A Profile of Elizabeth Stratford

Elizabeth had to find additional employment to pay the bills, and found teaching positions at Westbourne House School and later Brighton College

In Arundel Elizabeth set about building up the choir, with some stalwart senior members but an increasing focus on young choristers. In due course she introduced the idea of choral scholars, young adults involved in higher education who are helped financially and able to gain credits for their degrees at the University of Chichester through their practical involvement in the choir. In addition to her work at the Cathedral, officially only part-time, Elizabeth had to find additional employment to pay the bills, and found teaching positions at Westbourne House School and later Brighton College, as well as providing lessons for individuals.

Pursuing her own academic development Elizabeth undertook doctoral studies in sacred music, examining the link between the vernacular and music in sacred composition. As with her turning down a place at Cambridge because it did not include access to the chapel organ, it is clear that her priority is for music to be conducted, played, sung and listened to, rather than simply to be analysed. At the same time the list of fellowships and qualifications she can claim is formidable: fellowships and diplomas ranging from the Guild of Church Musicians, the Academy of St Cecilia, the Faculty of Church Music and the Irish Guild of Organists and Choristers, to the numerous examination boards of the British Royal Schools of Music, the Victoria College of Music, and the National College of Music. She could legitimately wear a different academic hood and gown for every day of the week, but in fact her current favourite is her doctoral hood when she leads out the choir each Sunday.

At present there are twenty young choristers, eight Choral Scholars from the University of Chichester, and a handful of long-serving and much appreciated older members of the choir. The past eighteen months have not been easy. Among all those frustrated by lockdown restrictions, choral singers have felt particularly aggrieved, with the feeling that ‘amateur’ singing has proved a soft target for a government prioritising pubs and football matches. A recent favourite on Twitter shows a chorister singing into a candle flame, with no apparent effect. He then says ‘Two pints and a packet of crisps’ and the candle blows out! For Elizabeth the frustration has not only been the restrictions on practice and performance, but the challenge of keeping her young choristers inspired and engaged. With things beginning to ease a little Elizabeth has been doubly active, bringing the choir back into action and recording a new CD, the choir’s first in eight years, featuring music for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Eastertide. Sessions were recorded during May in Arundel Cathedral, and early feedback from the producers is good. It is hoped to have a launch in the autumn, with a short concert featuring music from the disc.

Each year Elizabeth expects to lose one or two singers- the choral scholars finish their degrees, young choristers move on to schools or universities elsewhere. It says much about the spirit of the choir that many leavers will make a point of calling in when back in the vicinity, and taking their places again to sing. This year she says goodbye to four choral scholars (one moving to a greater parish church as organ scholar having finished his degree, another going on to train as a teacher) and two choristers (one to read aeronautical engineering at university and the other to Roedean School with music, sport and Headmaster’s awards). This is a larger turnover than usual, but others will join, and the choir will continue to provide an essential element in the life of the Cathedral, and a formative experience in the lives of its choristers.