Deddington at large

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What we'd like to feature on this page are articles by Deddington residents past and present, but which don't have a Deddington focus; as well as news of ex-Deddingtonians, whether their absence be permanent or temporary.

 

Alex Soddy

Our local pianist and conducting Wunderkind, Alex Soddy, is really beginning to go places. After five years training at the Hamburg State Opera in Germany, Alex is beginning to appear on the wider international stage.

His musical career began when he was Head Chorister at Magdalen College School in Oxford, followed by a Cambridge degree in music and a year as a vocal coach and repetiteur at the National Opera Studio in London. Alex has also worked as a repetiteur for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and as an accompanist at many venues and festivals round the world including Wigmore Hall.

 

His position at the Hamburg Operstat was repetiteur and assistant to the Musical Director Simone Young. Quickly promoted to Kapellmeister, Alex regularly conducts the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra where he has worked with top-flight prestigious singers such as Placido Domingo. His repertoire at Hamburg includes The Magic Flute, L'elisir d'amore, Barber of Seville and Hansel and Gretel. Alex is increasingly in demand at many of Europe's most important opera houses and future engagements are La Bohème, Rigoletto and Lucia di Lammermoor in Hamburg and The Magic Flute at the Bavarian State Opera, Munich and Berlin State Opera (Unter-der-Linden).

 

Along with tenor Ben Hulett, Alex has recently released his first CD, Departures (available from Amazon). Well, it's not actually his first - does anyone remember Raise the Roof, a CD in aid of Deddington Church Restoration Appeal? A 15-year old Alex played Poulenc's 'Alerte'. Alex's parents, Jenny and Peter Soddy, still live in Maunds Farmhouse, High Street. Deddington is still very much Alex's home, and he still turns up to our Christmas Eve carol singing in the Market Place when his schedule allows. Perhaps he can keep us all in tune and in time! 

Derrick Robbins

I live in Sarasota on the coast of Florida, USA. As those of you who are avid readers of Deddington News will recall, Ruth Johnson wrote an article of my stay with my uncle, Christopher Ell, a boot and shoe repairer, and aunt Mildred at Tower View on the Bullring at the beginning of the Second World War. I subsequently met and married an American lady and adopted her two girls, then aged three and six. As with most people, I experienced the yin and yang of life and suffered many heartaches over the years. My wife, unfortunately, just as we had purchased our new house north of London, was diagnosed with an incurable disease and naturally wanted to return to spend what time was left for her with her family. Her two daughters were lost to separate vehicle accidents, but I am blessed with a surviving daughter who is happily married with three grandchildren. Not being one just to dip my toe in the water, I jumped right in and devoted my time to volunteering.

I developed a community garden, was appointed horticulturist and President of a local succulent society, taught horticulture at a local elementary school, appointed a member of ‘Keep Sarasota Beautiful’ Advisory Board, became a member of the Citizen Emergency Response Team which operates under Homeland Security, and we are first responders in the case of an emergency. Since February 2001, I have been a volunteer patrol officer with the Sarasota Police Department. So I keep busy, and stay and look younger than my 80 years. I look forward to being able to reach my 100th birthday. My one hope is that I can visit Deddington once more, a village that has always held a dear, soft place in my heart.

ps: In February 2011 we learned that Derrick had passed away in March 2010, so he never did get to make a last visit to Deddington. But we have gained a contact in his daughter Jasmyn Copeland.  

... more news on page 2.