A dark autumnal evening in Snelston saw locals heading for the parish church, to hear some of the Ashbourne Singers performing a selection of their popular songs, under the leadership of Linda Perry Smith, with Steve Duckworth at the piano.
The concert was held to raise funds for the church, sadly in need of repair.
A rousing start with Every time I feel the spirit brought the audience to attention, then a change of mood as the choir sang Ave verum corpus, Locus iste and Cantique de Jean Racine. For the beauty of the Earth arranged by Rutter was followed by the popular TV theme tune from the Vicar of Dibley – The Lord is my shepherd. Disney’s Candle on the water from the film Pete’s Dragon preceded the finale before the interval, Hallelujah! by Leonard Cohen.
The ladies of the church kindly provided delicious refreshments to both audience and choir, as the singers resumed with Chatanooga choo choo and Gershwin’s Summertime. Then a moment of comedy as the gentlemen put on policemen’s helmets and sang the Gendarmes’ duet, bobbing up and down as they ‘brought them in’!
Two songs from Simon and Garfunkel’s repertoire, the Sound of Silence and Bridge over troubled water brought the concert to its last piece, which was a medley from the Phantom of the opera.