A Celebration of Christmas,
December 2023
"Three Kings from Persian lands afar...."
Robin and Paul led the choir in a fine rendition of this lovely traditional carol in our Celebration of Christmas on December 16th. An appreciative audience packed the hall for our first afternoon concert. We were joined by two wonderful musicians, Mary Mitchell-Gogay and Philip Day, in a programme largely chosen by the choir, with many favourites from six decades of Kemsing Singers Christmas concerts.
A Voyage of Discovery, May 2023
Our spring concert on Saturday 13 Maywas a joyous finale to a great season of singing. Choir and audience were taken on a 'Voyage of Discovery', celebrating anniversaries of space travel, polar exploration and the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb (and many more) - and all through music! The packed hall included many old friends and some who were at a Kemsing Singers concert for the first time. They pronounced it wonderful, and commented on how much the choir appeared to be enjoying themselves. One regular supporter said our rendition of Don Besig's Flying Free, accompanied by Sara Kemsley on flute, brought tears to his eyes. The programme went from the loud and traditional (Zadok the Priest, the grand chorus from Aida) to well known show tunes from Lloyd Webber and Cole Porter. Some members of the audience were seen to sing along... The highlight of the evening, however, was a thrilling brand new work by Peter Young about the discovery of the fossil handprints of children in Tibet. Wonders of Tibet was directed by our Musical Director Sara Kemsley, with Peter Young and Gillian Oldridge on piano. Based on a marvellous new poem by Elizabeth Miller, it was a triumphant world premiere.
Our spirit rejoiced! in March 2023
On Saturday 18th March 2023 the choir sang before an appreciative audience in the lovely old church of St Bartholomew's, Otford. Accompanied by the Abbey Quartet and Peter Young on the organ, the uplifting programme included Mozart’s Laudate Dominum with soloist Amy McEnroe, Haydn’s Te Deum and the Magnificat originally attributed to Pergolesi. The Abbey Quartet performed works by Mozart and Haydn and our Musical Director Sara Kemsley played a Sonata for flute by Handel.
Gabriel's Message, December 2022
It was below freezing outside, but the atmosphere at our Christmas Concert in St Edith's Hall on December 10th could not have been warmer. All the chairs were filled and our lovely audience joined in enthusiastically with some traditional carols. Once again we welcomed the wonderful soprano Naomi Kilby, who many remembered from our spring concert. She performed solos in two movements of the programme's highlight, John Rutter's Magnificat. The concert opened atmospherically in the dark to the strains of Gabriel's Message from unseen guitar, flute and vocal soloists at the back of the stage; while the second half of the programme featured a range of carols dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus: from a haunting rendition by Naomi of the French carol O Holy Night to the choir singing those much loved spirituals Mary's Boy Child and O Mary, Don't You Weep. As one audience member has since reported, "the Kemsing Singers were up to their usual high standard and we had a lovely evening".
Spring Concert, May 2022
An appreciative audience declared A Night at the Opera one of our best spring concerts ever. From the opening Verdi chorus to the closing bars of Bohemian Rhapsody two hours later the choir were in fine voice, ably supported by two talented young soloists, Naomi Kilby and Alistair Sutherland, who brought extra glamour and energy to a terrific evening.
Cafe Chantant, March 2022
On the afternoon of Saturday March 19th, along with the Cinq Ports Wind Quintet, we performed in Stockbury Village Hall. The lively programme included some popular Gilbert and Sullivan choruses, highlights from the Phantom of the Opera, and much loved traditional English folk songs. Audience, singers and musicians were treated to a delicious afternoon tea, and over £500 was raised towards renovating the kitchen in the lovely old village church.
"Carol of Christmas", 2021
On a misty grey Saturday afternoon in December 2021 the choir gave the second of two lovely Christmas recitals, this time to an audience of young and old in front of Chartwell, once Winston Churchill's country home near Westerham. They were held spellbound by a wonderful rendition of John Peterson's Carol of Christmas and John Rutter's beautiful Angels' Carol. And from all over the hillside they joined in some of everyone's favourite carols. Some of those who watched had been lucky enough to attend our full concert the previous week in Kemsing - one of our best ever - and to get to know choir members better afterwards over a glass of mulled wine and a mince pie. Jackie, who has been to many of our concerts over the years, wrote that "the Singers lighted our way towards Christmas with a good dose of cheer and tuneful singing. I will most certainly attend at both events next year."
Watch us singing at our Christmas concert in St Edith's Hall, Kemsing on Saturday 11th December. We were accompanied by Hilden Brass and raised £750 for Slide Away, a charity supporting bereaved children and young people in West Kent. The concert was followed by refreshments for singers and audience, a chance to get together after two years' absence from Kemsing.
For Unto us a Child is Born - Extract from 'A Carol at Christmas' by John Peterson
Otford Village Fete, 30 August 2021
This was our first public performance since the start of the pandemic, and what a joy it was to be singing together in front of an audience after so long. With just a handful of rehearsals behind us we sang some old favourites with a summer theme, including works by Cole Porter, Simon and Garfunkel, and John Rutter. The audience loved the programme, singing along in places. It even resulted in some new faces at our open rehearsals a couple of weeks later!
“Deck the Hall”
Our Christmas concerts on December 13th and 14th December 2019 in St Edith Hall, Kemsing, saw us caper joyfully through an Elizabethan Christmas. Proceedings were led by Chris Pottle as the anarchic Lord of Misrule, and were graced by the presence of his Majesty King Henry VIII (pictured above). The Wealden Recorder Concert provided that wonderfully authentic sixteenth century sound.
The choir was directed by Sara Kemsley, and accompanied on piano by Peter Young.
The concert raised £600 in aid of the new church hall for St Mary's Church Kemsing.
Thank you to all who came to our concerts and whose enthusiasm and singing contributed to two memorable evenings.