Shrewsbury Musicians Illuminate St Alkmund’s

Shrewsbury School’s Chamber Choir, Dudes Barbershop, and soloists brought some sunshine to a bleak February morning in St Alkmund’s with a concert whose folk‑inspired repertoire followed the journey from dawn to night.

First up was Dawn by Eric William Barnum, the composer of Afternoon on a Hill, which the choir took to the Choir of the Year competition in Birmingham last year. Its opening features a scale that spills down through the parts like the first light over the horizon, and the piece closes—after a meditation on how a new day brings new possibilities—with notes like embers in a dying fire, glowing and fading into tranquil silence. Following this, the choir sang the famous Appalachian folk song Oh Shenandoah, with the basses particularly enjoying the chance to sing at the bottom of their register.

With Day came Frances C singing George Butterworth’s gut‑wrenching setting of A.E. Housman’s Is My Team Ploughing? It was a masterclass in subtlety and vocal colour. The choir then sang a sombre arrangement of Londonderry Air by Bob Chilcott, followed by an upbeat and highly rhythmic arrangement of Scarborough Fair, specially arranged for the concert by the Head of Choral Music.

As Dusk crept over the programme, the Dudes Barbershop offered a meditative setting of Robert Burns’ My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, and Ben F tugged at the heartstrings with his exceptionally communicative and soothing performance of Finzi’s Fear No More the Heat o’ the Sun.

With Night, the choir turned to the Baltic States, performing two atmospheric works. The first, Õhtul (Evening) by Pärt Uusberg, evoked the sounds of twilight, and the final item, Only in Sleep by Ēriks Ešenvalds, featured Tilly C singing with soaring control and devastating beauty.

The audience reaction was superb and the packed church showed iits sincere appreciation. 

Richard Robbins - Head of Choral Music