Concentus exchange visit with Voice & Spirit
Last week popular Eastbourne choir Concentus welcomed back their friends and fellow choristers Voice & Spirit from Appen in Germany for their second exchange visit. In the six years that the two choirs have known each other a very special bond of friendship has been formed.
The German visitors, who once again stayed predominantly with Concentus choir members as their host families, were entertained, transported, fed and treated to fun and laughter over five days just after Easter.
In a week that saw them perform in both Christchurch in Seaside and Arundel Cathedral, take over Simply Italian for food and singing, make fun of themselves and each other at a barn dance in Willingdon School, and take part in a church service in Alfriston, the German gospel choir returned to Hamburg last Sunday exhausted but happy with yet more fond memories to treasure of their Eastbourne hosts.
Unless you have spent some time in the company of this amazing amalgamated group of singers, watched them perform together, seen the obvious affection, listened to the harmony of more than voices and witnessed first-hand just how much this all means to them, then it is difficult to convey in mere words just how deep and powerful a relationship this is. Overcoming their language barriers and any ideas of politics or religion, the choristers use their mutual joy in the language of music to spend the time they have together in perfect harmony. This was never more evident than when they performed one of their favourite pieces “Peace Shall Be With You” both at Christchurch and in Alfriston and the whole choir spontaneously joined hands. The emotion, like the performance, was overwhelming.
Concentus Visits Twickers!
Always up for an adventure and, seemingly, a challenge, Eastbourne’s “choir with a heart”, Concentus, took to the road this weekend on a trip to the England v Wales friendly match at Twickenham. This wasn’t a “jolly” to watch the match however. No, this was the chance to perform to the Twickenham crowd – a potential audience of 82,000 rugby fans. Concentus had been invited to sing to lead the two sets of fans in their national Anthems and entertain the waiting crowds, from the pitch side, with some rousing tunes.
Now it’s easy enough, for the vast majority of us, to recall the words and tune to God Save the Queen, but how many of us would be able to commit to memory the first verse and chorus of the Welsh National Anthem? Yes, in Welsh. This was exactly the challenge put before Concentus in order to lustily lead the crowds in front of Live Sky television cameras.
The day started early for the choir, with two coaches full of some 84 choir members and their guests leaving Eastbourne at just after 7:30am. Armed with breakfast items, music, choir uniform and a bag of mixed emotions they piled in for the trip up to the massive stadium. Spirits were high, as is usual with this friendly bunch of mixed singers, and some last minute rehearsing took place on the way up.
Arrival at the stadium was a shock – the enormity of both it and the task ahead were enough to shake the knees of several of the choir members. But a job had to be done and rehearsals and sound checks were soon underway.
Following sound checks, pitch side rehearsals and a brief period of “marching” lessons, the choir’s crowd rousing set got underway at the East Stand in glorious sunshine. Starting with the challenging “76 Trombones”, the crowd both appreciated and joined in with the more well-known and rousing sections from “Sussex By The Sea”, “Rule Britannia”, “Guide Me Oh Thou Great Redeemer” and “Land of Hope and Glory”. Having been guided from the pitch side to massive appreciation from the crowd, the choir reassembled alongside the military standard bearers for the day to await the next entrance onto the pitch for the ‘main event’.
The sun got hotter, the crowd increased in size and got louder, and the choir’s enthusiasm and anticipation heightened as they made their way to the centre of the pitch. Some joining hands in mutual support and emotion, they took centre stage on the pitch and proudly and confidently led the 81,128 strong crowd in “Jerusalem” and of course the Welsh and English National Anthems. The effect and noise was overwhelming and, it would be fair to say, that a good few tears were being held in check by all.
A satisfied and happy family of choristers from diverse backgrounds, of a large age range but joined as one with their mutual love of singing, regrouped outside the stadium after the match. Many of the spectators approached them to congratulate them on their performance and impressive knowledge of Welsh!
Back on the coach, text and Facebook messages pinged in from family and friends, and everyone shared their favourite moments of the day and exchanged photos. Thoughts turned to the next concerts and the Summer barbeque to round off a perfect day.
Oh yes, and England won the match 27-13.
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