Trouble with heating fails to stop choir

They had their 60th anniversary season Christmas Carol Concert that evening and the forecast was for freezing temperatures.

The church’s heating system started billowing black smoke that morning and it seemed the engineer would take too long to arrive as the choir had an afternoon rehearsal to get ready for their performance.

Luckily the choir has a member who is an international energy consultant and he was able to quickly organise installation of an industrial hot air blower with a huge cannister of gas which provided enough warmth for all.

The choir, Cinque Ports Brass Ensemble, accompanist Robert Aldwinckle and conductor Kenneth Roberts, therefore arrived to a warm church, and with the heating system repaired by mid-afternoon, all was well for the carol concert which was considered “the best ever”.

The concert included a wide range of carols, some with audience participation, and popular Christmas songs, with the choir, pianist and brass ensemble in jazz mode, joined by their Conductor, Kenneth Roberts, on clarinet and then saxophone.

The audience went home no doubt humming White Christmas, which they sang along with the choir.

• Bexhill Choral Society is looking forward to its Diamond Jubilee Concert at the De La Warr Pavilion on May 12 next year and promises choral classics including the Grand March from Aida, Polovtsian Dances, I was Glad, Hallelujah Chorus, along with many other pieces.

Tickets cost £10 and £12, or £5 for students and schoolchildren, and will be on sale at the DLWP from February 1. Normal concessions to Friends of Bexhill Choral Society will apply.