Death of our Music Director JEFFREY VAUGHAN MARTIN

Jeffrey Vaughan Martin, Music Director of The Maidstone Singers, died suddenly last Friday. He was arguably the most important influence on Maidstone’s music scene for the last fifty years. He was music director of Maidstone Choral Union for 34 years, and more importantly he founded Kent Youth Wind Orchestra, Kent County Junior Choir, Maidstone Youth Music Society, The Maidstone Youth Singers, The Maidstone Singers, The West Malling Community Choir and he co-founded Jupiter Workshops with Jane Anderson. He formed The Maidstone Singers in 1998, and has taken this small chamber choir to a standard that has allowed them to perform in many of the most prestigious venues in continental Europe.

His achievements with The Maidstone Singers typify his immense contribution not simply to the musical life of many thousands of Maidstonians, but something more. He was man of great energy, who believed in others and had the courage and ability to take them on journeys of achievement which many would never have contemplated let alone realised without his dedication. The tributes that have been flooding in, are a testament to the difference he made.

Jeffery was never simply a Music Director, and that was also true of his role with The Maidstone Singers. He was our treasurer, fund raiser, librarian and tour organiser and he gave all of this without a fee. Not only a treasurer but a treasure. Jeffrey was always looking for ways to contribute to the wellbeing of The Maidstone Singers, and he did so in a way that creatively combined opportunities and gave benefits to others. With Jane, he organised fund raising trips to the opera and theatre, acting as minibus driver. Musically he would work with other groups such as the South Circular Orchestra and West Malling Community choir. These collaborations reduced costs and increased audiences. Organisations that Jeffrey has been involved with have grown financially stronger under his influence.

That influence was not limited to financial viability or musical excellence but encompassed a strong social bond. Most of the choir have been with Jeffrey since its foundation, and our foreign tours have been an important element in building The Maidstone Singers into a cohesive group. Jeffrey with Jane Anderson organised these tours – flights, accommodation, venue, coaches, and links to our musical hosts. We have sung in truly awe inspiring venues, performing in recent years in the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi in Italy and at the Pilgrims’ Mass in the Cathedral of St James in Santiago de Compostela in Spain. In giving international concerts Jeffrey, through The Maidstone Singers, has been an ambassador for Maidstone. Through his initiative we have helped make people aware of Maidstone and its rich musical culture in Croatia, Slovenia, The Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Malta, France, Portugal and Spain.

In 2014 the choir appeared in an episode of the popular BBC T.V. series ‘Call the Midwife’. That was typical of Jeffrey’s willingness to try something new. He has always been prepared to undertake innovative musical activities, and has always been particularly keen to involve young people. In 2015 we sang Rutter’s” Mass of The Children”, involving Youth choirs – a first performance of this work in the area. That is a small part of a very wide ranging repertoire that Jeffrey developed with The Maidstone Singers, and it will be with a heavy heart that we perform some of them in Spain this summer. We will dedicate our June concert which will involve one of his favourite works – Karl Jenkin’s Stabat Mater, to him.

Jeffrey was proud of The Maidstone Singers, and we are proud to have been his friends and musical colleagues. He was the most energetic and inspirational leader who achieved the highest standards from everyone who worked with him. He is greatly missed.

Ken Scott