In the little village of Borrowby, we arrived to find a beautiful church where Rachel Wyllie was already rehearsing her pieces much to the delight of those who heard her. I had thought that the 50 programmes I had brought with me would be enough, however as I stood out the front handing them out I soon realised that I had underestimated the call of the Stockton Male Voice Choir.

As the pews filled up with locals and friends and family of the choir, the gentlemen left the premises announcing that they had changed their mind! I am unsure whether they were seeking early access to the cakes that the ladies had prepared for us or actually warming up their vocal chords as claimed, however as they paraded back into the church, silence fell.

Once the gentlemen of the choir were in their 2 (rather crowded) lines at the front of the church, Margaret Riches started playing Stout Hearted Men on the piano. The choir sounded the best I had ever heard them and the piece earned a hearty round of applause.

After they had finished their next piece, The Song of the Jolly Roger, we were entertained by Tom Ferguson & Vince Carroll in policemen’s helmets during the Pirates of Penzance selection and the well known ballet routine that followed.

The choir then took their seats and Andy Young introduced Rachel Wyllie as our guest soloist of the evening. This was the first concert that we had been joined by Rachel, however it will be far from the last, this young contralto is already booked for two further concerts after she finishes her GCSEs.

Rachel opened with I Could Have Danced All Night from My Fair Lady accompanied by Helen Peacock. Her voice appears to come from no where as Rachel looks so relaxed as she sings, however her amazing voice stunned both the choir and the audience. She then introduced her next piece which was unknown to me, Panis Angelicus, which means Bread From Heaven. I was hypnotised, I fell in love with both the song and her voice at that moment and was sorry that it ended so soon.

The choir returned to their places, and Alan Tweedy brought his snare drum to the front for A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square. Whilst this piece is new to the choir, I was disappointed, however after a brief history of Danny Boy / Londonderry Air, Andrew Jones & Trevor Burdon opened with a duet for it's first verse. The choir that I am a great supporter of, was clearly back on form again. This was followed by the Eriskay Love Lilt and finally the Battle Hymn of the Republic with Alan Tweedy entertaining us on the snare drum again. During this hymn a collection was taken which raised over £200.

After a brief break for photographs and allowing everyone to stretch their legs, the choir started up with Nothing Like A Dame with solo lines from both Andrew Jones & Tom Ferguson. I always enjoy this piece especially the American accent that keeps creeping in. This was followed, as usual, by another piece from South Pacific, Some Enchanted Evening.

Andy Young then gave us a fabulous background history to the Colliers Requiem which was then performed, most people new to the song comment on it as being delightful and different, it truly shows the talents of the choir and always sounds fantastic. This was finished by a solo line by Trevor Burdon. They then went on to sing The Yeoman of England.

After a few shuffles to get the choir seated again, Rachel performed Some Where Over The Rainbow followed by her favourite piece Tonight from West Side Story. She thanked Helen for accompanying her and they both returned to their seats.

Unfortunately the choirs next song In Saint Paul’s was not as perfect as it usually is, however by the time they got on to Swing Low Sweet Chariot with soloists Gordon Bean, Vince Carroll & Tom Ferguson performing the verses, they were back on good form. This was followed by another song with a similar history, When De Stars Begin To Fall.

Rachel then joined the choir for the last three pieces, the first being The Servant King which is a favourite of Rachel’s and specifically requested by her for this concert. The choir sang in two part harmony with Rachel singing the descant.

As the choir’s “theme tune” Morte Christe was being announced, Vince Carroll snuck off to get the bouquet of flowers from the side room and presented them to Rachel. There were a few further (embarrassing) announcements and then they joined together to sing Morte Christe with Rachel singing the third verse backed by the choir and then, despite the attempts by the choir, still being heard over the top of them in the final verse hitting the top A she had been hoping to get on the night.

Everyone then stood to sing together Jerusalem, thanks were given on behalf on the church and the ladies arrived with cups of tea, sandwiches and delicious cakes. The evening was enjoyed by all and some future concerts dates at two venues were discussed, details to follow once confirmed.

Gordon Bean, Rachel Wyllie & Andy Young

For details of who performed at the concert click here

To view the newspaper clipping click here