News of 2010

May 1st
St Bartholomew and All Saints Church, Wootton Bassett

A standing ovation and glowing praise from the Mayor made the 'Gift to Wootton Bassett' concert a very special occasion. The Church of St Bartholomew and All Saints was full for this free concert given by the choir as a tribute to the people of Wootton Bassett. With over 80 choristers on stage the choir was superbly conducted by our Musical Director Edward-Rhys Harry who has a special talent for bringing out the best of the choir in a challenging environment. The Church was quite small but this led to an intimate atmosphere which was appreciated by the choir and audience.

In many of our Concerts we have had gifted  soprano, tenor or bass/baritone soloists who have delighted our audiences; however, the Concert showed that having superb instrumental soloists can also generate a great response.  We were very privileged to have Matthew Jones, one of the UK's most versatile instrumentalists to play the violin for us and in his two appearances produced superb performances, the Meditation from Thais was especially moving. He was admirably accompanied by Annabel Thwaite.

Matthew, together with Annabel and Mitch Jones, accompanied the choir and audience in a moving arrangement of 'The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended' a special arrangement by Edward-Rhys Harry

Our second soloist was chorister Mitch Jones. Mitch was a member of the Regimental Band of the Welsh Guards and gave us polished arrangements of 'The Lost Chord' on flugel horn and 'The Holy City' on trumpet, finishing with a virtuoso performance of the Post Horn Gallop, on the post horn.

David Williams from the choir was the soloist in 'Working Man' .

Annabel Thwaite accompanied the choir on the piano with great style and Berwyn Evans with his special humorous style was the compere.

All in all a very special and emotional concert