About Us
About Us
The Boundstone Chorus was formed in 1982 under the direction of Aedan Kerney, then Director of Music at Boundstone Community College. The Chorus was established in conjunction with the West Sussex Adult Education centre based at Boundstone. At that time more than 1,500 adults from the surrounding community attended the college each week to extend their education, mainly in the evenings and at weekends but with a significant number also participating in A-level lessons with the college students. Boundstone had a vision of the way in which continuing education could transform the lives of individuals but also indirectly the quality of life of the whole local community and the Chorus was a central part of this.
Recent performances have included Alexander L’Estrange’s Zimbe! Come sing the songs of Africa
and Ahoy sing for the Mary Rose, Freedom: The Power of Song, Howard Goodall’s Eternal Light
and revivals of the community musicals To Harvest the Dream
and Catherine of Eyam
in collaboration with students from Sir Robert Woodard Academy and Sompting Village Primary School. In the recent past the Chorus has enjoyed working with Lancing Brass, Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra and Sompting Village Primary School.
The Chorus became a registered charity in 2017 and through this seeks to advance the education of people in music and the arts.
Aedan Kerney MBE
Musical Director
Aedan has taught music since moving to Sussex from Worcester in 1968. In leading music at Boundstone Community College in Lancing for forty-one years he developed a rich experience in directing school groups and has welcomed the opportunity to work with many groups in the community since “retiring” in 2009.
He established The Boundstone Chorus in 1982, has been the Musical Director of the Worthing Choral Society since 2009 and has led the music at St Michael and All Angels, Lancing since 1974 . He regularly leads singing days.
As a composer he has responded to the performing needs of both groups and individuals. To Harvest the Dream, a community-based musical co-written by Aedan and drama teacher Tom Brown, was premiered in the Brighton Festival and his Song of the Seasons
has been performed in both Worthing and Lancing. His most recent community musical Catherine of Eyam
was performed in 2017.
As a teacher he was passionately committed to finding ways of engaging children more deeply in their learning and explored ways in which performing and composing music can link creativity across the curriculum. This work has involved him in collaborative projects with New Zealand-born composer Dorothy Ker, Cuban-born conductor Odaline de la Martinez, Oxford University mathematician Professor Marcus de Sautoy and Sussex University life-scientist Professor Sue Hartley.
In 2004 he won the Lifetime Achievement Teaching Award for the South East of England and was made MBE for services to education.
Mattea Leow
Associate Musical Director
Mattea Leow is a Chinese-British conductor, teacher, and musician from Worthing, West Sussex. She began learning the piano at the age of 5 and later picked up the violin, on which she was able to be a part of ensembles including the Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra. She went on to study Music with Philosophy at Royal Holloway where, in her third year, Mattea studied conducting under Rebecca Miller and Rupert Gough. Since graduating in 2022, Mattea has been the Assistant conductor of the RHUL Symphony Orchestra and, under the guidance of Rebecca Miller, has conducted pieces such as Dvorak’s String Serenade
and Dorothy Howell's Divertissements. It is with this orchestra that she became the conductor for their tour to Belgium in June 2022. Mattea continues her musical endeavours as a
Music Teacher at Harris Invictus Academy and looks forward to taking
part in a number of conducting masterclasses across London. Upon her most recent appointment of Associate Musical Director of the Boundstone Chorus, she is delighted to be working with such a wonderful and talented group of musicians and considers it a great privilege to be a part of this ensemble.
