WHAT a delight it was to hear young voices singing the solos in Handel’s Messiah, composed over 250 years before they were born, and performing with Malvern Festival Chorus in the beautiful Great Malvern Priory, built 600 years before Handel was born. The young soloists had successfully auditioned earlier in the year through the choir’s Young Voices project, a new initiative to encourage young people to participate in the great choral tradition. The talent and composure of Molly Stokes, Emily Evans, Amy Heptinstall, Holly Gowen, Beth Rabjohn and Michael Burgess certainly belied their youth.

Performing to a packed Priory, Malvern Festival Chorus was accompanied by the accomplished organist, Julian McNamara, who had last played in that lovely venue some 20 years previously, and trumpeter Richard Powell.

Conductor Jonathan Brown, Director of Music at Malvern College, said “Clearly having the young voices being part of the concert was an excellent project coming to its culmination and very impressive they were too; they really added to the occasion.”

He also praised Malvern Festival Chorus for their absolutely first-class vocal and emotional commitment in the performance.

With the concert taking place the evening before Palm Sunday, Parts 2 and 3 of Handel’s sublime work set the perfect tone for Holy Week and the buzz at the end suggested that both audience and performers were departing uplifted.

Malvern Festival Chorus is now looking forward to singing under Jonathan Brown’s baton once again in Brahms’s masterpiece A German Requiem, to be performed in Malvern Theatres on Saturday, June 23. Any choral singers who would like to join them for this concert will receive a warm welcome at the choir’s rehearsals on Tuesday evenings at 7.45 pm in Chase School Hall. Full details are on their website, www.malvernfestivalchorus.co.uk.