On Sunday 22nd September, Mousehole MVC hosted a concert in St Ives as part of the week long festival. At the concert in the St Ives Theatre were guests from Stockholm, Sweden The Fredskören (Peace Choir). This was their first trip to the United Kingdom and those that attended the concert enjoyed every minute of their singing. The Peace Choir, led by their musical director, Hans Rising have been singing since 1988 and have performed at many peace festivals. They are from Skeppsholmen, which is a small island in the centre of Stockholm, and have performed at many peace festivals and other events. Amongst the many places they have performed are Murmansk in Russia, Italy, France, Bolivia, Peru and the Nordic Countries.

Their programme consisted of folk songs from all over the world, particularly from their travels which included traditional Cuban, Swedish Norwegian and Georgian folksongs, as well as Hans Rising’s arrangement of Phil Collins’ ‘Another day In Paradise’. The audience was treated to some Swedish folk dancing which accompanied ‘Kom!’ a Swedish song in a traditional style. The whole evening was a wonderful blend of traditional Nordic music combined with a Cornish male voice choir that provided a complete musical contrast, which the assembled audience thoroughly enjoyed.

Afterwards came the ‘afterglow’ which was held in the theatre itself. Over a cup of tea and some homemade food, (plus the odd pint) a wonderful camaraderie developed between the two choirs which went on until, like Cinderella leaving the ball, Mousehole’s Pumpkin arrived (before midnight) to whisk everyone away! Thank you to our ladies who produced some lovely food to entertain our guests, it was very much appreciated. Thank you also to Fredskören for providing a Cornish audience with a unique and beautiful Nordic evening.