A fine but cool spring evening brought together a community in a beautiful church to hear and watch an uplifting and heartwarming concert by two local choirs. Mansfield and District Male Voice choir were joined by Novadi, the Latvian Ladies Choir in a concert of delicacy, harmony and power. As you would expect, the singing was beautifully enhanced by the natural acoustic and the selection of songs presented by both choirs brought real contrast and skill to the proceedings. Our male voice choir opened the evening with “Christus Salvator” which set the tone for a mixture of sacred, traditional and popular music ranging from “Ar Hyd Y Nos” (All Through the Night) and beautiful harmonies from Novadi with “Help Us O God” and “Gently Flowed the Whispering Stream” to the male choir’s rendition of “The Fields of Athenry”, “Let it Be Me”, “Guardian Angel” and of course, an audience favourite, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. Sarlote (Charlotte) the 13-year-old daughter of the Novadi conductor Helmuts, gave a delightful piano solo “Allegro Assai” in the first half and sang “Santa Lucia” as solo in the second half. The finale piece “Lord, I Need You” is a powerful praise piece sung with skill and sympathy by both choirs. A fitting end to the concert.
After the concert the male choir repaired to The Coopers in Mansfield Woodhouse for an excellent afterglow. The pub’s music was turned off as customers were entertained royally and enthusiastically in what amounted to a second concert of the evening. A great night for all concerned. As ever we give thanks to Ian, Maureen, Lynden, Paul and all the choristers for giving of their very best.