Jean Judge
Now in its fourth year, the ‘Dartmouth Rock’ choir is growing in numbers and popularity. They have over 60 members, most of whom are getting ready for a Christmas performance at the Flavel. Steph Woolvin found out a little more about the choir and its leader, Jean Judge.
Jean has always sung in choirs and when she moved to Dartmouth five years ago she searched around for one that performed acapella pop/rock songs, but alas none could be found. So in 2013 she decided to set one up herself: “Our first meeting was on St George’s Day – 23rd April – I mentioned it at my zumba class, put up some posters and gave out a few flyers. We hired St Clement’s Church Hall and my husband Peter and I set out a couple of rows of chairs, saying; ‘Well, if 10 come that’ll be fine, if 20 turn up we’ll be thrilled’ – 70 people walked through the door that night!”
The choir rehearse every Tuesday and perform at various venues in Dartmouth including the Flavel and the Memory Café. They also regularly appear at the Music Festival. There is no requirement to read music, as songs are taught by ear, and there are no auditions. Only two rules apply – members need to be able to sing in tune and hold a part (which may be different from the main tune). Jean says it’s quite relaxed and she thinks most people in the choir would describe her as upbeat and patient with a good sense of humour, except when a concert is drawing near: “I do tend to turn into a bit of a slave-driver when we get close to a performance! But we all have to remember this is a hobby and it has to be fun or there’s no point.” She says the members get on so well that she’s had to start rehearsals 15 minutes earlier because the tea and biscuit break is getting longer and longer with everyone chatting. “It really is amazing what music can do, whatever sort of day you’ve had. Even if you don’t feel in the mood to head out on a rainy Tuesday evening, the feeling you get when you leave after two hours of uplifting singing is fantastic – you can’t beat it.”
They sing numbers such as ‘If I Fell’ by the Beatles, ‘Chasing Cars’ by Snow Patrol and ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay. Jean admits she needs her horizons widening a little when it comes to song choices: “I’m stuck in the 60s, so am always open to song suggestions. There are times when I haven’t had a clue about a song and have had to come home and look up the band! I often get ideas for new songs from music playing in cafés and supermarkets; everyone else is putting baked beans in their trolleys and I’m writing down song titles!”
Jean has always sung in the ranks in the past and never imagined herself running a choir. She started at the age of six in her Croydon Sunday school, then moved on to competitive music festivals, folk clubs and amateur dramatic productions. She began singing in acapella community choirs about 20 years ago and has managed to find choirs everywhere she’s lived.
She’s had a varied working life. In Scotland she was a production secretary for the BBC’s education department. She helped create radio programmes for schools and met a few familiar faces along the way: “I used to chat to Robbie Coltrane, before he was really famous. I like to
think I might have had something to do with his rise to fame actually! He was wondering whether to move down to London to try his luck but was a bit tentative. I said he should go for it and he did!” Jean then became a BBC researcher and helped kick start the Scottish version of the Archers, which was called Kilbreck. She spent a few days in Birmingham watching how the Archers was made, then took her findings back up to Scotland: “I enjoyed working on Kilbreck. We had a team of three or four writers who would take a couple of weeks each. One of the things I had to do was make sure there were no glaring mistakes like repetitions of birthdays – if one writer says a character has a birthday in May and another writer says the same character’s birthday is in July that would never do!”
Jean continued to work for the BBC when she moved to Oxford in 1982, but now found herself on the airwaves presenting a daily topical show: “I would interview interesting characters and celebrities from the city and elsewhere and met some great people along the way.” The BBC agreed to give her a five year career break when, in 1989, her husband’s job took them to America: “We arrived in Connecticut and I thought; ‘This will be nice – I’ll be a lady of leisure for a while’. I joined a few local groups to meet people and took part in activities and coffee mornings. But one morning I was watching a demonstration of Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) and I thought; ‘what am I doing! If I were at home I would have already been working for four or five hours planning my radio show. I’m in my early 40s – I can’t do this for three years!” By the end of the day she had taken herself off to the local community college and enrolled on a course leading to a BA in Mass Communication.
On their return to England and Oxford, Jean decided not to return to the BBC; so much had changed she felt she didn’t have a place there anymore. Then she was contacted by some professional musicians who used to listen to her folk music programme on Radio Oxford and asked if she would manage a tour for them. She took up the challenge and that led to her setting up her own artist management business, which included organising concerts around Oxford and further afield. She and Peter moved to Dartmouth in 2012.
‘Dartmouth Rock’ will be performing a benefit concert on behalf of the Flavel on Saturday the 9th December. They’ll perform some of the best-loved pop songs from the 1950s to the present day along with a couple of brand new arrangements and a sprinkling of Christmas numbers. The audience will be treated to a guest appearance from the daughter of one of the choir’s regular members: “Francesca sings beautifully and plays the harp,” says Jean. “We think of her as an honorary member and have given her one of our choir scarves. It will be a joy to have her join us as a solo performer at the fundraising concert.”
‘Dartmouth Rock’ is always happy to hear from potential new members. They would particularly welcome more male tenors and basses. If you fancy signing up for a free taster session visit www.dartmouthrock.co.uk
First published in By The Dart Magazine December 2017