Community choir Shine through the rain
ON Saturday, June 7, despite the torrential rain outside, Three Rivers Community Choir gathered for their summer concert, reports Lucy Rumens.
Over 200 people in the audience forgot the inclement weather as they were entertained by the 55-strong choir, joined by 30 pupils of Kennet School Chamber choir in their school hall.
Both choirs got off to a lively start singing Clean Bandit’s Symphony arranged by Three Rivers musical director and Kennet School head of performance Sue Garcia-Sierra.
Three Rivers continued with the lilting folk song Till the Stars Fall from the Sky showing their range and versatility in this first half with Dance for Love (Z. Randall Stroope), the pop classic Tears in Heaven and Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus.
The audience were also treated to the first two talented pupils’ solos from singer Jason Martin and guitarist Lola Dixon.
Kennet Chamber Choir gave an upbeat performance of Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield.
Three Rivers closed the first half with one of the highlights of the evening, Shine by Take That, with rousing lead vocals from the tenor section and added colour from pupils Albert Lister on drum kit and Nigel Wong on percussion.
After refreshments, Three Rivers launched into the familiar Hey Brother by Avicii before moving onto the gentler Irish Blessing by Bob Chilcott. All Things New (Elaine Hagenberg) and the traditional Native American Shoshone Love Song (Roger Emerson) completing Three Rivers’ second half line up.
These pieces were interspersed by stunning solo performances from Jack Ralph, Holly Legg and Hannah Gadsby.
Before the finale Kennet Chamber Choir returned to the stage with a toe-taping interpretation of Stargazing by Myles Smith also arranged by Sue Garcia-Sierra.
The two choirs joined forces again to complete the evening with the uplifting Circle of Life of The Lion King fame, with extra accompaniment from pupil Mathilda Wells on flute. It was clear that they were all enjoying themselves, with young and not-so-young voices raised together.
The hall, stage and lights looked amazing throughout thanks to the technical brilliance of pupils Thomas Burke and Max Danskin.
Sue Garcia-Sierra said: “It was an amazing concert! Every performer deserves a huge well done for delivering a challenging programme of music with equal measures of emotion, expression, confidence, gusto and skill. I couldn’t be prouder of them all.”
Three Rivers Community Choir meets on Thursdays at Winchcombe School, Newbury (during term time). No experience is necessary and there is no need to read music. All are welcome, there are no auditions.
Find out more on social media or email threeriverscommunitychoir @gmail.com
