Stage Systems were kindly invited by Peter Davies, Stage Manager to attend the final rehearsal of Stafford Choral Society’s performance of Dvorak’s Stabat Mater, with a full orchestra. It was part of the Stafford Music Festival programme. The rehearsal took place at Rising Brook Baptist Church who first purchased our Q-build staging system in 1998. The society also purchased a quantity of Q-build staging in 2013 and supplements this with other Q-build which is borrowed from other organisations in the area in order to create a large, spectacular system on which the Choir can stand and fully project their voices.
The Society was formed in 1946 and gave its first concert in December that year performing Messiah under the direction of Dr. Coleman. Over 70 years later they are still singing and performing wonderful music ranging from Choral Classics, such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s Creation, to modern works by composers such as Will Todd and John Rutter. They will be holding their 75th Anniversary Concert at Lichfield Cathedral (another of Stage Systems’ Customers) in June 2022 where they will be singing the Verdi ‘Requiem’. They rehearse every Monday evening during school term time at ENTRUST, Riverway, Stafford.
In September 2018 they appointed Ellie Slorach as their Musical Director, supported by their Assistant Musical Director / Accompanist, Pete Durrant, two young and talented musicians.
During the setup of the room we discussed the layout of the tiered staging and the history of the Society. The space inside the Church is amazing and with some existing staging and a light control area with audience seating. The venue was set out superbly for the concert. The system had been built at one end of the room to enable a sold-out audience to fully enjoy the acoustics of the concert. A small section of the staging was kept aside for a conductor’s podium where Ellie Slorach would stand.
As the orchestra started to arrive, it was clear that this was going to be a huge performance! A large space had been allocated to accommodate the orchestra between the conductor’s podium and the tiering.
Attending the rehearsal felt very special, the silence before the music starts is quite something. Once it begins you can’t help but feel every part of the music from a live orchestra. The four soloists were superb and the choir amazing. The projection of the choristers towards the back of the room was astounding and I’m sure had everyone captivated at the actual performance in the evening.
We look forward to attending more events by the Society and wish to thank them for their generosity in allowing us to come along and listen to this very special performance and take photographs.
If you are interested in reading more about Stafford Choral Society, information including an excerpt from the recording of the concert can be found here: http://stafford-choral.org.uk/
Information regarding Stafford Music Festival can be found here: https://www.staffordmusicfestival.net/
For more information on Stage Systems tiered staging: https://www.stagesystems.co.uk/staging/modular-tiering/
