Concert Information - Concert Review Christmas 2013
A packed house, a beautifully decorated candle lit St Andrew’s Church and the resplendent jacket of their highly respected conductor, Adrian Pitts, set the scene for Paddock Wood Choral Society’s annual Christmas concert – The Glory of Christmas. The programme, as in previous years included a diverse mixture of Christmas music and in keeping with the Society’s ideals of encouraging young musicians, included performances by pupils from Tonbridge Grammar and Judd Schools.
The evening began with a beautiful solo, the opening verse of Once in Royal David’s City, by Julie Buchanan after which an enthusiastic audience joined in the remaining verses.
The centre piece of this year’s concert was Vaughan Williams’s - The First Nowell which was very well performed by the choir with some lovely tonal variation. Soloists Rachael Balcombe and Angus Morton, giving his first solo performance for the choir, was a joy to listen to. Outstanding confident performances were also given by the Tonbridge Grammar School Quartet consisting of Amelia Harding, Elizabeth Blyth, Harriet Trim and Isabelle Ormsby who provided much of the accompaniment for the piece.
In the next item we were able to enjoy one of first public performances of a new carol - Hush my Child written by Robert Blyth from Judd School and which had been a prize winner at the recent Sevenoaks School Christmas carol competition. The carol which proved to be a great success richly deserved the applause and appreciation shown by the audience for this talented young man.
A moving and sensitive performance of Ave Maria by the choir, soloist Rachael Balcombe and the Tonbridge Grammar School Quartet was dedicated to Ambrose Richardson a member of the choir who had recently passed away.
The second half of the evening included the audience joining in “in the Bleak Mid-Winter, the Cradle Song which included a delightful solo by Ann Tutt, a polished performance by the choir of JS Bach’s in dulci jubilo and a lovely solo by Megan Pitts in “When you wish upon a star”.
A break from the Christmas music was provided by guest Robert Blyth from Judge School whose new carol had been performed earlier in the evening and who displayed his splendid musical versatility with a fine performance of Mozart’s Horn concerto No2 Movement No1 accompanied by Rachael Balcombe on the piano.
After the audience carol “Joy to the World” the second guest from Judd School Haydn Crouchman playing the classical guitar gave a masterly performance of Verano Porteno by Astor Piazzolla.
Enthusiastic performances from the choir of Christmas favourites Jingle Bells, the Twelve Days of Christmas and A Merry Christmas, with traditional offering of the figgy pudding, brought a most enjoyable concert to its final carol a rousing version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
The evening began with a beautiful solo, the opening verse of Once in Royal David’s City, by Julie Buchanan after which an enthusiastic audience joined in the remaining verses.
The centre piece of this year’s concert was Vaughan Williams’s - The First Nowell which was very well performed by the choir with some lovely tonal variation. Soloists Rachael Balcombe and Angus Morton, giving his first solo performance for the choir, was a joy to listen to. Outstanding confident performances were also given by the Tonbridge Grammar School Quartet consisting of Amelia Harding, Elizabeth Blyth, Harriet Trim and Isabelle Ormsby who provided much of the accompaniment for the piece.
In the next item we were able to enjoy one of first public performances of a new carol - Hush my Child written by Robert Blyth from Judd School and which had been a prize winner at the recent Sevenoaks School Christmas carol competition. The carol which proved to be a great success richly deserved the applause and appreciation shown by the audience for this talented young man.
A moving and sensitive performance of Ave Maria by the choir, soloist Rachael Balcombe and the Tonbridge Grammar School Quartet was dedicated to Ambrose Richardson a member of the choir who had recently passed away.
The second half of the evening included the audience joining in “in the Bleak Mid-Winter, the Cradle Song which included a delightful solo by Ann Tutt, a polished performance by the choir of JS Bach’s in dulci jubilo and a lovely solo by Megan Pitts in “When you wish upon a star”.
A break from the Christmas music was provided by guest Robert Blyth from Judge School whose new carol had been performed earlier in the evening and who displayed his splendid musical versatility with a fine performance of Mozart’s Horn concerto No2 Movement No1 accompanied by Rachael Balcombe on the piano.
After the audience carol “Joy to the World” the second guest from Judd School Haydn Crouchman playing the classical guitar gave a masterly performance of Verano Porteno by Astor Piazzolla.
Enthusiastic performances from the choir of Christmas favourites Jingle Bells, the Twelve Days of Christmas and A Merry Christmas, with traditional offering of the figgy pudding, brought a most enjoyable concert to its final carol a rousing version of Hark the Herald Angels Sing.