Reporter: Dr Joe Dawson
Date online: 11/06/2008

There was a seasonal air about St Mary's, and the season was summer. The Festival 80 Choir showed that it is still going strong. Musical director Valerie M Chadwick with accompanist Philip Lowe led the 60-strong mixed voice choir through some challenging music by Haydn in the first half. 'The Seasons' holds some beautiful but demanding music and is not performed very often. The choir sang some of the main choruses and portrayed the grandeur and variety of this fine work with great gusto. The original ethos of the choir was clearly alive and well, ie. giving everybody access to the delights of great choral music.

This was evident too in the same composer's better-known work, 'The Creation.' Here the chorus was aided and abetted by soloists Freda Jackson, Frank Kershaw, Samuel Harris and Barrie Brailsford.

The second half featured soprano Nicola Mills, one of Val's ex-pupils from Oldham who went on to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Her bright and clear soprano tone worked well in the acoustic and she communicated well with the audience, although why she didn't stand in the middle of the aisle instead of at the side defeats me. Her Alleluia by Mozart was a triumph and thankfully she responded to the demand for an encore by singing it again. Here was a worthy guest who greatly enhanced the variety and quality of the concert for the audience.

The choir interjected with items by Roberton, Vaughan Williams and Elgar, culminating in a rousing reprise of Haydn's great chorus from The Creation, which summed up the choir's efforts for the evening - 'Achieved is the glorious work!'

Toad Lane Performing Arts Centre
July 2002