CORNISH DELIGHTS

By COLIN LIM

THE evening of Oct 17, 2007 saw 85 silver-haired Cornishmen troop onto the stage of the Esplanade Concert Hall. Under the watchful eye and attentive ear of their Musical Director, Elaine Tangye, they regaled the delighted flag-waving audience with a mix of old Cornish favourites and hymn arrangements, including “Myfanwy”, “Hail to the Homeland”, “Softly As I Leave You” and the stirring Cornish National Anthem, “Trelawny”.

They delivered rich, sonorous performances throughout the evening, with a vocal blend that any amateur choir would be proud to call its own. Of particular note was “The Floral Dance”, which featured a mature and warm solo voice, culminating with an audience sing-a-long, and an impromptu stage jig by their Musical Director.

The programme was nicely varied. They chose to break up the solid choral presentation with diverse and captivating solo performances by their two accompanists, Elizabeth Sidebotham (Piano) and Philip Taylor (Organ), and also by the Methodist School of Music’s own Organist/Lecturer (and The Esplanade’s Pipe Organ Master), Dr Evelyn Lim.

The Esplanade was the first stop of the choir’s autumn tour. The Cornishmen were scheduled to continue on to promote Cornish music and singing at various churches and venues throughout New Zealand.

The choral and musical evening with the Trelwany Male Choir was presented by the Methodist School of Music as part of its 10^th Anniversary celebrations. It was attended by the Guest-of-Honour, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, and Mr Paul Madden, the British High Commissioner to Singapore.

Colin Lim is a member of Wesley Methodist Church. He enjoys singing in The Celebration Chorus.

Delightful tunes from Cornwall’s Trelawny Male Choir. – Methodist School of Music picture.