Initially, Maltbury MD Philip Sparkes visited the church to assess the needs of the choir. Tiers were required, but they would have to fit neatly between the organ and choir stalls and take account of a marble altar platform at the back. The stage would also need to store compactly, as it would have to be kept in an outhouse behind the church when not in use. The requirements were very precise.
Frequent communication over two years produced a customised Metrodeck stage. The resulting tiers fit perfectly between the existing fixtures in the church, creating a fully demountable performance area for the choir. As Richard Hassall says: "We have been delighted with the staging we bought from Maltbury. There were one or two teething problems - the main one being trying to erect this for the first time! Fortunately we did a dummy run before the actual concert so on the day everything went smoothly. Having used it now on three occasions, we find it to be easy to put up and much more sturdy and safer than our old staging."
The stage was delivered in 2005 and used for the first time for a recital of Beethoven's Mass in C and pieces by Mendelssohn, which was a great success.
(Chris Henry)
