Capacity crowds for Choir concert

This year’s guest artists were soprano Rebecca Murphy and a young musical theatre singer, Sarah Adams.

Rebecca is from Magherafelt but currently studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. She has already won numerous awards and performed in a wide variety of opera and musical theatre roles. Her sophisticated performance, which balanced vocal excellence with personal warmth, was hugely appreciated by all.

The Seven Towers concert now regularly provides a platform for some young local talent and this year saw them invite the youngest performer yet; Sarah Adams, a nine year old pupil of local singing teacher, Tracey Martin. Sarah has a string of successes to her name in musical theatre examinations and at Ballymena Music Festival. From the moment she stepped onto the stage as Eliza Doolittle in ‘My Fair Lady’, the audience was spellbound. Her confidence, dramatic interpretation and singing ability were truly exceptional in one so young.

Topping the bill and more polished than ever, the male voice choir performed a wide repertoire of pieces including traditional airs and songs from stage and screen. They rounded off the show with the American blues standard, ‘Cotton Fields’. This has been recorded by all the big names including Elvis, Jonny Cash, the Beach Boys and now by the biggest name of all, the 7 Towers choir in their newly released CD called ‘Hearts and Voices’. The work which has gone into preparing for this recoding really shone through in an evening of confident performances.

Musical Director, Thelma Strange and Accompanist - Rae Shiels must take their share of the praise. The careful choice of material and many hours of hard work certainly paid off.

Of course all of this is only possible with the generous support of sponsors (principally, the Wright Group) who are to be commended for their ongoing commitment to the local arts scene.

New members are always welcome to join the choir. Practices take place on Monday evenings from September to March in the Ballymena Bowling Club. More information is available from www.seventowersmvchoir.com. To purchase a copy of the choir’s new CD, contact any member of the choir or the secretary; 02825653715/ [email protected]

Each year, the concert raises funds for a local charity. This year, Meningitis Research Foundation was the worthy beneficiary.