Listen again:
As I discovered a few weeks ago when I chatted with David Worsfold about the annual Brentwood Choirs Festival our area has a wealth of choral talent, and I was delighted this week to chat with three members of Billericay Choral Society about their recent once in a lifetime performance at the iconic Carnegie Hall.
Along with others from the Society – as well as members of Brentwood and Ingatestone Choral Societies – Rachel O’Hara, Gytha Washington and David Bateman jumped at the chance to join with a professional orchestra and soloists on the massive stage at America’s answer to the Royal Albert Hall. Gytha explained how they got the chance to take part in such a prestigious production of the Howard Goodall Requiem Eternal Light, commissioned in 2008 to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the end of World War One, which as David movingly described seeks to help ensure that the lives of those who fell are remembered in perpetuity.
The trip was made all the more special by the active involvement and guidance of the composer himself, together with a very positive review by New York Concert Review. This was truly the sort of experience that money alone couldn’t buy!