Saturday 11th July was another hot day for the UK. In spite of soaring temperatures we managed to soar musically in our Summer Concert, 'Feel the Spirit'under the direction of our wonderful MD Veronica Fewkes. The programme included 'Songs and Sonnets' by George Shearing, setting Shakespeare's (or Marlowe's?) words to music, John Rutter's 'Feel the Spirit'; spirituals but not as we usually hear them. We were accompanied once again by the virtuosic keyboard playing of Gavin Stevens, Jane Peckham on double bass and Samuel Firsht on drums. The bass and drum backing really lifted our performance. Rebecca Hughes sang the mezzo soprano solos with such clarity and depth of feeling, and she also sang a couple of solo songs accompanied by Gavin: the very moving 'Homeward Bound' by Marta Keen (not Simon and Garfunkel!), and the swinging 'Ain't Misbehavin' by Fats Waller and Harry Brooks with words by Andy Razaf, which showed that opera singers can perform anything! We were joined once again by the Semiquavers from Seaford Primary School, with their conductor Kate Steer. They sang their hearts out, and with great confidence. Although it was extremely warm (a slight understatement) strategically placed fans kept the packed church, both audience and performers reasonably cool. We felt we sang better than at any of the rehearsals, and we hope that those who braved the heat were uplifted by the glorious music-making. Many thanks to all who made this concert possible, but particular thanks to Veronica who pushes us to not only sing but to perform to the very best of our strictly limited abilities. We are all grateful for Veronica's persistence and patience and I believe on this occasion we did her proud! We certainly enjoyed performing for such an appreciative audience.

We start rehearsing for our Christmas concert on Monday 7th September at 7.00pm at Seaford Baptist Church. We always welcome new members, so if you feel like choral singing may be for you, just come along and give us a try!