Choral voices were raised to help bring back the bells of St Mary’s when Pembroke and District Male Voice staged a successful fundraiser at Pembroke’s parish church,

St Mary’s Bell Conductor Ann Bunker gave details of the restoration project at the fundraiser, the choir’s most recent concert in a busy spring schedule.

Choir and audience were welcomed by the vicar, Rev’d Heidi de Gruchy, and the concert was very much a family affair as her husband, Rev’d William Lambert, is the choir’s accompanist.

Family teamwork was quickly in action as Rev’d Heidi came to the rescue when, during the first item, Rachie, the music stand on the keyboard fell off. With Heidi holding up the music, William never missed a note!

Equilibrium restored, the choir continued in fine voice, backed up by MC Matthew John’s humour and stories. Choir items included one of several new pieces learned in recent months, ‘Anthem’ from the musical Chess, songs from Les Misérables and ‘My Lord What A Morning’.

For the encore, ‘American Trilogy’, Matthew’s appeal for reinforcements from the audience brought three men to join in, one a visitor from the Wirral.

Two solo items demonstrated the splendid keyboard skills of Rev’d William who played a Chopin ‘Polonaise’ and ‘Clare de Lune’ by Debussy.

Latest new chorister to stage was baritone Jonathan Price, soon to be joined by other recent additions to the baritone and bass sections. The first tenor section continues to hope that local men who can hit the higher notes will also be attracted to join this very friendly choir.

Next concert is a special one, on Sunday, May 4 at Monkton Priory Church, Pembroke, alongside old friends from Mansfield Male Voice, with some 60 choristers enjoying the superb acoustics of this magnificent church. The concert begins at 3.30pm.

Further details are available from the choir’s Facebook pages.