2-choir concert for Rotary

Monday 19th August, 2013 - 1:49pm

On Sunday evening, 18th August 2013, Mousehole Male Voice Choir was pleased to join forces with the Caldicot Male Voice Choir from South Wales in a concert in Chapel Street Methodist Church. The concert was organised by the Rotary Club of Penzance and all profits were for charities chosen by the club. Their new President, Diane Hickman, was pleased to welcome a large audience with every seat downstairs taken.

This co-operation was by way of a 'return match' for Mousehole MVC's visit to Caldicot's own base a few years ago. The Welsh choir is celebrating its 50th Anniversary and their week-long tour of Cornwall has been a major part of it. This concert provided an excellent opportunity for their Chairman to present Mousehole MVC with a commemorative plaque and a complimentary uniform tie.

The Caldicot choir travelled with their Musical Director, Sian Hatton, who has led them for 25 years, and her deputy Shirley Ann James, and two Accompanists, Stephen Berry and John Nicholson; throughout their programme, they alternated their parts to good effect. And for good measure, Sian sang solos in Can You Feel the Love Tonight and a rock item made popular by Queen and Freddie Mercury, Someone To Love.

Mousehole's own regular Accompanist, Annette Turton was unable to play because of a wrist injury and a local pianist, Bridget England, stepped in at short notice to fill the gap brilliantly in support of the Musical Director, Stephen Lawry, and the choir. Special mention must be made of the ensemble's performance of Michael G Martin's romantic and beautiful song, When I Hear Music. There were several hushed seconds at the close before the audience erupted into enthusiastic applause.

There were so many highlights from the moment when the Caldicot choir opened the concert with the rousing work of Saints Ambrose and Augustin, Laudamus, in Welsh, to set the uplifting atmosphere and the two choirs lifted the spirits higher and higher still throughout the evening with their separate programmes and closed it on the highest plane when they joined to sing Speed Your Journey and Morte Criste to thunderous applause.

The building has become a very welcome replacement concert venue for the now closed Richmond Methodist Church. The church has removed the central block of box pews and replaced the seating with cushioned chairs; apart from the added comfort for a larger audience, the change made available a greater space for the 120+ singers, a very welcome feature when two large choirs combine in this way. The acoustic in the Chapel Street building was always very good but even this has been improved by the alteration. When the two choirs and the audience sang that great favourite, Cwm Rhondda, instead of an interval, the power was enough to make the windows rattle.

The evening was not yet over for the Mousehole MVC Ladies Committee had organised a magnificent buffet supper at the Astro Club, together with a price concession on the beer, and the singing continued long into the night. Even so, on the following evening, a goodly body of men turned out for the final Mousehole Harbourside concert for 2013. The choir will be singing on the harbourside on Sunday 25th August for the annual Service of Blessing for the Penlee Lifeboats.