TRIP: On July 15, some sixty members of Caldicot Male Voice Choir travelled through the quiet country lanes and rolling hillsides of Wiltshire and Dorset to finally arrive in the picturesque village of Wimbourne St Giles, home of the Earls of Shaftesbury.

Every year the St Giles Church council bedecks the church in a wonderful display of flower arrangements and sculptures.

This year’s theme was Country Ways and the choir positioned itself against the magnificent wooden screen of the 18th century Georgian church surrounded by over thirty magnificent floral displays. 

The choir, conducted by Siân Hatton and accompanied by Stephen Berry and John Nicholson performed a wide mix of favourites including Welsh hymns Rachie, Cwm Rhondda, Laudamus, Eli Jenkins’ Prayer and Malotte’s The Lord’s Prayer through to fast moving The Lady is a Tramp, With a Voice of Singing and Ride the Chariot.

These pieces contrasted with the Welsh songs Anfonaf Angel the traditional, tragic, Welsh folk song, Bugeilio’r Gwenith Gwyn, The Impossible Dream featured in The Man of La Mancha and Mansions of the Lord from the film We are Soldiers.

The choir also delighted the audience with its premier performance of Shenandoah.

In a long, varied programme, Siân Hatton delighted the audience with a rendition of the humorous Marriott Edgar poem Albert and the Lion accompanied on piano by Stephen Berry.

The programme included a performance from a four piece brass ensemble made up from young pupils of the local Queen Elizabeth School who delighted the audience with an exploration of musical styles beginning with Fly me to the Moon included Baroque, Handel’s Hornpipe from Water Music, Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake right through to Sir Duke by Stevie Wonder and La Cucaracha, finalising with the Glenn Miller classic In the Mood.

The foursome form part of the thirty odd strong school orchestra who perform over thirty concerts a year.

If you would like more information please visit the choir’s website at caldicotmalevoicechoir.co.uk.