Cromwells sing up for Beedon 800, raising £1,300

The Cromwell Singers: Christmas Blessings
at the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Chieveley
on Saturday, December 9

Review by HELEN BOMGARDNER

The Cromwell Singers treated a large audience to a most enjoyable Christmas concert on Saturday. Music director Trevor Defferd inspired his enthusiastic choir to a high standard.

Pianist Jevan Johnson Booth accompanied the choir with great sensitivity and trumpeter Edmund Tyler and flautist Claire Cundy added glorious colour to the singing.

A smiling choir sang a joyful and high-spirited We Will Walk in the Light which, with added tambourine, was both animated and rhythmically impressive. Singing a cappella, they gave a lovely rendition of John Tavener’s The Lamb: haunting, tender and rich in texture.

Throughout the concert, the Cromwell Singers impressed me with their expressive singing, clear articulation and use of dynamics. Eric Whitacre’s Seal Lullaby, gentle and loving, was a highlight, with the choir bringing out the beautiful colours in the music.

Cromwell Singers are very fortunate to have good soloists within the choir. In the choir’s heartwarming For Good, from the musical Wicked, Pam White and Rebecca Golding sang most expressive solos. Dramatic and full of emotion, Pam’s performance of Puccini’s aria O Mio Babbino Caro was superb.

With Mike Luke on guitar, Nick Ashton’s rendition of I’ll Never Find Another You was popular with the audience. Sung most eloquently by Mike in Welsh, Ar Hyd y Nos (All Through the Night) was one of three songs devoted to the memory of Trevor’s father Alwyn on the anniversary of his death.

The second half of the concert featured Christmas music. Sheep were a recurring theme throughout the programme, both in songs and in entertaining anecdotes from Trevor. Woolly sheep, scattered around the church, added to the fun. The choir’s lively Run, Run, Shepherds was joyful and uplifting with glorious ‘Allelujahs’.

Mike Braide’s delightful reading of A Visit from St. Nicholas was great fun. In an expressive O Holy Night, soloist Chrissie Carnie and the choir captured the sense of wonder at Christ’s birth.

I so enjoyed Jim Clark’s rendition of Count Your Blessings Instead Of Sheep, which led into a festive White Christmas. We were delighted to join the choir in repeating the song, bringing a splendid concert to a close.

The concert raised £1,300 for the Beedon’s Grade I-listed St Nicholas' Church’s Beedon 800 Celebrations.