Saturday night was a very special night at Moreton Hall as the combined voices of not one but two prestigious male voice choirs joined forces with the Moreton Hall music department for a celebration of music from both sides of the border.

The Welsh theme shaped the evening with Isabella opening the concert with a welcome to our audience and the wider community in both Welsh and English. The concert that followed featured the Penybontfawr and Dyffryn Ceiriog Male Voice Choirs with a repertoire which combined traditional Welsh songs and hymns with music with a more international flavour such as ‘Sloop John B’ and ‘Silver Trumpet’.

The richness of the male voices provided a wonderful contrast to the sweeter sounds of the Moreton Hall Chamber Choir with Elgar’s ‘Snow’ surely the highlight of their performance. The evening was punctuated with some wonderful solos showcasing the vocal talents of Morgan Darcy and Megan and the woodwind talents of Jemima.

Among an evening full of highlights, the shiver down the spine sound of the combined male voice choirs singing ‘Myfannwy’ certainly brought tears to many eyes in what was described by several in the audience as an “emotional and very special evening”.

With delicious Welsh themed fare in the interval, the evening really was a celebration of both Moreton Hall and its wider community. With the final plans for the Holroyd Community Theatre now in place, hopefully we will hear these wonderful choirs raising the new rafters together very soon.