A MUSICAL medley featuring brass and voice talent from across the Vale raised more than £2,000 for charity recently in a special performance.
Rock Choir in Hereford and South Worcestershire joined forces with Avonbank Brass Band at The Henrician on June 21 in an inaugural collaboration of rock and pop classics.
The 30-strong band kicked off proceedings with an eclectic mix of numbers including DJ Sammy and Yanou’s version of ‘Heaven’, Queen’s ‘Love of My Life’, plus a baritone solo performed by Alex Macrae, the theme tune to the 1960s TV series Stingray.
Following that, more than 120 singers took to the stage and burst into song with memorable tracks like ‘Space Man’, one of the newest songs for the choir, plus ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ and ‘I Don’t Want to Miss A Thing’.
Rock Choir leader Jacob Ashworth, who leads choirs across Hereford and South Worcestershire, said: “Our Rockies said performing with the band was a new and fun experience.
“Our crowning glory was when we sang ‘Video Killed The Radio Star,” and added “There was a lot of local pride in the room.”
The funds were shared between the Worcestershire Royal Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Avonbank, to support their trip to the national band finals in York this September.
Band chair Alex Macrae added: “The concert was a resounding success and will help get us to York where we hope to do Evesham proud in the national finals.
“As this was so well received, we are already looking to team up with the choir next year for another Rock and Brass extravaganza.”
There was a poignant reason why the Worcestershire Royal Hospital NICU was chosen as one of the benefactors of the event.
Jacob told the Observer: “My eldest son, who is now three-years-old, was in the Worcestershire NICU for four days when he was born and he was so well looked after.
“We decided it would be good to fundraise for the unit.”
Rock Choir, the award-winning and pioneering contemporary choir experience in the UK, is well-known for its fundraising efforts to support both local and national charities.
It has 50 locations across the Midlands and there is no need to audition or read music to join.
Supporting organisations and charities in each community in which Rock Choir is located, is a key part of its culture and ethos a spokesperson said.
See rockchoir.com for more information.
