---

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Puccini Messa di Gloria – A Wonderful Evening of Music

What a memorable evening it was for Wadebridge Choral Society as we celebrated our 40th anniversary year with a stirring performance of Puccini’s Messa di Gloria alongside a selection of much-loved opera choruses. Puccini’s Messa di Gloria offers a fascinating glimpse into the early brilliance of a composer later renowned for operatic masterpieces such as La Bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly. The choir greatly enjoyed learning and performing this powerful and expressive work, together with several celebrated choruses from the operatic repertoire, including the Easter Hymn from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, the Triumphal March from Verdi’s Aida, and the final chorus from Mozart’s The Magic Flute.

As part of our anniversary celebrations, it is fitting to reflect on how Wadebridge Choral Society first began. The Society was formed following a casual staff-room conversation at Wadebridge School between Sandy Hancock (who is still singing with the choir today) and Janet Townsend, then Deputy Head of Music. Janet offered to conduct the new choir, while Verna Jones, Head of Music at the time, became accompanist. The choir’s first rehearsal took place on 14th January 1986 at the school, and just a few months later, on 10th May 1986, the inaugural concert was performed at Egloshayle Church. How fortunate we are that Sandy and Janet had that conversation all those years ago.

Huge thanks go to our outstanding soloists, Mark Hounsell and Jacob Dennison, and to the wonderful orchestra led by Philip Montgomery-Smith, whose musicianship helped make the evening so special. Wadebridge Choral Society is supported by many dedicated people, far too many to mention individually, but we would particularly like to thank our Musical Director Nicholas Danks and accompanist Stephen Tyrrell for their tireless work and commitment. We are also extremely grateful to Phil Tizzard, Stage Manager and our loyal supporters who regularly assist with staging and catering, to Wadebridge Bookshop for selling tickets and to our generous local sponsors for their continued support.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Carols by Candlelight at Egloshayle Church

“The time draws near the birth of Christ” is the opening line of Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem, In Memoriam AHH. This Christmas-themed section describes a misty night with distant church bells, reflecting on the passage of time with themes of hope and remembrance, concluding with the famous lines, “Peace and goodwill, goodwill and peace, peace and goodwill, to all mankind”. Wadebridge Choral Society’s accompanist, Stephen Tyrrell set these beautiful words to his own composition and the choir really enjoyed learning his beautiful music. Thanks to all who came to our ‘Carols by Candlelight’ Concert at Egloshayle Church on the 20th of December, the church was full with a great festive atmosphere and we enjoyed singing to such an appreciative audience.

Autumn concert at Wadebridge Town Hall on Saturday 15 November – Mozart

Thank you to everyone who came on Saturday, including orchestra, soloists, choir, Stephen Tyrell, Musical Director Nick Danks, and of course, our audience. What a pleasure to perform and listen to a glorious evening of Mozart. A particularly big thank you to our bass soloist Charlie Murray who stepped in at the last moment to cover for Jacob Dennison who was unwell.

Spring concert at St Endellion Church on Saturday 26^th April – Messiah!

Did you know of the unexplained tradition for audiences to stand for the “Hallelujah Chorus? There is an apocryphal story of King George II attending a royal performance of Messiah and supposedly rising to his feet during the Hallelujah Chorus, so could be a possible reason! To the delight of us all at WCS and The South West Baroque Orchestra, the audience rose to their feet as the choir sang the Hallelujah Chorus! It was a wonderful moment! Grateful thanks to all who attended and helped with the organisation of this amazing concert.

---

Christmas concert at Egloshayle Church on Saturday 21st December

---