On Saturday, March 23 a large audience came to Brecon’s St Mary’s Church for Brecon Singers’ concert, Shine in Peace.

They opened with McMillan’s ‘O Radiant Dawn’, with the choir erupting on the very opening notes to the delight of the audience. Then followed a wide variety of music centred on choral and organ pieces by Stanford; the centenary of his death fell on March 29 1924, and Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs, where the baritone soloist was Robert Pritchard, whose effortless vocal range and affection for the text shone throughout his performance. He also sang the aria ‘It Is Enough’ from Mendelssohn’s ‘Elijah’, beautifully accompanied by organist, Hilary Norris and cellist, Alan Davies.

Nansi Jones, one of Brecon Singers’ bursary recipients, and a student at Brecon High School, also gave two delightful solos from the baroque composer Caldara, and Tim Minchin who composed the music for 'Matilda' the musical. Nansi is aiming for a career in music.

Brecon Singers
The concert was highly praised by the audience for the variety and quality of the performances (Image supplied)

One of the highlights of the evening was the first performance of a Brecon Singers’ commission, funded by the legacy of the late William Sydney Phillips: ‘Shine in Peace’, composed by Jonathan Willcocks to words written by choir member, Jean Ruston. The sheer beauty of the words and music were expressed perfectly by the choir.

The second highlight was Stanford’s ‘Bluebird’ with soprano choir member, Rosalind Reed ‘s sublime solo, divinely sung, with gentle accompaniment from the choir.

The concert was highly praised by the audience for the variety and quality of the performances.

Brecon Singers
The next performance by Brecon Singers will be on the opening night of the Brecon Choir Festival (Image supplied)

The next performance by Brecon Singers will be on the opening night of the Brecon Choir Festival in Brecon Cathedral on July 18. This will be ‘The Armed Man’ by Karl Jenkins with Brecknock Sinfonia, and soprano, Erin Thomas. There will be a Come & Sing workshop on ‘The Armed Man’ in the Neuadd, Christ College on Saturday July 13 , open to all singers – not to be missed!

For further details about Brecon Choir Festival 2024 and to purchase tickets for events please visit their website which can be found at: breconchoirfestival.co.uk/2024-programme