Jess Curtis (85 years this year!) is a much valued and loved member of the Mayflower A Cappella Chorus and has been a member of Sweet Adelines for over 20 years. Jess Curtis is our Woman of Note title for the following reasons:
Not only does Jess sing bass with the Mayflowers, she is also a huge asset to our Musical Director (Sarah Gill) because of her formidable musical knowledge and experience which she freely shares with immense generosity and enthusiasm. Jess is a member of the Mayflowers Music Team and her opinions and expertise are greatly appreciated and relied on.
Jess has endless patience and an armoury of tactics to help explain complex musical passages or rhythms to us, less musically gifted participants. She is tremendously supportive of all, whether it be to established quartets, or complete newcomers to barbershop, often giving up hours of her spare time and offering individual coaching and gentle encouragement.
Jess’s talents also extend to composing and arranging songs in a barbershop style for which the chorus and our five quartets are extremely grateful. She has donated countless beautifully arranged songs to us and we feel so privileged and proud to sing them.
When putting together a show, Jess can be relied upon to help with writing the script and she uses her theatre background to tweak and enhance individual performances.
As some of you will know, The Mayflower 400 celebrations are well under way with many events to look forward to in the coming months and Jess has been an extremely active contributor even composing and arranging a song that will be sung by children and adults alike at some of the events.
Jess stood on the Region 31 convention stage in St. David’s Hall in Cardiff 2019 and conducted the whole audience in singing Happy Birthday, which she had arranged and donated to Sweet Adelines. This was a joyous moment which we, her chorus buddies will always treasure and know that she was thrilled to have experienced.
We love Jess Curtis!
About Jess
Jess Curtis was born on 9th December 1935 in Hastings, where her parents ran a school (which she attended) until World War II when they were evacuated to the Midlands. After the war and a new school, run by the Headmistress known affectionately as ‘Mad Aunt’, Jess’ real musical education began, showing her good ear and questioning intelligence that were to be hallmarks of her professional life. She learnt to sing, play violin, piano and guitar.
Next, London’s Central School of Speech and Drama. Jess had a whole variety of jobs – mini-cab driving (research for a radio play subsequently broadcast on the BBC), voice training for airline BEA, teaching at a London school where she wrote plays with songs for the children to perform. “The Twelve Dancing Princesses” was later performed at Plymouth’s Drum Theatre. She had great fun as a backing singer – a highlight being ‘Rick Wakeman on Ice’, and was also a dedicated chorister, singing the church musical repertoire under distinguished conductors.
In later years, Jess taught voice in various drama colleges, most notably E15 (of Joan Littlewood fame) and Middlesex University where she met her life partner, Gail. Jess trained in Psychosynthesis Psychotherapy, gaining an MA at 70! Music, acting, voice and psychology all harmonised in her study of sound.
Retiring to Plymouth with great joy Jess discovered the world of barbershop singing. Here she found comradeship and creativity; writing and arranging music for her Mayflower friends with that famous attentive ear to both the personal and musical needs of the chorus.