Strathmore – Côr Bach

Strathmore Unting Church: “A wonderful afternoon of music, fun and fellowship” “A great joy and inspiration” “Social history combined with beautiful music” “At the end, moved to tears” “If that is what heaven is like, I wouldn’t mind going there!”

The Indian summer finally broke on Sunday 1 June but it did nothing to dampen the spirits of the large audience who filled the Strathmore Uniting Church. Compère for the day was Tony Davies.

A rousing opening bracket of Welsh hymns with audience participation very quickly warmed up the congregation and their voices. These were also very effectively employed in the final chorus of When the Saints.

Ambrose Morgan delighted patrons with his humorous tale; John Evans, author of the informative hymn notes, was a melodramatic anvilist; Bob Ash was enthusiastically applauded for his powerful Working Man and Roger Bartlett worked his magic on And So It Goes.

In the second half, the choir rose to greater heights in the Celtic Caprice with strong solos by Roger and by Barry McMahon. Bob Ash gave us another thought-provoking and emotional song with Shelter which resonated with many patrons as the sale of their church had been reprieved only six months ago.

Drew Hopkins was dynamic, along with Roger, as they led the choir in a tour de force Cherchez la Femme. Finally, Roger featured again with his mellifluous bass-baritone voice in the stunning medley from Les Misérables.

As the choir surrounded the audience, the afternoon’s mutually satisfying musical magic was complete and everyone went home or to the splendid afternoon tea, with their spirits totally uplifted.

Audience comments included:

A wonderful afternoon of music, fun and fellowship. I enjoyed the way the choir members encouraged audience participation. Thank You. May God bless you. ~ Judith.

Thoroughly enjoyed each song. ~ Rosemary

Very enjoyable. Liked the explanations, very informative information provided between songs. Thought Anvil Chorus from Il Trovatore was a highlight (I like a bit of opera).

Very entertaining – a good varied programme.  Lovely to be able to walk to ‘live’ music. Thank you. Social history combined with beautiful music.  ~ Rosalie

Beautiful singing. A great joy and inspiration. God bless you all. ~ Trevor

A good variety of numbers. Some very moving numbers. Loved the solos. At the end, moved to tears. ~ Pat