Ladies Choir
Brentwood Cathedral – Saturday 23 March 2024
In this time of dreadful wars and uncertainty, we wanted to sing a concert full of peace and gentleness to show the kinder side of humanity. All the music was chosen to reflect these sentiments and hopefully to give us all an evening of respite from all the sadness and worry in our beautiful world.
Choir in rehearsal:
Photographs by Jo Clarke
The charity that Bra-vissima are supporting this year is Barrow Farm Riding for the Disabled. As part of the coronation “Big Help Out”, the choir gave a rather blustery al fresco performance at the Writtle Tea Rooms.
We were assisted by several little helpers; Isabella, Sophia, Eliza and Cleo shaking the collection buckets, and Kate page-turning for our accompanist.
We raised £406.19 which was particularly amazing given the inclement weather.
As a mark of thanks, Martin from Barrow Farm invited our little helpers to visit the stables and meet the horses.
The girls were all very excited and charmed by the horses who were all very well-behaved and calm. They were able to see the tackle room, and learn about the work of Barrow Farm. It was a lovely afternoon, enjoyed by all.
By Frances Borg
Bra-vissima held its summer concert last weekend at St Peter’s Church in Hutton. In the midst of beautiful summer weather, the church was full and an appreciative audience joined us in a glorious concert of varied light music.
This concert was in aid of our 2023 charity of the year, Barrow Farm Riding and Carriage Driving for the Disabled. Martin Burchett spoke about the inspirational work they do and how appreciative they are of any donations to support their work.
We were incredibly lucky to have a guest appearance from Colin Paris on the Double Bass for a number of pieces including two arrangements of Bach pieces.
Special thanks also to Isabella Borg for her flitting as a wood sprite during The Family Tree and distributing leaves to the audience.
Our thanks also to the wonderful Hilary Khoo for her accompaniment and also to Amy Hollingsworth on percussion.
Finally the audience joined the choir for strawberries and cream, washed down with a glass or two of Pimms – a staple for our summer concerts!
by Sue Williams
Image by: Sarah Hardy
Today Bra-vissima took part in the Big Help Out as part of the Coronation weekend celebration. We were invited to the Lordship Tea rooms in Writtle to sing in support of our chosen charity of the year – Barrow Farm Riding and Carriage Driving for the Disabled.
Armed with folding chairs, a gazebo and a silent prayer or two for the weather to hold, we gathered and sang together for our King, our community and nation, on what had been a momentous weekend.
Of course in true British tradition the wind started to whip up as soon as we began our performance, the pegs that had been placed so carefully on our musical director’s stand stood firm for a while, but in truth only held the music in place for several minutes before the music took flight and floated about as our singing rang out against the low chatter of those present, the murmur of several dogs, children of various ages and the fluttering of numerous Union Jacks.
Having rehearsed so diligently for many weeks in preparation, Bra-vissima are a choral group not afraid to change it up and go to plan B. The instruction of the day was to sing beautifully (but against the wonder that is the British weather) AND sing loudly.
Jo Clarke
