THE evening of Oct 17, 2007 saw 85 silver-haired Cornishmen troop onto the stage of the Esplanade Concert Hall. Under the watchful eye and attentive ear of their Musical Director, Elaine Tangye, they regaled the delighted flag-waving audience with a mix of old Cornish favourites and hymn arrangements, including “Myfanwy”, “Hail to the Homeland”, “Softly As I Leave You” and the stirring Cornish National Anthem, “Trelawny”.
They delivered rich, sonorous performances throughout the evening, with a vocal blend that any amateur choir would be proud to call its own. Of particular note was “The Floral Dance”, which featured a mature and warm solo voice, culminating with an audience sing-a-long, and an impromptu stage jig by their Musical Director.
The programme was nicely varied. They chose to break up the solid choral presentation with diverse and captivating solo performances by their two accompanists, Elizabeth Sidebotham (Piano) and Philip Taylor (Organ), and also by the Methodist School of Music’s own Organist/Lecturer (and The Esplanade’s Pipe Organ Master), Dr Evelyn Lim.
The Esplanade was the first stop of the choir’s autumn tour. The Cornishmen were scheduled to continue on to promote Cornish music and singing at various churches and venues throughout New Zealand.
The choral and musical evening with the Trelwany Male Choir was presented by the Methodist School of Music as part of its 10th Anniversary celebrations. It was attended by the Guest-of-Honour, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, and Mr Paul Madden, the British High Commissioner to Singapore.
Colin Lim is a member of Wesley Methodist Church. He enjoys singing in The Celebration Chorus.
Dream positive dreams, kindergarten staff and kids told
BARKER ROAD Methodist Church Kindergarten held its 40th Annual Concert at the ACS Concert Hall on Oct 5, 2007.
The theme was “Once Upon a Dream”. Parents, ushers, traffic wardens, teachers and children came dressed as fairy-tale characters.
The children enacted various fairy tales that evening. The Rev Malcolm Tan, Pastor-in-Charge of Barker Road Methodist Church, challenged the kindergarten staff and children to “dream positive dreams anchored in Christ and the Kingdom of God”.
The concert was a great success and all went away not only entertained but refreshed and inspired. All glory and praise be to our Lord God Almighty! – LEONG SAU LING, Principal of Barker Road Methodist Church Kindergarten.