This was sent to club members recently...

We are greatly saddened to hear the news that Christopher Fifield has died. He had been ill for some time. He died at home with his family around him.

Chris joined the Club in 1987, when he was invited to conduct Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, that year's annual Opera. In the next 30 years he conducted 18 more operas for the Club, and his contribution to our musical life was immense. The tradition of performing an opera annually was well established. It was a joint effort involving singers, players and fixers, and Chris was always able to put together a fine performance. He had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the opera repertoire and was well established as a conductor, having been director of the Lambeth Orchestra from 1982 to 2022. He had been on the music staff of Glyndebourne and was for 10 years the Director of Music at University College London. He was also Chorus Master of the Chelsea Opera Group.

It was always reassuring to know that Chris was conducting. He was always generous to the performers and his presence gave us all confidence. He was friendly and helpful at all stages and the performers were happy to have him in charge. In addition he took on the conducting of the annual Concerto Workshop, giving players and singers an opportunity to perform with the orchestra playing at sight. He also conducted at some of the AGM concerts.

Some of the more memorable Operas performed under Chris's baton were Ariadne auf Naxos (1988), The Magic Flute (1989), Albert Herring (1992), Faust (1995), Don Giovanni (1997), The Rape of Lucretia (2005). Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi (2011) and The Marriage of Figaro (2014).

Chris was also a musicologist and musical historian, writing biographies of Hans Richter and Max Bruch, as well as editing a collection of Kathleen Ferrier's diaries and letters.

He was a huge asset to the Club. He was sadly missed in the last few years when he became ill, and we will long treasure his memory.