Lockington

On 1st April we returned to the wonderful welcoming music-lovers of Lockington who provided us with customary country hospitality before and after the show.

An opening bracket of some well-known Welsh tunes culminated in the enthusiastic audience getting into the spirit of the concert with Bread of Heaven.

Choristers and patrons alike got further into the swing of things with our 60s medley, pacemakers and all, with input from soloists Roger Bartlett, Drew Hopkins and Ed Hughes. The choir further showcased the depth of talent in its ranks with Barry McMahon singing Stout-hearted Men and Graeme Sanderson wielding the truncheon in When A Felon’s Not Engaged. Compère Bob Ash closed out the first half with a tremendous Working Man which drew sustained applause and whetted the audience’s appetite for what was to come.

The second half started with choruses from Il Trovatore followed by a bravura performance from the choir and Drew Hopkins of the Septet from The Merry Widow.  The audience then heartily joined in with the final choruses from a new arrangement of When The Saints which is one of the songs to be sung in the Choir of the World concert at London’s Festival Hall on 7 July.

The Bendigo Balladeers (Rob and Merle Hopman, Ken Simpson and Wayne Blandford) widened the choir’s range with some rousing bush ballads in both halves. Roger Bartlett entertained with a Beatles ballad and a wonderfully controlled Maria from West Side Story. He was also the soloist in the dramatic Les Mis medley which closed the show to much acclaim.