Ashbourne Singers Easter Concert 2018 – In Aid of the Dignity Project
This year’s charity for the Ashbourne Singers Easter Concert was the Dignity Project which helps young women in African countries.
On an unusually warm spring evening, the Ashbourne Singers presented us with an eclectic mix of music to please different tastes. You Made Me Love You opened the concert with an upbeat jazzy feel that suited the singers very well.
Modern day pieces, excellently sung by the Young Singers, included Day by Day from Godspell, Mad World by Tears for Fears, Wake Me Up by Avicii and Somewhere Out There from An American Tale. The Young Singers nurtured by Steve Duckworth continue to please audiences with their enthusiasm and love of the music.
Most of the audience are unlikely to have heard of the American acapella group ‘Pentatonix’ who have a unique style of harmonisation. The Singers version of Run To You was performed with precision, making the most of the pauses in the music.
Peggy Seeger’s song Love Call Me Home was a lovely addition to the Singers repertoire with a really nice soft sound that befits the sentiment of the song really well. The first half also included Like A Singing Bird by Bob Chilcott and Look at The World by John Rutter.
One of the benefits of having the concerts in the Methodist Church is the wonderful Tea and Cakes provided by the ladies of the church; no surprise that the interval was longer than usual!
The second half opened with two songs by the Young Singers; a confident multi layered version of Chariots Coming based on the spiritual Swing Low and Bob Chilcott’s Can You Hear Me?, complete with a signed chorus reflecting the wonder of a world seen through the eyes of a deaf child.
I Watch The Sunrise by John Glynn and Colin Murphy is such an emotive and meaningful hymn and this arrangement by Steve Duckworth painted a lovely picture with the Young Singers singing the first two verses before the full choir joined in.
Steve likes to take the audience on a journey at these concerts and one of his favourite things to do at Easter is to produce a Mixed Up Mass. This year the Mass comprised of Kyrie (Little Organ Mass – Haydn), Gloria (Vivaldi), Sanctus (Jenkins), Locus Iste (Bruckner) and a gospel setting of the Agnes Dei, ‘Now Behold The Lamb’ (by Kirk Franklin). David Crossfield conducted the Gloria so that Steve could play the frenetic piano parts and Steve provided the gospel solos for the final number.
Something Inside So Strong by Labi Siffre and a rousing spiritual Little David Play On Your Harp closed the concert on a high.
Credits:
Piano and Trumpet: Josh Short
Flute, Saxophone and Piano: Sophie Freeman.
Flute (Kyrie): Mary Tyers
Young Soloists: Beth Schratz (Day By Day); Mina & Sara, Ellie-Mae & Eloise, Amy & Millie (Wake Me Up); Esther & Zoe (I Watch the Sunrise)
We thank the following for their support:
All musicians and helpers within the family of Ashbourne Singers,
St. John’s Church, Methodist Church,
St. Oswald’s Church
Natural Choice, Ashbourne.