The choir tour of Austria was the first event for the Uppingham Choral Course Choir (later to become Rodolfus). A young singer named Rowena Brown made all the plans, including hiring a coach and negotiating sponsorship from Sealink to cover the ferry crossing in return for some impromptu singing on board! This never happened as the choir were put on the wrong ferry.
The choir visited Salzburg, Wels Traun, Vienna, Graz and Innsbruck, staying in youth hostels and singing Bruckner motets - a highlight of which included an impromptu performance in the old cathedral at Linz where Bruckner was organist and for which Locus Iste was written - Byrd, Blow, Britten, Bach, Howells, Harris, Ireland, Lotti, Poulenc and Vaughan Williams.
According to Edward Slade, who was on the tour, many people struggled to understand the name of the choir. Who was this Mr. Uppingham? What’s a choral course? Could they attend one? And so the need to find a new, snappy name was made apparent.
This inaugural tour was also tinged with great sadness as an esteemed member of the choir, Chris Bennie, tragically died from Sudden Adult Death syndrome (SADS) while on the tour. His legacy lives on in the Chris Bennie Memorial Fund which helps young singers with travel and accommodation expenses while taking part in Rodolfus activities, and we are indebted to the support his mother, Marcia, has given to Rodolfus over the years.
Here are some spreads from the tour programme - in German, I’m afraid! If you have any photos from this tour, please share them with us.
