A Stourport Christmas

Last year’s planned Christmas concert was cancelled due to a problem at the venue and unable to meet during Covid, it was good for Stourport Choral to once again join forces with the award winning Stourport-on-Severn Brass Band and 16 youngsters from Lickhill Primary School Choir to provide another Christmas extravaganza.

After an opening fanfare from the band, the first number was an ‘audience carol’ when the audience, choir and band joined together to sing ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’ which got everyone in the right mood. The choir then sang a set of five numbers closing with a resounding ‘Joy to the World’. Unfortunately the choir were initially hampered by a technical problem with the electronic piano, but that was happily resolved a little later, but this did not impact the choir’s concentration under the able leadership of Brad Barlow .

The band led by Oli Wilson, with a number of very amusing seasonal tales, then provided a set of 3 numbers, which were all very well controlled and included a number of solo instrumental pieces along the way. The band are to be congratulated on winning the Midlands Area Championships for the Third Section and recently won numerous prizes at the Wychavon Festival of Brass entertainment contest, being placed 2nd overall. There then followed a joint item by the band and choir entitled ‘A Christmas Fantasy’ when they blended together well and included a very nice unaccompanied piece. During the interval that followed, the youngsters were invited to meet Father Christmas!

When the band returned for the 2nd half, they were suitable dressed in Christmas hats, bows and antlers, not to mention Oli’s ‘strictly’ style sparkling jacket! The Lickhill Primary School Choir then sang two numbers: ‘2000 Years Ago’ and ‘Winter Wonderland’, a credit to the school and their teachers. Stourport Choral then returned with a set of 5 numbers which gave them the deserved opportunity for the audience to appreciate their talent: the traditional ‘Sussex Carol’, a polish carol ‘Infant Holy’ with some nice harmonies, ‘Jingle Bells’, a Cornish traditional carol ‘Sans Day Carol’ and an unaccompanied ‘A Merry Christmas’.

The band then returned with three numbers: ‘Do They Know it’s Christmas’,  a gentle ‘Candlelight Carol’ and a well-controlled ‘Christmas Finale’. The band and choir then joined together with ‘Angelicus’ including some familiar carols mixed in and then the youngsters then joined in with a very funny version of ’12 Days of Christmas’ with an assortment of appropriate props. We all then sang ‘O Come all ye Faithful’ full of Christmas spirit.

Thank you for the usual warm welcome and I look forward to the next concert with music from film and musicals in April 2024.

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