Acclaimed Wigan choir prepares for first concert in four years

Exsultate hasn’t performed since the autumn of 2019, its following spring concert being thwarted by the start of the Covid pandemic.

Since then it has, sadly, lost two of its members, but the remaining singers have finally decided the time is ripe to join forces once again.

St John’s RC Church, Standishgate, will be the venue for a performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, written decades after the composer had announced his retirement from penning operas, but acclaimed as one of his greatest works.

It is better known with an orchestral accompaniment but was originally composed for the unusual combination of singers, piano(s) and harmonium and it is this version which Exsultate will be giving with Carol and Peter Kwater sharing the keyboard duties.

The soloists will be the soprano Sofie Haigh, alto Isobel Jenkins (who is also a member of the choir), the tenor Elgan Thomas and bass Damian O’Keeffe.

Musical director Paul Chamberlain said: “It seems a long time since we performed Bach’s B Minor Mass in the autumn of 2019 so it is particularly good to be back.

"And following this hiatus and two sad choir deaths we are hopeful that this will finally be the start of a regular series of concerts, as was the case pre-Covid. There will be around 25 singers performing and we have a nice balance of voices.

"The Petite Messe Solennelle is for small forces and was not originally scored for an orchestra, so this performance will have a particular authenticity.

"There are some quite testing sections for the choir but it is also fun. If people are thinking they are coming to hear a dry and sombre mass, they are going to be very much mistaken.

"It is a serious piece but it brings smiles to the singers’ faces.”

The concert takes place at 7.30pm on Saturday September 30. Tickets on the door are £10 and £8 concessions, with proceeds going to the Lewy Body Society.