Mary Reid

It's not often that the Mayor gets invited to a concert that she was planning to perform in!

Kingston Choral Society sent an invitation to the Mayor before knowing who it would be this year. So after chatting with the Chair, Marigold Haworth, we decided I could combine both functions.

I arrived officially at the beginning to be greeted by the President, Joan Child, and then sat in the audience for the first half.  Robin Page, our Musical Director (left), began with a smooth performance of Faure's much-loved Pavanne, but this was the less known choral version that the composer wrote, adding in the  human voices as an extra layer of orchestral colour.

Then a chance to hear Poulenc's exciting Organ Concerto, which was new to me, but something I definitely want to hear again.  It covers an extraordinary range of texture and style, and Mark Uglow really showed us what the superb organ in Kingston Parish Church can produce when played well.

After the interval I joined the choir to sing Brahms' German Requiem. I have adored this work ever since I learnt 'Wie lieblich' when I was at school.  It is a wonderful sing, but it is demanding because the choir sings throughout the hour-long performance, and we sopranos have a lot of high sustained notes, often at full voice.

I can't comment on how it sounded, only on how it feels to be part of an interpretation of a great piece like this - exhilarating, uplifting and quite emotional. The melodies will all go round in my head for days.

Marigold Haworth (Chair) on left and Joan Child (President) on right

Waiting to go on to sing