““I missed this message, but thankfully not the concert. Two of us just sneaked in at the back, but we could hear fine. I enjoyed all the music - Faure cello was great. From Armed man I especially enjoyed Charge! It was exhilarating. Well done to all. ”
”
Audience Ovation for the Stanborough’s Carmina Burana
Wow! As the final chord of “O Fortuna” thundered out by 6 percussionists, 2 keyboards and 2 choirs died away there was a short silence before a shout of appreciation from the back of the hall signalled a wave of thunderous applause from the packed audience. What a great performance of this iconic work that was on Saturday night at St Edmund’s! A packed venue, with not room enough to fit in even one more person, three soloists at the top of their game, a dynamic percussion team, two top keyboard players and two choirs, the Stanborough and the Chamber Choir of Torquay Girls’ Grammar School who sung their collective hearts out, all held together under the baton of dynamic conductor Christopher Fletcher. And it was a joy to see children and young people in the audience at a classical music concert.
The evening began with the three soloists, soprano Gillian Ramm, tenor Matthew Minter and bass Andrew Mayor each singing a personal favourite, followed by two items from the school choir, conducted by music teacher Helen Haviland. All this was brilliantly accompanied by the two keyboard players, Paul Foster and our own Irina Kosogova. Then the Stanborough took their place for the main item, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, and from the first sung notes and ace timpanist Michelle Hiley’s drum roll, you knew that this was going to be a special performance. After the interval, it was tenor Matthew Minter, suitably attired in pristine white dinner jacket and a white feather boa, who stole the show singing the impossibly high and strangulated notes of the poor dying roasted swan!
Earlier in the evening, before his solo, Matthew had spoken eloquently about the future of choral music in this country and especially about his dismay at the proposed axing of the BBC Singers. Well said, Matthew! So, it was really encouraging to see the young people in the audience and have the participation of the TGGS chamber choir. Hopefully, the experience of Saturday night will inspire them to continue singing in choirs once they leave school and go to university and on to adult life. Here in the South Hams, we in the Stanborough Chorus are committed to raising the funds necessary to bring the best soloists and musicians to our concerts for the enjoyment and delight of our audiences.
Finally, a huge “thank you” to everyone involved in any way for your hard work in presenting Saturday’s concert. It was a blast!
“Hi Andrew!
Thank you for your lovely email and for looking after us all so well. It was a pleasure to be there with a great team and sing to a packed church! Very many thanks to our gracious hosts as well.
Best wishes,
Gillian ”
“Dear Andrew,
It was my absolute pleasure to sing with you and Stanborough Choral again on Saturday. Carmina is such a fun work to perform and is right up there as one of my favourite roles!
Thanks to you and everyone involved with the choral society for making this happen. I was thrilled to hear that it was a sellout and indeed that 30 more chairs had to be scrambled to fit everyone in!
There is a photo on my Facebook page which I took ‘backstage’ on Saturday - so do feel free to use this - added below.
There is also another photo of me in action at a past performance if you care to scroll through my Facebook page - Matthew Minter.
I very much look forward to working with you all again…
With very best wishes,
Matthew”
Praise for Haydn's Creation
“Want to say how much I’ve just enjoyed the Haydn’s Creation concert in Modbury tonight. Choir and orchestra were very good, plus all 3 soloists excellent , and very energetic conductor. Big Congratulations to everyone”
“I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and send thanks and congratulations to everyone concerned. Lovely to see a packed church too!”
Praise for Britten's St. Nicolas & Haydn's Little Organ Mass:
“Wonderful concert at Stokenham last night. The St Nicolas was particularly stunning, the choirs were in great form and the young people from Kingsbridge in the gallery sang absolutely beautifully. Loved the pickled boys and the orchestra gave it their all with great gusto. Neil Jenkins was excellent as St Nicholas and really demonstrated his skills at engaging with the audience! A treat for those of us who were there and a recommendation for the future for those who weren’t”
“Just to say what a wonderful evening we had last night. Everything seemed to come together to make it very uplifting and enjoyable.”
“Thanks to all concerned.The performance was crisp and articulate. Interesting dynamically, as usual but the atmosphere was terrific, busy, sociable and very welcoming I shall look forward to visiting again .
The programme was neatly balanced, my favourite was St Nicholas – loved it and I thought all the young singers were absolutely terrific, especially Sharon’s chamber choir. ”
Praise for the Buckfast Abbey Christmas Concert:
“We all thought the choir was better than ever and Moira was on top form. Please congratulate Christopher and Jason and thank everyone.”
Buckfast Abbey: Many thanks to all those in the congregation too, who contributed to the collection so generously. A record £917.61 was raised for the Primrose Foundation for breastcare, Derriford Hospital!
Carols For All: St Edmund’s Church was packed on Christmas Eve. In fact, the church was more full than ever. A record £1039 was collected for Saltstone Caring and Refugee Support, Devon!
Praise for Horizons & Songs of the Sea:
“The choir has a great balance. A great sound, well controlled. Thank you for inviting me to sing with you. ”
“Every time I come to your concerts the choir gets bigger and better.”
“Horizons was so difficult. What a good job the choir did. The soloists were brilliant too.”
“I loved it. I’d been to the choir a few times but didn’t feel ready to sing. Actually I felt so lucky to be in the audience.”
Praise for the Stanborough's Summer Supper Concert:
“That was hugely entertaining...what a good evening.”
“I’m in a choir...we don’t have as much fun as you do. You look as if you’re all enjoying it so much!”
“I loved ‘The Long Day Closes.’ The choir responded to Christopher so well. The last few bars gave me goosepimples.”
“Brilliant!
Such fun I wanted to join in....and I can’t sing!”
“Your soloists were excellent!”
(The concert was a sell out...we had people on standby,
so get your tickets early for our Christmas Concert at Thurlestone!)
Praise for the Stanborough's Production of Elijah:
“My congratulations to the choir for all their hard work. I would be grateful if you could pass on my thanks and congratulations to all, but especially to Moira who sang in the trio. I missed her at the end of the concert and I thought she was marvellous. ”
“I thought Nick Merryweather was just brilliant. He really lived the part. I would have paid twice as much just to hear him.”
“I really liked Nick. He was so kind and helpful.”
“I just wanted to say I thought Elijah was brilliant. My friend and I enjoyed it so much. We’ve never been to one of your concerts before. What a good sound the choir makes! Please let me know about the next one !”
