Winchelsea singers in finevoice at St Thomas's church

The repertoire from the evening included Karl Jenkins’ “The Armed Man – A mass for Peace’, and favourites such as Laudate Dominum, Ave Verum, and The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves. There was then a complete change of mood with Negro spirituals and Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

Charlotte Beecroft, affectionately known as ‘Our Leader’ by the choir, summed the performance up in one word, “scintillating”, adding: “The soloists were outstanding, Grace Constable and Michael White joined the choir through the Armed Man, and then performed a stunning duet from Porgy and Bess. Michael White, sang ‘Old Man River’, a song he can now call his own. Gary Marriott and Anne Whiteman were in fine voices as part of the choir but also as soloists on the night.”

Musical Director, Duncan Reid says he was delighted with the performance. “The acoustics of St Thomas’ church is an audible pleasure for singers and audience alike, “ he said.

“The choir kept up the pace and spirit of the various works. You can tell when a choir is completely behind a composer’s work. If they enjoy singing it, it comes across in their performance, and they really enjoyed singing the whole programme.”

Winchelsea Singers have been performing for 40 years and hope new members will join the group; they rehearse on Tuesday afternoons in Winchelsea. For further information call Nadia on 01424 882948.