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Set in the venerable and beautiful church of St. Peter and St Paul’s Warsop two local choirs came together to entertain a packed church on a balmy summer evening. What typifies a summer evening better than the sound of music set in a bucolic English country setting?
Sempre above and (Ian Grice (MD) with the Welsh flag in advance of the choir singing Ar Hyd Y Nos (All Through the Night).
Sempre (Italian for “Always”) are six ladies, all friends who like to sing together. Next month they celebrate 30 years together and their talent shows through, no pretentious antics, no stage hugging, just honest, characterful and well delivered harmonies and complex arrangements which delight their audiences every time they perform. Their rendition of Georgy Girl had intricate chromatic progressions and was delivered with skill and sensitivity. The glittering caps used as props caused some fun as well. The haunting” Harry” and the classic “Autumn Leaves” were, for me, especially poignant but their whole programme was most entertaining and enthusiastically cheered by the audience and our choir.
Our male voice choir began each half with stirring military songs in “Soldier’s Chorus” and “A Roman War Song” which certainly brought energy, volume and sheer power to the proceedings. Our sensitive delivery of Ar Hyd Y Nos (All Through the Night) was beautifully sung, in Welsh and an audience member was heard to say “That was lovely”. What better feedback could there be? Two of our choir favourites concluded each of our two sets,” We Rise Again” and “World in Union”, and the audiences were clapping and singing even before we had finished the songs. It is so rewarding for choristers to hear an appreciative audience and we thank them most sincerely.
Let There be Peace on Earth sung and shared by both choirs brought the evening to a close and it seemed a shame for it to end. The Facebook messages after the concert were enthusiastic, even wistful. A local concert for local people by local choirs made the evening special and will lodge in our collective memories for quite while I’m sure.
