St Mary's Calne
On Monday evening, the Major Minors Children's Choir, our talented community choir, proudly presented their annual Christmas concert in the festive setting of Southwell Hall at St Margaret's Prep. With Mrs Allard at the piano, the children shone brightly, showcasing an eclectic repertoire that spanned a variety of genres, filling the hall with holiday cheer and joyful music.
The choir clearly enjoyed the contemporary compositions (Me and I Am Small from the Friday Afternoons Project) to old favourites from the evergreen musical theatre catalogue (I Whistle a Happy Tune from The King and I), including some well-known festive pieces to ensure musical joy for the Christmas season. Parents, friends and siblings also got into the festive feeling by singing along to O Little Town of Bethlehem, which was expertly started by two of the choir members. The performance finished with a energetic version of Jingle Bells - complete with Santa hats!
Musical Director of the Major Minor's Children's Choir, Mrs Bethan Dudley Fryar, reflected on the success of the Autumn Term:
'The whole Autumn Term has been very busy as the choir is in such demand in the community; a fabulous performance at the Calne Music & Arts Festival was a wonderfully uplifting experience for everyone involved. By popular demand, Major Minors were invited to perform again at the Notes of Hope charity concert at St Edmund’s Church alongside Junior Consort, raising over a £1000 for local charities.
Whilst many of the students have now been singing with us for almost two years, the newer students have only been performing as part of the choir since September, and to be able to stand up and perform so many different songs involves extreme courage and I am very proud of everything that each and every one of them has achieved.
Major Minors are going from strength to strength and I look forward to the New Year and the new pieces to perform with more collaborations to enjoy too.'
The Major Minors Children’s Choir is open to girls and boys in Years 3 to 6 at local primary schools who share a love of singing. The choir rehearses every Monday at St Mary’s and work on a range of songs, across different music genres, with the aim of presenting an end-of-term performance each term. As the choir has grown and developed, it has embraced the opportunity to perform at special community events.
Mrs Bethan Dudley-Fryar, Director of Vocal Studies and Musical Director of the Major Minors Children's Choir