[18 SEPTEMBER 1952 – 28 MARCH 2025]
Our respected Club Chairman sadly died suddenly leaving the Chorus, his family of four children and two grand children, mourning the loss of a major contributor to the work and successes of the Club over many years. Alan joined Anvil Chorus late in 2011 and became a member of the British Association of Barbershop Singers on 21 January 2012. Alan was a Bass singer and was one of the most regular and dedicated attenders for all Chorus activities including rehearsals, singouts and Conventions. He also attended several Harmony College events in the Chorus stream and on one occasion as part of the Quartet stream. He sang Bass in ‘Quadroseniors’ quartet with his pals Lawrence Smith; Michael Hendrickson and Les Jordan and entertained around the Great Barr and Sutton Coldfield areas, as well as meeting for regular rehearsals most Fridays.
Alan served on two occasions as the Club Chairman demonstrating his commitment to the Chorus management, most recently taking up the role after the re-emergence of the Club post Covid-19 and he along with his Management Team colleagues steered the Chorus forward as it sought to pick up from the pandemic when several members were sadly lost. He also oversaw the difficult arrangements to move the Chorus from its long-standing rehearsal venue at Grove Vale School in Great Barr to our present venue at Beacon Church, Pheasey, to the north of Birmingham which has proved to be most successful.
A highlight of several Social Evenings run by the Club, was when Alan teamed up with his long-time pal, Colin Roper to present their very accurate impersonations of classic sketches by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. They both had the knack of voicing their parts just as the original comedians had done flavoured with local chorus member references
Alan had a long and successful career in Local Government having qualified with a degree in Politics followed by Diplomas in Housing Management and Management Studies. He progressed from a Trainee in Housing Management to become a senior manager in the Housing Department of Birmingham City Council and then after 30 years moved to become Head of Equality, Diversity and Disability with Solihull Council, a post he held for nine years until his retirement in 2016. He formed, and was Director of, Alan Keen Associates which offered training and consultancy mainly but not exclusively on Equality and Diversity issues. From 2018 onwards Alan worked as a Volunteer Advisor with the Birmingham Peoples Centre, helping many local people with employment issues
Away from the Chorus Alan enjoyed sports and was a long-time supporter and season ticket holder, of his favourite football club, Aston Villa and it is so sad the he was not there to see his team progress and play as one of the last eight clubs in the European Club Championship and semi-finalists in the FA Cup quite apart from competing in the top six teams in the country through the normal season. Earlier in life he had played cricket regularly and later watched Warwickshire along with his father.
In recent years Alan was strongly supported by his soulmate Claudine who would be a regular attender at singouts and Club events including sitting through his last all-day rehearsal in preparation for Convention in Bournemouth 2025
Henry Foster Music Team Member 12 April 2025