One of the fun challenges of the Arts Festival is supporting events that you might not normally go to. But you’ve had the flyer, it said it was free and on your doorstep, so why not check it out? Speaking to some of the audience at last night’s Gospel Choir event at the New Life Church, that was their thinking 100%. Thankfully, they felt rewarded by a really uplifting evening.
On a Friday evening you might be looking for entertainment that makes you smile and feel cheerful after a hard week. For me, last week had a lot going on, both with paid work and the mountain of volunteering that the Arts Fest seems to be. So it was an effort to drag myself out of the door on a slightly rainy evening when Traitors was on TV.
However, we prepped well for the evening by treating ourselves to fish, chips and curry sauce from The Goldfish Bowl before the show. The best 😋! Sitting on the wall of the car park guzzling fish and chips would normally be a seaside holiday thing, but it worked perfectly last night in Cheadle. The perfect start to a lovely evening.
The gospel choir produced wonderful harmonies and the programme had my foot tapping throughout to gospel bangers like Swing Low, Sweet Chariot and When all the Saints. The Conductor was full of a wonderful, warm energy that the choir really responded to and quite honestly all this joy and happiness spread through the room. She also gave informative introductions to the pieces, many of which have roots in slavery and a poignancy hidden within the upbeat sounds and lyrics.
The ocarina solo deserves a special mention. My only other experience of ocarinas was listening to my son’s primary school Reception class murdering a Christmas Carol and me trying desparately to conceal an unforgiveable fit of the giggles. So the mere mention of ocarina makes me nervous that I am going to disgrace myself again. After last night, I finally have closure on my ocarina fear as this performance was right at the other end of the accomplishment spectrum. Thank you to that lovely lady for your wonderful solo.
Applause also for the pianist for his superb support throughout and his solo. And his hilarious half-knowledge of the old Norwegian language – sorry, but you had to be there for the rest of that story. There was also a healthy dose of humour from the two poems that were read out.
So all in all, a very joyful evening. Thanks to the New Life Church for your contribution to the Arts Festival programme.