Harrow Choral Society performed Mozart’s Requiem and Vaughan Williams’s dramatic cantata, Dona Nobis Pacem in the Elliott Hall at Harrow Arts Centre on 7.30pm on 24th March. Several HAMC members were in the audience including our Chair, Richard Evans and his wife, Chris and our Concert Manager, Chris Drew who wrote this reviw

I went to support Avis performing with Harrow Choral Society on Saturday. It was fantastic to see the Elliott Hall filled to
capacity which must give the Council something to think about as regards its future. I know how hard the Choral Society
work to get their concerts to be the splendid events they are and it was interesting to see the support they get from other
Choirs – members of Tonic, Harrow Harmony and ourselves were in the audience.
People seemed to think the singing was drowned at times by the Orchestra during Dona Nobis Pacem (Vaughan Williams)
but once the more familiar Mozart Requiem commenced the balance was much better and the Choral Society was at its
best. I am always amazed how the whole thing comes together when the soloists, orchestra and Choir only meet in the
afternoon.
A lovely evening concluded around 9.30 in time to get home for the Boxing!
On 7 July HCS will perform at St Alban’s North Harrow with a selection of arias, duets and choruses from favourite operas,
operettas and musicals. They then take this concert to Cheltenham,  to perform the following weekend.
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On Sunday afternoon, the Chorleywood Orchestra, formed in January 2017, performed its second concert, including the
world premiere of a piece composed by Adrian Warren. It was a spring concert with a range of vernal-themed music chosen
by the orchestra. The Chorleywood Memorial Hall was full with an audience of mixed ages, from babes in arms to great
grandparents. Our treasurer, Andrew Machin and his wife, Chris were among them.
The concert started with a rousing rendition of Copland’s Fanfare of the the Common Man followed by the haunting theme of
Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture. There was then a change in order of the programme to two works by Delius: On Hearing
the First Cuckoo in Spring and The Walk to the Paradise Garden. The first half ended with The Lark Ascending by Vaughan
Williams which included a beautiful solo by Yume Fujise, a violinist currently studying at the Royal School of Music.
After tea and cake, the second half began with conductor, Miffy Hirsch, inviting Hertfordshire-born, Adrian Warren to
introduce his premiere piece, Melting into Spring, a piece of contrasts featuring individual instruments including the flute,
clarinet and cor anglais and then concluding with the full ensemble. Richard Wainwright, the conductor of the orchestra
since its foundation, took back the baton for the final item: Schubert’s Symphony 8 Unfinished.
The orchestra, which filled the stage and spilled out into the front rows of the auditorium, included an eight year old violinist
who plays with the National Youth Orchestra. The audience filled the seats and spilled in the standing room at the back. The
well-deserved warmth of the applause, attested to their enjoyment of what was overall a good concert, a little laboured in
places but a young orchestra, clearly enjoying its musical performance and with plenty of promise for the future. We will
certainly go to hear them again.
by Chris Machin
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Any other HAMC members at a different musical event this weekend that would like to include a review?