Reviews and reports
Carol Concer 2008
Review written on Tuesday 23rd December 2008 by VJS
The third of my trilogy of festive concerts was not a disappointment as the Stourport singers were in fine voice and gave us a fine selection of songs and carols to take us into Christmas week.
David Morgan was MD, compere (and comedian) on this occasion, and had included some of his favourites, such as John Gardner’s jolly Tomorrow shall be my dancing day and Walford Davies’ arrangement of O Little Town of Bethlehem, the latter being one of the best performances of the evening.
The wonderful Three Kings was sung superbly by Mary Sinclair. It is unusual to hear this sung by a woman, but it was absolutely beautiful. There was also a lovely solo by Claire Darby ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’ another favourite of mine, and I loved the arrangement of Jingle Bells.
Also appearing were the children of Wilden School Choir, and they delighted the audience with a medley from Toy Story 2, Walking in the Air from ‘The Snowman’ and Jingle Bells to an arrangement which included Chopsticks.
Father Christmas made an appearance, joined on stage by all the children in the audience, who sang Away in a Manager, everyone being upstaged by a gorgeous tiny girl who is obviously going to follow her parents, Jonathan and Claire Darby into a career on the stage.
We left the Civic with the encore of Ding Dong Merrily on High ringing in our ears, after a lovely, happy concert.
VJS
November 2008
Under the baton of Alastair Elliott the choir emphasised its choral prowess in a programme of popular religious choral masterpieces.
The choir was accompanied by a professional orchestra of local musicians who also performed Bach’s delightful F Minor Keyboard Concerto with the choir’s regular accompanist, Angela Allard.
Alastair started his singing career at the age of 7 as a chorister in the Bath Abbey Choir and these pieces were some of the first major works he sung during this time.
December 2007 Carol Concert
It was a full house for Stourport Choral & Operatic Society's Carol Concert and here the climax was the visit of Father Christmas.
This followed an enthusiastic contribution from Wilden All Saints C of E Primary School Choir which was a tribute to the musical director, Mr. Julian Manchee.
The palpable excitement at the expectation of Father Christmas' arrival and their fortissimo welcome were a joy to witness and filled us all with the spirit and anticipation of Christmas.
All the children, singers and those in the audience, received a present to their great delight.
Extract from Viewpoint
Richard Taylor, MP
The Shuttle, 20.12.2007
