Richard Hickox

Brenda Enticknap writes: In all the well-deserved tributes to Richard Hickox (obituary, November 25) there was no mention of the Wooburn Festival or the Wooburn Singers, the choir he founded in 1967, four years prior to the Richard Hickox Singers and Orchestra in London. This choir grew out of a madrigal group formed from Wooburn Church Choir, and initially put on a concert to raise money for the bells of Wooburn Church, where his father was vicar. Richard “cut his teeth” on this choir, and over the years would often rehearse the Wooburn Singers for a concert, and then perform the same work the following weekend with one of his London choirs.

Through Richard we were able to sing in some unique venues — Truro Cathedral for the Three Spires Festival, Wells and Ely cathedrals, the Festival Hall, the Royal Albert Hall for the Proms — as well as farther afield in places such as Venice, Paris and Prague.

Richard always maintained his support, whenever possible returning to conduct a concert, usually for the Wooburn Festival. We owe him a tremendous debt for all that we learnt from him and the experiences he gave us.

David Jager writes: There must be many who, like myself, although rank amateurs, were given the opportunity to enjoy music-making at its highest professional level by Richard Hickox. It is now just over 30 years since I attended an audition with Richard, to become a member of the London Symphony Chorus, and when I first met him in St Margaret’s Church, Westminster, on a cold March evening in 1978, he did everything possible to put me at my ease. He gave me the confidence to sing as a member of his chorus, and to relish the thrill of performing works that previously I had only been able to enjoy as a listener, not an active participant. I shall always be grateful to him for this.

Peter Lehmann

Ann and Sean Creighton write: Peter’s commitment to action on social issues (obituary, November 27) is illustrated by his involvement from the 1970s in the Wandsworth Child Poverty Action Group’s street welfare rights stalls and as its representative helping to get the Balham Law Centre established. His analysis of the 1971 Census laid the basis for the group to argue that the Balham area was neglected by Wandsworth Council, leading to more resources and initiatives being directed there.

John Whiteley writes: I was first aware of the breadth of Peter’s interests in the sixth form at Manchester Grammar School, when, after the Sharpeville shootings, he talked to the class for an hour about the situation in South Africa and the background to those tragic events — not bad for an 18-year-old.