Grassington Singers joined by schoolchildren for sell out concert

THIS wonderful sell-out concert at Grassington Town Hall on December, 14, entitled The Spirit of Christmas, featured the Grassington Singers who were joined by singers from Threshfield Primary School and the Northern Dance Centre.

Let’s begin this review with a challenge. Can anyone top their age range for a combined choir event? 85 years will take some beating…and not just in Yorkshire I guess. Being able to bring together a group of singers from five to 90 years old is no mean feat. The sheer joy of taking part was obvious to all of us watching.

The concert included some separate pieces for the adults and the children but they combined on a number of occasions. The link between the choirs was their fabulous conductor Sarah Churcher whose animated direction was clearly infectious and helped the singers to create some colourful variations in style, from soft and subtle to energetic and rumbustious, all fitting the pieces perfectly. The children were given some amusing choreography to master too and this provided some real comedy which the audience loved.

Many in the audience commented on how the adult choir has developed over the last couple of years. Numbers have increased significantly which is fantastic and the strength in each section has grown. I felt the tenors and basses sang with much greater  confidence than before, despite their relatively small numbers, which bodes well for the future.

The children were full of vitality and clearly loved performing. Their diction was wonderful and their musicality was very impressive. I think a high point for all of us in the audience was the children’s Yorkshire version of The 12 Days of Christmas. It is a very amusing piece with lots of actions for the singers to perform and it was sung with great gusto.

The programme was varied and included popular numbers alongside lesser known songs. The audience was invited to join in a number of very well-known carols with the choir excelling in some of these as they sang the descant lines made famous in the iconic Nine Lessons and Carols service on Christmas Eve.

Altogether a wonderful afternoon to kick off Christmas in the Dales.