Gravesham Choral Society and Bexley Youth Choir combined on Saturday evening at St George’s Church Gravesend to produce a memorable concert. The quality of the singing throughout was very high and a varied programme had something for every musical taste represented in the audience.
Gravesham began the concert with Pergolesi’s Magnificat, sung with their usual accuracy and sensitivity. This was followed by a selection of sacred and secular songs from Bexley Youth Choir sung with great charm and obvious pleasure under the direction of John Mackenzie. It was a really impressive display of choral singing and the applause for each item was rapturous and richly deserved. Their programme included three highly accomplished a cappella items sung by the trio of Katie Martin, Bethan Wellbrook and Katie Wellbrook.
The main piece in the concert was a performance of Saint-Saëns’ Mass for Two Choirs, in which the Youth Choir sang the semi-chorus sections and a baritone solo was sung by John Harding. This was accompanied by two contrasting organs – the main church one played by Geoffrey Lester and a small accompanying one played by Roger Harris, who is coincidentally the rehearsal accompanist for both choirs.
The finale was a rendition of Parry’s anthem I was glad when they said unto me again sung by both choirs. This was a brilliant and rousing conclusion to the concert, under the masterful baton of Gravesham’s conductor Alan Vincent, and again really well appreciated by the audience.
Copyright © Gravesham Choral Society 2006