Dear Members and Friends
I hope you are all well. As previously mentioned, we will be holding our Annual Reunion this year on Saturday, September 27th.
And there’s some great news – we have been given permission to hold our AGM in the old College library! Thanks go to the new owners and the headmaster of St Michael Abbey School, as it is now known, for welcoming us back.
We’ll be kicking-off the Reunion with our annual meeting at 10.45am followed immediately by a talk by Roger Judd to mark the 200th birthday of the founder, Sir Frederick Ouseley – this will be a reprise of a talk Roger will be giving at the Three Choirs Festival at the end of July (see below).
Our reunion lunch will be at the Fountain Inn, Oldwood Common, at 1pm, with our guest Robert Ford, the new headmaster of St Michael Abbey School.
For those wanting to sing in the choir at Evensong, choir practice will be in the church at 3.30pm, with tea at 4.15pm; we’ll have the Reunion photo at 4.30pm outside the West door as usual; Choral Evensong will be at 5pm with our old friends the Hereford Church Singers. We will lay a wreath on the Founder’s grave after the service.
A booking form for the Reunion will appear in the Society’s Magazine which will be published at the end of July/beginning of August; and also on our website www.smcsociety.co.uk
Our new magazine editor Frederick Appleby would welcome any news of old boys/girls and Society members for the magazine – but please be quick as the deadline is looming! Only a few sentences are needed and they can cover anything from family, career, where you live, musical or other activities. Send to Frederick at fwsappleby at gmail.com (obviously insert @ ).
August 12th 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Sir Frederick Ouseley, and there are several events coming up to celebrate this milestone.
Roger Judd will be giving a talk on ‘Ouseley – Renaissance Man?’ at the Green Dragon Hotel, Hereford, at 9.30am on July 30th as part of the Three Choirs Festival – https://3choirs.org/events/ouseley-renaissance-man
Evensong at Hereford Cathedral that day, at 3pm, will feature Ouseley’s ‘Jerusalem on High’ performed by the Three Cathedral Choirs, directed by Geriant Bowen and Peter Dyke on organ. This will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3
St Michael’s Church has a weekend of celebrations on August 9th and 10th. There will be another chance to hear Roger Judd’s talk about the Founder on August 9th at 11am; and the Hereford Church Singers will be leading Sung Eucharist (11am) and Choral Evensong (3pm) on August 10th featuring Ouseley’s music.
On October 18th at Evensong at 4pm, St Michael’s Church welcomes the Royal School of Church Music’s Voices West adult training choir. The RSCM was founded by Sir Sydney Nicholson and for three years during WWII he ran the music at St Michael’s. 2025 is the 150th anniversary of his birth.
Finally, some exciting news from the new St Michael Abbey School, which is reopening in September.
The school is offering legacy scholarships for relatives of members of the SMC Society. Ask for details.
The school is also looking for books to be donated for their library – contact the school if you think you might be able to help.
They are holding an Open Day in August to which SMCS members are invited (date tbc).
The school’s website is: www.sma-school.com
That’s all for now. I look forward to seeing you on the 27th September, if not before.
Kind regards
Tim Coles
Secretary, SMCS
