Spring Concert 2023

in aid of Acorns Children's Hospice

Saturday 25th March

St George's Church, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3DQ.

Along with our accompanist Sara Wilander on piano, we were joined this time by guest musicians

· Grace Farrell, Soprano

· Jody Smith, Violin

· Beth Bellis, Violin

· Victoria Strudwick, Viola

· Katy Nagle, Cello

Accompanied by the strings, we opened the first half with two classical choral pieces, Magnificat by Durante (attributed Pergolesi), followed by Kyrie Eleison from Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, with Grace singing the solo part.

Both choir and audience were enchanted by one of Sara’s young students, Joshua Cotterill, giving an accomplished performance of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in B Flat Major BMV 866, on the piano.

Next, Grace sang pieces by Handel and Faure and then joined us in singing Come to Me by one of our favourite composers, Dan Forrest.

To close the first half, we were accompanied by the strings again in singing Gloria and Cum Sancto Spiritu from Vivaldi’s Gloria in D Major.

After the interval we opened the second half with a traditional American folk song, Shenandoah, followed by John Michael Diack’s arrangement of two childhood nursery rhymes, Old Mother Hubbard and Sing a Song of Sixpence.

Grace, accompanied by Jody Smith, followed with two pieces - A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man from the musical Showboat.

We then sang I Believe, Tears in Heaven and What a Wonderful World and closed the concert with a stirring rendition of Joseph M Martin’s The Awakening, which we had first performed at our concert to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

In total our Spring Concert raised £693.98 for Acorns Children’s Hospice.

If you would like to experience the satisfaction of raising funds for some very worthy local charities, come and join us. Please see our Membership page for more details.