Last Saturday my ladies choir, The Pewsey Belles, put on an evening concert at St Andrew’s Church in Collingbourne Ducis, Wiltshire. This was a first for the choir. At least it the first time they had ever done something completely on their own. Up to now we had always performed as part of a concert or gig arranged by someone else. However, after 2 and half years I decided it was well overdue that we should put on our own event!
I knew before we started, that 2 hours of just a choir singing, regardless of how good they might be, was definitely a little over the top. I therefore decided to invite some of the choir to sing either solos, duets or anything else they felt they could offer that would be suitable. As a result we ended up with a programme which included the full choir, the Bellettes (ladies barbershop group) as well as 3 solos, a duet and a trio.
Although I’m probably just a little bit biased, I genuinely felt the evening was a success. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it was perfect; there were one or two moments which could have perhaps been slightly more together and there was the occasional tuning issue. But, all things considered, it was a great effort by the ladies, particularly given that I had originally planned this concert to be in late March rather than January. Although we were largely singing repertoire that we knew well, the previous 2 months had been focussed on Christmas music so, in reality, there were only 3 rehearsals in January to prepare for this concert!
I was fortunate enough to secure the help of my good friend David Wrigley to play the piano for us. And he did a fantastic job which made a huge difference to the choir’s performance.
The Pewsey Belles Ladies Choir’s next public performance takes place at Amesbury Parish Church on 15 March 2014.