JAGS CHORAL SOCIETY

1
Notes from Michael
Brooke, Past Chairman. Written 22nd May 2025

We numbered some 40 parents teachers and others connected with the area. Some of those around at the
time are still singing in the choir. My three daughters were all at Jags, the first went in 1993 which was the year that Marion Gibbs became headmistress. We moved into Dulwich in 1994 and in 1996 I joined the Jags Choral Society.
As I recall a year later I was asked to be the chair in 1997 which was a position I think I held until 2002. The Choral Society had been set up a few years earlier and two of the founding members were Diane Beattie and Duncan Pratt who was still singing with the choir last year. In those days the music school was in what is now the sports pavilion near the
swimming pool which was being
completed when I first joined the choir. It
was quite a ramshackle building but was
home. Rupert Bond was head of music
and our choir master, from 1987-2003
https://www.wimbledoncommunityorch
estra.org.uk/our-conductor/. Marilyn
Harper, accompanied us. She was second
head of music and is, as is her husband, a
well renowned organist who still plays the
organ in the Dulwich college chapel.
Rupert Bond was quite exacting and we
were taken through our lines
individually which as a tenor,
sometimes just two of us, was quite
exposing. Rupert composed pieces for
us and we sang concerts in St Barnabas
St Johns Smith Square, Blackheath Hall,
Goose Green etc. I recall two concerts
in particular being David Fanshawe’s
‘Arican Sanctus’ which the composer
attended in St John’s Smiths square
https://www.google.com/search?
q=david+fanshawe+african+sanctus&ie
=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en￾gb&client=safari#ebo=0 and a piece by
William Walton which we sang
somewhere in Greenwich with his wife
Susanna in attendence.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_
Walton
Our social events where quite old
fashioned, we all chipped in with food,
as is still the case, and we arranged
once a year to perform pieces that took
our fancy, one of my production efforts
was the Oyster song by Cole Porter,
these took place in the sports
pavilion/music school.
Christmas parties were hosted in member’s
houses gathered around a piano to sing
carols. On two occasions summer
parties were held in Ingrid Beazeley’s
house backing onto Dulwich park, where
we had a picnic, and played rounders.
Family members were all welcome.

Board meeting were similarly
informal, the AGM was conducted in
front of the choir. The summing
up of the year was always sung to
some well known tune/hymn or
other.
Marion Gibbs was an enthusiastic
supporter of the choir and joined us on
occasion, I was invited every year, as
chair, to address the new parents at the
beginning of each Christmas term to
trump up new members for the choir.

As a result I was asked as an architect
by Marion Gibbs to become a governor,
a position I held for 10 years from 2004
to 2014. I mention this as it allowed me
to be part involved with the school
master plan which, once the swimming
pool and sport club were operational,
allowed us to turn the old swimming
pool into a dining room with additional
classrooms and back up for the theatre.

At this transition Rupert Bond retired
and our new head of music was Leigh O’
Hara who joined us in 2003, Marilyn was
his accompanist for most of his 10 years
and subsequently a friend of his John
Flinders who is still delighting us with his
musicianship.
Another part of the master plan was to
build a music school which was a huge
undertaking in terms of planning and
raising funds. This opened in 2016 and
Peter was involved in the layout of the
new music school and with his
effervescent character continued to
lead the JAGS Choral Society with the
same high standards as Rupert Bond
and Leigh O’Hara.
With the opening of the music school
the choir had finally a decent hall in
which to rehearse which had a different
feel to the intimacy of the old sports
pavilion. Nevertheless the Choir is still
extremely friendly entity that it always
was and endures as an essential part of
the music in JAGS.
I have seen some extraordinary
performances in the past 30 years by
the girls and we give them the breadth
of voice for Choral works. Peter left in
2020 and the Choral tradition continues
in the expert hands of Tommy Foster.
Michael Brooke
The Tale of the Oyster
English source: Cole Porter
Down by the sea lived a lonesome oyster
Every day getting sadder and moister
He found his home life awf'lly wet
And longed to travel with the upper set
Poor little oyster
Fate was kind to that oyster we know
When one day the chef from the Park Casino
Saw that oyster lying there
And said "I'll put you on my bill of fare."
Lucky little oyster
See him on his silver platter
Watching the queens of fashion chatter
Hearing the wives of millionaires
Discuss their marriages and their love affairs
Thrilled little oyster
See that bivalve social climber
Feeding the rich Mrs. Hoggenheimer
Think of his joy as he gaily glides
Down to the middle of her gilded insides
Proud little oyster
After lunch Mrs. H. complains
And says to her hostess, "I've got such pains
I came to town on my yacht today
But I think I'd better hurry back to Oyster Bay."
Scared little oyster
Off they go through the troubled tide
The yacht rolling madly from side to side
They're tossed about till that fine young oyster
Finds that it's time he should quit his cloister
Up comes the oyster
Back once more where he started from
He murmured, "I haven't a single qualm
For I've had a taste of society
And society has had a taste of me."
Wise little oyster
In 2012 Leigh O’Hara, who was an
excellent choir master, moved to St.
Paul’s girls school and Peter Gritton
joined us coincidentally from St. Paul’s
girls school. Leigh is now headmaster in
China.
Once the dining hall opened it released
pressure on the Holst hall so that rather
than rehearsing in the old music school
we divided our time between the Holst
hall and the JAPS hall.