21 December 2024: Christmas concert
Musicians have been a significant part of our church for at least fifty years and possibly much longer. We even have our own orchestra, which practises in our church hall every month. They only put on a few public performances each year, the annual Christmas Concert in our church being one of their regular fixtures. Their current conductor is a retired Director of Music from our local Boys’ Grammar School, who lives in our parish.
They held their Christmas Concert in our church hall at noon today. One advantage of using our hall, rather than the older part of the church, is that they are used to the acoustics. The disadvantage is that there are so many in the orchestra there isn’t much space left for the audience. That said, we always manage to accommodate all who wish to attend.
This year the orchestra laid on tea/coffee and mince pies before they played. It gave those of us in the audience time to chat.
The programme consisted of a selection of well-known Christmas favourites, including a “Christmas Sing-a-lon” which enabled us all to sing just one verse from each of four carols.
Overall there was more participation by the audience this year. Some orchestra members were unable to take part so the audience had to provide the sound effects for “Jingle Bells” and “Sleigh Ride”. We had “Jingle Bells” twice as the orchestra was unable to play “Troika” owing to the absence of a key musician.
It was a very happy and enjoyable occasion.