Last Saturday, 14th December, David Wynne put on his Christmas Suit (!) and led the singers of Birmingham Festival Choral Society and their friends and family in an evening of Christmas music and readings.

It’s hard to imagine a Carol Concert without music by Rutter! Our audience was treated to three of Rutter’s carols, as well as Christmas music by Tchaikovsky, Joubert, and many arrangements by David Willcocks. One highlight was The Three Kings, by Cornelius, with the baritone solo sung beautifully by Barry Jones , standing in at short notice for a croaky David Wynne. David’s voice was good enough, though to read out Christmas cracker jokes between the items!

We also heard readings from A Christmas Carol, (Dickens), The Oxen (Hardy) and Journey of the Magi (Rust)

We were pleased to have a chance to sing Ring the Bells by Paul Fincham once more. We were one of 15 choirs singing this new carol in performances on Saturday 14th December – the listing on the London Philharmonic website showed many performances during December, with all proceeds from the sale of the music going to the charity Crisis.

Our charity for this year was The Cameron Grant Memorial Trust, set up after Cameron took his own life in 2014. Cameron’s father told us how the charity aims to support young people with mental health difficulties, and to encourage them to seek help and talk about how they feel. Our generous audience and singers put £600 in the collecting buckets.

Our concert finished with an enthusiastic rendition of Jingle Bells, with members of the audience invited to join in by shaking their keys! Then it was time for the mulled wine and mince pies and a chance to chat to friends and family.

Happy Christmas to you all!