Review: For your musical delight indeed!

On a wet and windy October 24th, community musicians from the OK Chorale and ECCO Chichester Community Orchestra, with their respective leaders John Gleadall and Prof Laura Ritchie performed a fundraising concert for the Children's Literacy Trust. The concert, held in Boxgrove Priory was billed as 'All for your delight' and was compered by the well-known author Kate Mosse. 

 The programme was a mix of choral and orchestral works.  John Gleadall led the choir from behind his guitar as they sang Life Can Be a Dream and then the orchestra presented Into the Storm which matched the intensity of the stormy weather outside. John led the choir in singing his own composition of The Highwayman. The orchestra ended the half with a BBC arrangement of Sibelius' Finlandia. The audience was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the performance by these community groups. 

 In the second half of the concert the 80 musicians in the choral-orchestral ensemble came together to present the world premier of John Gleadall's Pryamus and Thisbe, accompanied by actors from the New Theatre Productions. The innovative rendering of music and acting brought this dialogue from Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream to life.  

 This concert was a remarkable opportunity and achievement for these community musicians. There was a great sense of pride at being able to present John Gleadall's compositions. It also marked the 10-year anniversary of the ECCO orchestra. The audience received it well and rewarded the players with warm applause. The event raised an impressive £1259 for the Children's Literacy Trust.