St. John's Church, Tenby Tuesday 13/07/10

Conductor: Dr. Nancy Mann Accompanist: Gerald Nicholas

The choir began with "Now is the month of Maying" and a pair of John Rutter's settings of Shakespearean texts, before moving to a few of the newer pieces in their repertoire, including a setting of WB Yeats' "The Lake Isle of Innisfree".

This liking for adaptations of poetic classics was followed by the first soloist, mezzo-soprano Marian Graceson, who, besides dwelling warmly on the world of Nature with songs about the cuckoo, daisies and skylarks, also sang settings of works by Tennyson and Christina Rossetti.

As the concert was on the cusp of its second half, Dr. Mann decided to vary the mix, first of all by involving the audience as part-singers in a version of "Sumer is icumen in", and then by introducing a second soloist in the person of a choir debutant, Stephanie Dewick, who sang "All My Trials". The two soloists" voices complemented each other extremely well, with the elegance of Marion's singing offering a fine contrast with the warmth and colour of Stephanie's voice.

After a selection of Irish, Scots and Welsh airs, including "Ar Hyd Y Nos", and a return from Marian, the choir produced a flamboyant and vigorous finale with a group of songs mainly of American origin, including "The Rhythm of Life" and "Can"t Help Falling in Love".

Rose Goodall was the soloist in a lively rendering of "Funiculi" and then, in the absence of Hillary Price, the choir's chief finger-snapper, the audience was brought in again as percussion in a version of the Phil Spector song, "Chapel of Love", which surely eclipsed the Ronettes' version currently available on You Tube.

Robert Nisbet