Weymouth Choral Society

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Carols for Marie Curie at Brewers Quay
3rd December 2009

Weymouth Choral Society members will be singing carols from the balcony at Brewers Quay, Weymouth on Saturday 19th December 2009 from 3 to 4pm.

This Christmas, the society will be raising funds for Marie Curie Cancer Care as part of the charity's 'Sing Out for Marie Curie' campaign. There will be a bucket collection for the charity following our Christmas Concert concert on Saturday 12th December at Holy Trinity church and also at Brewers Quay. We hope that you will give what you can at this special time of year.

Choral Society 'Bobs' along at Weymouth Carnival!
19th August 2009

Photograph courtesy of The Dorset Echo.

Weymouth Choral Society members helped to raise funds for Weymouth Carnival on Wednesday 19th August by selling tickets to win various sizes of Spongebob Squarepants. 'Bob' seemed to be a very popular character, judging by the clamour to buy tickets and many young patrons left with a wide grin and a new square friend! The day was hot and sunny and proved to be a great success for the carnival organisers.

Society Members sing for John Rutter
12th July 2009

On Sunday 12^th July, a group of Weymouth Choral Society members and friends left Weymouth early in the morning so that the singers could take part in the The Really Big Chorus Singday 2009 at The Royal Albert Hall in London.

A total of over 1900 choir members from all over the

U.K.

and Europe gathered to rehearse and perform Ralph Vaughan Williams’s ‘O Be Joyful in the Lord’ and the John Rutter Requiem, under the baton of its famous and popular composer. It was a wonderful experience for everyone to be able to sing in the historic venue but it was made even more special by being conducted and instructed by John Rutter, who proved to be as popular as his music, judging by the cheers from the choir at the end of the performance. The choir was accompanied by The English Festival Orchestra and the programme also included a selection of Vaughan Williams pieces including ‘The Lark Ascending’ with the haunting solo violin of Thomas Gould.

Review of The Creation, Saturday 28th March 2009
28th March 2009

The Creation, Haydn’s masterly oratorio, is one of the great choral works of the musical world and this performance brought all the power and beauty of the piece to vivid life.

Under the baton of Helen Brind, the combined efforts of this excellent choral group, together with the full orchestra of Wessex Sinfonia and three professional solo singers, the result was a triumphal celebration bringing to life the opening chapter of the Old Testament and Milton’s Paradise Lost.

Local Soprano Abbi Temple brought magic to the role of Garbriel while tenor Jonathan Grey and bass Andrew Foan delivered with spirit and lyrical expertise the roles of Uriel and Raphael.

The emphasis of this work mainly falls upon the shoulders of the orchestra and the Wessex Sinfonia players gave a stunning account of the many moods of the piece from the gently reflective tones of the angels to the cascades of sounds depicting storms and the full glory of the creation of man in a masterpiece of musical inventiveness.

And if the orchestra of 30 plus musicians occasionally overwhelmed the solo singers, the acoustics of the church made up for such small shortcomings in an evening that has raised the standards of musical endeavour to fresh dizzy heights in the town.

Marion Cox

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