The Breath of Life

Our final concert of the season took place on Saturday 23 May at St Lawrence’s Church, Mereworth, Kent, and featured performances by Vox Anima Chamber Choir and Vox Populi. Both choirs were conducted by our Artistic Director James Meaders, and accompanied by pianist Richard Hammond-Hall.

Following the Chamber Choir’s impressive performance at Holy Trinity Sloane Square earlier in the month, the programme opened with movements from Cecilia McDowall’s Everyday Wonders: The Girl from Aleppo, and was intertwined with pieces reflecting the cantata’s themes of unrest, uncertainty, hope, and defiance:

No Fairy Tale Here - Zanaida Robles

The Peace of Wild Things - Joan Szymko

The Lake Isle of Innisfree - Eleanor Daley

Ain’t No Grave… - (trad.) arr. Paul Cauldwell and Sean Ivory

Vox Populi performed Matthew Coleridge’s uplifting new work, The Breath of Life, beautifully - with nuance, variety, and attention to detail - developing the theme from hope, via nature’s unwavering trust in renewal, to one of celebration for our shared living world, and our connection to one another through music!

We were joined by a full and supportive audience, with many new faces showing their appreciation and praising both choirs for their impressive performances. Thank you to all who came to support us! Our heartfelt thanks also goes to Hilary Dilnot for her wonderful accompaniment of Vox Populi in rehearsals this year, to James Meaders for continuing to inspire and lead our choirs with encouragement and passion, and to Richard Hammond-Hall for his sensitive and intuitive collaboration.