Greenock choir will be on song with festive favourites

GREENOCK Philharmonic Choir is staging its Christmas Concert on Saturday December 10.

It is being held in the Lyle Kirk, Union Street, Greenock, starting at 7.30pm, and the choir is delighted to have the company once again of the Riverside Youth Band, which is based in Port Glasgow.

Music will include Pergolesi’s ‘Magnificat’ with its fast-moving choruses which breeze along, and Gerald Finzi’s ‘In Terra Pax’ which in contrast begins in a very thoughtful way, painting a picture of the night of the nativity with the shepherds in the starry hills, and changes with the arrival of the angels in chorus with a vocal peal of bells with the ‘Glory to God’.

The choir’s conductor, Andrew McTaggart, will be singing the haunting solo baritone part at the beginning of the piece.

However, no carol concert would be complete without the usual festive favourites, which this year will include ‘I saw three ships’, ‘In the bleak midwinter, ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘In the Christmas Spirit’ by Ruth Elaine Schram, which is a particularly popular piece with the choir. There will also be carols by John Rutter as well as carols for everybody to join in with.

As usual, the choir will be led by its conductor Andrew McTaggart, and soprano soloist Caitlin Mackenzie will also return to sing with members.

Andrew Forbes will be the accompanist on the organ.

As mentioned earlier, the Philharmonic is happy it will be joined by the award-winning Riverside Youth Band.

It is always a great pleasure for the choir to sing with — and listen to — the band, which has so much young developing talent playing at such a high standard.

The band was established in 2012, and its passion is to provide ‘opportunities through music’. It has a great love of community, and music-making is at its core.

Building on the foundations laid by Lynda Nicholson, musical director Mark Good has led the band to great success, winning many competition titles, and performing multiple concerts to sell-out audiences throughout Inverclyde and beyond.

This will be the Philharmonic Choir’s sixth year with Andrew McTaggart as musical director, and the choir has enjoyed a musical revival under his leadership with a significant increase in membership since the start of this session. As always, new members are welcome and the choir would love to see you in the New Year on Monday evenings in the Lyle Kirk at 7.15pm. Its Spring Concert in March featured Haydn’s ‘Creation’ which was accompanied by visuals on screens. More recently, the choir held a very successful ‘Come and Sing’ event in Largs, working on Mendelssohn’s ‘Elijah’, which will be the main work for its concert in March 2023.

Tickets for the Christmas Concert are £15, which includes refreshments, with entry free for under-18s, and are available by calling 07847 250529 or from any choir member.

Alternatively, you can pay at the door, or access further information on the Facebook page for Greenock Philharmonic Choir and by email to info@ greenockphilharmonic.co.uk

The accompanying image was taken at last year’s Christmas Concert.