Bexhill Choral Society offer Christmas concert

Carols and Christmas Music for Choir and Audience, conducted by Kenneth Roberts, takes place at St Barnabas Church, Bexhill, TN40 1JG.

Spokeswoman Jenny Meteyard said “Carols and Christmas Music for Choir and Audience is, as always, a varied feast of seasonal music, previously described by an audience member as ‘a delightful entertaining Christmas evening’. There are familiar carols, some of which the audience are invited to sing, and traditional carols with a new setting, such as Kenneth Roberts’ Gloucestershire Wassail or John Rutter’s I Saw Three Ships which requires the choir to whistle as well as sing! Other pieces such as Holst’s Christmas Day or Donald Swann’s Christmas Candle may be less well-known but have great appeal. Popular local tenor Gary Marriott also joins the choir as soloist in some of the choral pieces, as well as performing solo items, adding another flavour to the feast.

“The concert also features seasonal favourites such as Frosty the Snowman and Winter Wonderland. These have wonderful and very entertaining arrangements by music director and conductor Kenneth Roberts for the Cinque Ports Brass Ensemble, which accompanies the concert along with Nigel Howard on piano and keyboard. Kenneth Roberts usually cannot resist playing saxophone as well! As a taster for the concert, Bexhill Choral Society’s 2019 recording of Winter Wonderland with brass can be heard on YouTube.”

Tickets are £14 in advance and £16 on the door (£12 for Friends of Bexhill Choral Society), available in advance from Second Spin in Sackville Road, choir members, online at ticketsource.co.uk/bcs or phone 01424 222801.

“Come along and enjoy a wonderful evening of music to put you in the right mood for the Christmas season!

“Bexhill Choral Society is a friendly non-audition choir singing a wide range of choral music, and always welcomes new members. There is increasing evidence that singing in a choir brings real health, emotional and social benefits as well as enjoyment, so why not give it a try? If that’s not for you, please do come and enjoy our concerts! To find out more – and hear excerpts from previous concerts – visit our website www.bexhillchoral.org.uk, email [email protected], or find us on Facebook.

“More than 70 years after its foundation the choir is still going strong! We have around 60 members and perform three concerts each year under the baton of our music director, conductor, musician and composer Kenneth Roberts. The choir performs a wide range of choral works from baroque to the Beatles including pieces composed by our music director. We rehearse on Wednesday evenings, from 7-9 pm, mostly at Little Common Community Centre, Shepherd’s Close, Little Common, Bexhill, TN39 4SQ but on the fourth Wednesday of each month at St Barnabas Church, Sea Road, Bexhill, TN40 1JG. Our accompanist is local organist and musician Nigel Howard.”