Winchester Community Choir’s Yuletide concert, featuring special guests The Hyde Pipers, recently raised over £2,000 for local charities Home-Start Winchester and Winchester Churches Nightshelter.
Held in The United Church on Tuesday last week (12th December), the concert was a sell-out with almost 200 tickets bought. Undeterred by torrential rain the audience was treated to tunes from across the ages. The choir, singing entirely from memory, entertained the audience with Bach, ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’ and much more.
Carolyn Robson, the choir’s musical director, who was delighted with the performance, said: “The choir were superb and should be very proud with what they achieved and they definitely entertained the large audience.”
The Winchester Community Choir was joined on the night by The Hyde Pipers (pictured right). The Winchester-based Northumbrian piping group performed two sets of Christmas-themed music including the Bagpipers Carol which comes from an ancient tune played by Italian shepherds during seasonal migration.
Paul Tabbush, founder and director of the Hyde Pipers, said: “A big thank you to the audience who braved atrocious weather and thank you for all the positive comments. It’s hugely rewarding to introduce people to the Northumbrian Pipes for the first time. This was our first public event as the Hyde Pipers and I think we gave a good account of ourselves.”
Also in attendance was the Mayor of Winchester, Councillor Eleanor Bell, as well as representatives from the two charities. Trevor Lewis, Vice-Chair of Home-Start Winchester, said: “The choir were excellent and The Hyde Pipers were brilliant. The money raised will help support some of the most vulnerable families in our community. Each year we support around 75 families and 150 children. We rely on donations from the community to keep this vital service going. Christmas is a particularly difficult time for the families and this generous donation from the Winchester Community Choir will be put to very good use.”
