CALLINGTON Singers and Oregon-based Roseburg Concert Chorale are performing together in a free concert to raise funds for Cornwall & Devon Sending Love to Ukraine.

The charity concert will help to fund the Devon & Cornwall Sending Love to Ukraine’s aid trips. It is to take place on Thursday March 23 at 7.30pm at St Mary’s Church, Callington, PL17 7RE. The Callington Singers under the baton of musical director Dr Andrew Wilson will be joined by The Roseburg Concert Chorale all the way from Oregon in the USA on their latest international tour.

The Roseburg Concert Chorale is very similar to the Callington Singers, being a non-profit, non-audition community choir. The choir was founded in 1949 as the Messiah Chorus, with annual performances of Handel’s Messiah and has since diversified their repertoire to include classical, show tunes, spirituals, folk and popular selections. The current musical director of the concert chorale is Dr Jason Heald.

The Callington Singers are also currently celebrating their 40th anniversary year and this concert is one of several that the choir will be undertaking in 2023. The very first concert performance which the Callington Singers gave was of Faure’s Requiem on November 17 1983 in St Mary’s Church, so singing here again is a nostalgic reminder of the roots of the choir.

Both choirs will sing several pieces together, including new compositions by the two musical directors. ‘Song of Hope’ is a setting of a Thomas Hardy poem composed by Dr Andrew Wilson and ‘Musical Memories’ a setting of a D.H. Lawrence poem, composed by Dr Jason Heald.

To book a place on Eventbrite search for ‘Callington Singers & Roseburg Chorale- Concert for Ukraine’.