Perhaps it was because we sang about Noah’s Ark at our Spring concert that instead of Summer we had ‘rain and rain and rain’ at our annual choir soiree. It wasn’t quite the Teddy Bear’s Picnic we sang about as rather than out in the woods we were inside entertaining our guests to songs we had learned during our relaxed summer term rehearsals. As well as the ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’ there was the hilarious ‘Mermaid’, the beautiful ‘Irish Blessing’ and Tallis’s ‘If Ye Love Me’ . Our finale about blessing the rains down in ‘Africa’ encouraged the clouds to continue depositing their drops, so we all, very sociably, cosied up for our indoor picnic. 

After enjoying our fare and maybe a glass or two of suitable beverages, the party pieces delivered by individuals and small groups demonstrated the vast array of talent we have amongst our members, from the sublime solo rendition of ‘Summertime’ by our Chairperson, Pauline, to the ‘ridiculous’ comedy sketch by Brenda, Trevor and David. This was in the vein of the famous old sketch by the two Ronnies with John Cleese but in this instance it was ‘I look down on her because she is an alto, but I look up to him because he is a bass’. We altos know our place! There were solos, duets, trios, jokes, poems, instrument playing and enthusiastic audience participation in the ukulele accompanied ‘Crocodile Rock’. We even had a karaoke session. What a great party!