Gravesham Choral Archive

A Little Bit About the History of the Choir

Gravesham Choral Society was preceded by the Gravesham Philharmonic Society founded in 1938 with the aim of presenting ‘the very best of choral music with the finest soloists and orchestras available’ - an aim that continues to the present day. However, it ran into financial difficulties in the 1950s and eventually disbanded in the 1960’s. Gravesham Choral Society in its ‘new’ format was founded in 1981 by Gravesend teacher, David Goddard and Music Inspector Joyce Honnor. In 1984 David, as conductor, handed over the role to Alan Vincent and the rest, as they say, is history! The choir grew in number and performed a huge variety of choral works. Alan retired in 2024 after an incredible 43 years at the helm and the baton was handed to Francesca Massey, our current conductor, in January 2025.

Previously Performed Works

Since its inception, the choir has performed more than 200 different works. Click the following link to see a list of what has been performed and when:

Odds and Sods

A programme from 1937 from The Gravesend Choral and Orchestral Society is attached. It is presumed that many of the singers in this choir went on to join the Gravesham Philharmonic Society. Either way, the programme is an absolute gem of its time! Especially the amusing advert on the last page…! READ IT HERE

A newspaper article circa 1955 talks about a performance of Faust which provided ‘pleasure for scores of music lovers in the district’. Once again, the aims of the choir have not changed since that time. READ IT HERE

A performance at The Royal Albert Hall in 2001 was conducted by former conductor, Alan Vincent with many Gravesham Choral Society members in the choir. READ THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE HERE

A letter from Buckingham Palace in 2012 informed us that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II would have to decline our invitation to join us at a concert in the diamond jubilee year of her coronation. She was busy basically! READ IT HERE