has rapidly
established a reputation for choral excellence - and as a singing
teacher of
the growing number of
individuals in his teaching practice.
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