St Michaels Village

BACKGROUND

In May 1999, it was casually suggested that as St Michaels is such a very friendly village, it might be an idea to form a village choir. A handful of villagers, although rather doubting that in such a small community there would be enough interest to form a choir, still thought it was rather a splendid idea, and rehearsals were held in various members houses, followed by a glass of wine which was rather pleasant and ensured regular attendance!

As members increased, the venue for rehearsals was moved to the village hall (minus the wine!). The choir now has over 30 members, and since its formation has achieved an excellent reputation locally for their performances, which include a wide variety of music from Mozart to Gershwin. There is also a Barbers Shop quartet, the "Four Mugs", who add a light hearted element to the programme.

The main concerts are in June/July - the summer 2003 concert was held in the garden of one of the members to an audience of 200. The annual Christmas Concert is usually performed on the last Saturday before Christmas, and has proved to be extremely popular and well supported, with items by the choir, readings and carols for all.

The choir sing occasionally in the lovely local Church of St Michaels and all Angels, although the St Michaels Singers are not a Church Choir. Recently the Choir were invited to sing at the Mayors Charity Concert held in Tenbury Wells, which they did to much acclaim. The musical director/conductor is Bryan Fisher, and the accompanist is Jan Holloway.

Every concert given by the Choir is in aid of a local charity, and the support given by the local communities to this end is greatly appreciated.

2007 Activities

ST MICHAELS SINGERS CONCERT

JULY 14TH 2007

The omens were already positive for this concert as (remarkably) for this summer the evening was dry, warm and sunny. The ambitious 2006 performance of "The Armed Man", which had proved so successful, was referred to nostalgically by the packed audience as they gathered ready for this year's concert to begin.

The eclectic 2007 programme was an inspired choice by Bryan Fisher and a fitting tribute to the memory of Pauline Free and Dr. John Sharp to whom the concert was dedicated. From the fiery beginnings of the opening excerpts from "Carmina Burana"

With an excellently-conceived first solo by Paul Bayliss, and onto the clear and melodious tones of this year's guest soloist, David Barclay, (singing three very varied pieces in three separate languages) the first half was a wonderful celebration of local talent and dedicated commitment. John Swindells' owm composition to Hilaire Belloc's 'The Birds' concluded a powerfully - delivered first half which had also included a trumpet solo by John Swindells, a J.S. Bach duet by Bryan Fisher and Jackie Bunn and an organ piece by Michael Hart.

After the interval, we were given a tribute to Sir Edward Elgar, in this the 150th anniversary of his birth. Michael Hart's rendition of Nimrod No.9 was truly moving and demonstrated the resilience and glory of the church organ. Graham Pender's evocative poem 'After Gerontius' provided a chance for the audience to hear the spoken word after the Singers haunting opening of Ave Verum Corpus.

The finale, Vivaldi's Gloria was a magnificent culmination, filling every corner of the church. The duet of Jackie Bunn and Sophie Whitworth was a real treat in delicate harmony and Janet Penn gave a good solo performance. The Singers excelled themselves (and the audience's expectations) with their interpretations of the various melodies.

This is a very strong amateur group who have become more driven in their desire to meet the challenges of serious and testing music. Bryan Fisher has motivated The Singers into an ambitious cohesive unit of which he should be very proud; the only pity is that there are only two chances to hear this group each year!