Farnham Youth Choir’s 40th anniversary year was launched in style on Saturday 14th October, with a dazzling concert by the Senior Choir in St Andrew’s Church.
This musical celebration, conducted by Patrick Barrett and accompanied by Matthew Rickard, had the dual purpose of showcasing the choir’s talents alongside fundraising for our forthcoming trip to the World Choir Games in Auckland in July. We were delighted to have both co-leaders of Farnham Town Council in the audience, alongside several of their colleagues from the council, as well as former members of the choir, parents and friends.
As ever, the programme was hugely varied, with songs from the Renaissance up to the present day, and from around the world - with lyrics in Spanish, Latin, Hungarian and Malay - as well as featuring contemporary British composers Will Todd, Michael Higgins, Oliver Tarney and Ben Parry. The programme was interspersed with a wonderful oboe solo from FYC alum Amelie Budd as well as a captivating performance of a Massenet aria by Hannah Poulsom, another alum and FYC vocal coach. Current choir member Grace performed ‘Voi, che sapete’ from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and singer Maddie played an adagio by Platti on saxophone. Past and present singers explained to the audience what being a member of FYC means to them, and shared some of their memories of past tours.
All in all it was a wonderful evening with many musical highlights, as well as raising over £600 to kick-start FYC’s fundraising campaign. As a charity we believe that no child’s musical potential should be limited by their ability to pay. And so we ask you to help our choir to perform at the highest level, at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to represent the UK at the World Choir Games in New Zealand. Any donation, however big or small, will make a difference.