The sun put its hat on for my final walk of 2020.

Mr C accompanied me so I chose the route carefully to avoid possible patches of black ice or flooding.

Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2021 treats us all kindly

On Saturday evening I had the pleasure of attending a candlelit concert in the Wrekin College’s Chapel. The performance was by; Wrekin College Combined Choirs and Orchestra, The Old Hall School Chapel Choir with Piano and Choral Soloists.*

As we  approached the chapel it was very atmospheric because the outer porch window sills were illuminated with tealights. Once inside the chapel I found it quite delightful, a place I would love to explore and photograph. Every window sill was covered in tealights and as the lights dimmed at the beginning of the performance the sight, sound and atmosphere was quite stunning.

The opening piece was Overture to the Opera Idomeneo by Mozart, this was followed by Howard Blake’s If (A setting of the Poem by Rudyard Kipling); the Chapel choir pupils filed in and lined the walls their hair glowing in the candlelight as they sung the poem.

The first half piano concerto by Mozart to be played by Yuki Kagajo (a music teacher at Wrekin) is going to be fab too! #talent #soldout pic.twitter.com/2N5NLPJZpj

— Wrekin College (@WrekinCol) March 18, 2017

After the pupils had filed out Yuki Kagajo took her place at the piano and treated us to a stunning performance Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 in A Major accompanied by the orchestra. After this it was time for the interval and refreshments in the Memorial Hall. This meant a short walk across the campus over one of the roads that divides it, thankfully the wind and rain from earlier in the day had subsided. On arrival we were pleasantly surprised to find that refreshments were fruit juice or wine rather than the expected tea and coffee.

Here’s a sneak preview of our soloists in rehearsal with the orchestra this evening – tickets: https://t.co/f9q6iyzXb5 #DontMissOut pic.twitter.com/4q4v9JKSsV — Wrekin College (@WrekinCol) February 27, 2017

We returned to the chapel for the second half of the concert; Mozart Requiem. This was performed by the combined choirs and orchestra, accompanied by choral soloists: Lucy Gibbs, Ruth Theobald, Themba Mvula and Robert Tilson. The Requiem was performed wonderfully. It is a powerful score and to hear the orchestra and so many voices performing it whilst the candles flickered around us was very moving.

* All photos and videos are from practice sessions posted on the Wrekin College Twitter account