Audlem Voices Christmas Concert

Noël Sing! Ding! Ding! Ding! Cheep! Cheep!

We were lucky! Midwinter frost aplenty, but thankfully no frosty wind making moan as Audlem Voices assembled for our first Christmas Concert since 2019.

2019!!!! Who can even remember that pre-historic era now?

What joy to see a sizeable audience of Audlemites – and even some hardy souls from distant parts like Buerton and Hatherton and Hankelow – cheerfully ignoring the cold and taking their places in the pews of St James, anticipating an evening of Christmas music and mince pies.

And what a musical feast awaited them!

Jon Richardson, Chair of Audlem Voices, warmly welcomed everyone, and introduced Jenny Collis-Smith, our Musical Director, and accompanist Naomi Newman, who have been working tirelessly since September to prepare the choir for this moment.

We lifted off with Noël Sing!, Gerald Brown's lovely translation and arrangement of the old French carol 'Noël Nouvelet', perfectly setting the tone for our programme.

The audience now had their first opportunity to take part (with commendable vigour) in Hark, the Herald Angels Sing, before the choir rose again to offer the hauntingly beautiful O Holy Night, Adolphe Adam's famous Christmas canticle, as arranged by John Rutter, with its tremendous final crescendo "His power and glory ever, ever more proclaim!"

Something much more soft and light followed, and guess what? It was another piece by John Rutter (not that Jenny is obsessed, or anything...)! The Colours of Christmas tells us that green, white and red, orange and yellow are the colours of Christmas and happiness, not forgetting blue, silver and gold and even a rainbow!

But it was a different John who composed our next piece (oh dear, is Jenny sometimes unfaithful to her hero?)...

Follow this link to read the full report! https://voices.audlem.org/concert-reports/christmas-concert-2022.html