Varied programme for church concert

OFTEN seen as the start of Christmas, Loughborough Concert Band members look forward to the Christmas Concert at St Botolphs.

This year we were joined by the Loughborough Male Voice Choir, Lord Crashaw and the Mayor of Charnwood.

The varied programme gave the band a chance to show off the new role of member Maggie Styles. Maggie has put aside her beloved clarinet and has shot to fame as percussionist, giving a broader range to the percussion section than we can offer since we only have one drummer (Katie Campsall) and much need of percussion.

The band played a mixture of carols – with which the congregation was encouraged to join in - and Christmas music. This last included jazz numbers, a modern piece written by local musician Dean Onyons, and pieces such as Prokovief’s Troika and, from the world of film, The Polar Express.

The Loughborough Male Voice Choir also combined carols and other Christmas songs including Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

– it may be your last! And the Revd Lydia Humphries gave an address in which she described the significance she finds in the humble Christmas cracker.

Since I restrain myself until this concert before I eat a mince pie, I can say that the mince pies, as always, did not disappoint and the entire evening raised £529.80 for church funds, and the raffle raised £231 for Passion, the Shepshed based youth charity.

This concluded the band’s Christmas concerts for 2019 and we look forward to many more in the future.