On the 3rd of March everything was in place to deliver a concert of music at Stoke Climsland Church in celebration of the life of much loved former Callington Singer, Jill Long…..then the snow hit Cornwall and we reluctantly cancelled the event. We felt sure that Jill would not have wanted anyone to risk their safety to come and hear us sing for her.

Since then we have been looking for a new date on which to perform for her. The good news is that we have rescheduled this event. The venue is still Stoke Climsland Church and time remains 4pm but the new date is Saturday 28th April. We are hoping to get the news about the change of date spread to anyone who knew and loved Jill, so please feel free to share this article far and wide!

 We can also now give you a bit more information about the programme for this concert. It was a tough job to narrow down the repertoire of all the music Jill had sung with us to a core programme of pieces which we know she really loved. We have also tried to represent the wide range of music and settings which she sang with us.

We therefore have popular pieces of sacred choral music which everyone will recognise like Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring and the 1st movement of Vivaldi’s Gloria,  but also excerpts of Harold Darke’s Mass in F and Stanford’s Magnificat in B Flat to reflect the type of music we have sung when visiting cathedrals and taking part in the services. There is also a piece of opera chorus in there for good measure.

We have especially included Jill’s favourite piece from Mozart’s Requiem – the Lacrimosa. Unusually, Jill had sung every voice part in the Requiem over the course of her life, starting at primo soprano as a small girl and ending at Bass when singing in the Callington Singers. Very few people can say that, so we thought it worth celebrating. We really hope you can join us for a celebration of the life of this extraordinary person.

Here is the full programme: 
Mozart: Ave Verum
Vivaldi: Gloria (1st movement)
Fauré: In Paradisum (from Requiem)
Mozart: Lacrimosa (from Requiem)
Mozart: Laudate Dominum
Saint Saëns: Tollite Hostias
Verdi: Va Pensiero from Nabucco
Stanford: Magnificat in B Flat
Wood: O thou the Central Orb
Darke: Mass in F, excepts
Bach: Jesu, Joy of Mans’ Desiring
Rutter: A Gaelic Blessing

In recognition of all the good work which Jill did in raising money for charity, the proceeds from this concert will be donated to Shelterbox.

(Jill can be seen here third from the right on the back row with her fellow basses).