THE  Central Methodist Church, Launceston was filled to capacity with music lovers on the evening of Saturday, March 14. The occasion was organised to raise funds for the Children's Hospice South West Precious Lives Appeal and the organisers had gathered together one of the most accomplished and popular group of entertainers in the region.  The result was an evening of top class choral and solo singing with some of the finest instrumental playing.

The guest choir for the evening was the Vocal Harem Ladies Choir from Tavistock. They are a new addition to the concert scene as they were only formed in 2007 by their Musical Director, Rosemary Turner. The 70 strong choir opened and closed the programme with a varied repertoire of music which promises much for the future of such a young choir. Their lovely opening number 'It's a Grand Night for Singing' contrasted sharply with a sensitive rendition of Franck's 'Panis Angelicus' which in turn was contrasted with an expressive rendering of three spirituals. A group of 16 singers gave an extremely harmonious presentation of Mendelssohn's 'Lift Thine Eyes' and the whole choir closed the evening with 'Is This the Way to Amarillo' which included lively audience participation.

We were privileged to welcome Yasmin Stevens to Launceston, as the young flugel horn player was named in 2008 as the best individual instrumentalist at the National Youth Brass Band Champion­ship where she competed with the Mount Charles Youth Band. Yasmin played two pieces in the concert, a traditional Scottish tune 'Mull of the Cool Bens' and a well known folk song 'The Shep­herds Song,' Both pieces were played with impeccable timing and enabled her to show her mastery of her instrument by the beautiful tone she produced.

It is always a special treat for music lovers to hear a soloist with an exceptional tenor voice. This proved to be the case at Launceston, where Tyrone Piper from Bere Alston enthralled the audiencewith his outstanding singing.  An extremely versatile performer, on this occasion he had chosen a selection of pieces that reflected this versalitity. He started with an expressive interpretation of 'You are My Hearts Delight' and followed this with two operatic arias the second of which was the ever popular 'Nessum Dorma.' All were sung with great fluency and tone and resulted in an overwhelming demand for an encore. For this he chose a Gilbert and Sullivan favourite 'Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes.'

It is not often that an audience has the opportunity to react with enthusiasm to a recorder soloist, but Maria Collier extracted this reaction with a masterly performance of Vivaldl's Concert in C — the 3rd Movement. She followed this with an equally demanding Scottish Reel played with great accuracy of fingering and excellent tone.

No concert in Cornwall is complete without a contribution from a Male Voice Choir. On this occasion this was provided by Liskerret Choir from  Liskeard, with certain members of the choir responsible for organising the event. Liskerret Choir is enjoying a successful period in its relatively short life and numbers have continued to increase to reach a record level of 59 mem­bers.

Under their very dedicated Musical Director, Roy Wilton, the choir performed a varied programme of classical and popular pieces including Mozart's 'Ave Verum,' Rich­ard Barnes arrangement of 'The Rhythm of Life' and the very appropriate 'Another Day' which was written for the Hospice Movement.

The Chairman for the evening was the Rev Tony Cox who always gives generously of his time and contributes to the entertainment of the evening.

Thanks were expressed within the concert programmes to all who contributed to the concert and the organisers expressed their thanks to local businesses for their contributions and also to the many who contributed food for the performers.

As a result of the concert, a sum of £2,249 was donated to the Children's Hospice South West Precious Lives Appeal and from a retiring collection, £274 was donated to the Launceston Central Methodist Church to assist with their building programme.