Andy Paterson - tenor

Historic Lichfield Guildhall provided a fitting venue for our 10th Anniversary Celebration, which took place at an exclusive event on Sunday 16th February - just for us! 

In the teeth of a still-raging Storm Dennis, over one hundred choir members turned out - the largest singing assembly the Choir has yet mustered for a performance and - whilst it may have felt a little self-indulgent - we all enjoyed performing for ourselves.

Almost eighty invited guests (many of whom remain avid and enthusiastic supporters after all those years) braved flooded roads to enjoy our afternoon concert. Included in their number we were privileged to welcome Carol Pemberton from legendary a capella group Black Voices and Pam Easto from Lichfield Festival as our VIP guests, both of whom were instrumental in the Choir’s formation in 2010.

With Themba at our musical helm and due acknowledgement to the recent ‘Favourite Songs’ survey, we sailed into an uplifting and extensive repertoire of music, some of which a number of us could only just remember! With voices lifted, harmonies tested and an encouragement of rhythmic moves, we enjoyed an uninterrupted set lasting over an hour combining old and new numbers including Sinjenje; Guiding Light; Total Praise; Siabonga and the evergreen ‘Swing Low’ medley.

Choir members also excelled themselves with home-made provision of a vast and varied buffet, served in the ground-floor Guild Room - which including an enticing array of savouries and sweets to appeal to all tastes. Wine and soft drinks were also available to lubricate both voices and the afternoon’s proceedings.

With a fitting speech from our Chairman, Gerbo; the launch of our own mini-documentary video (now available to view on this website); grateful thanks expressed to Carol, Pam and indeed all Choir members past and present, the afternoon celebration was rounded off with an impromptu on-stage finale of ‘Vuma’ - a Choir classic and a suitably uplifting conclusion to a unique and very special celebration.

We're singing at Lichfield Fuse Festival on Saturday and choir member and events secretary extraordinare, Andy Paterson, has been talking to Paul Marriott about all things LGC. Come along to the Evolution marquee in Beacon Park at 12.30pm - it's a free event and it would be fantastic to see you there!

Ahead of Fuse 2019 Paul Marriott interviews Andy Patterson of Lichfield Gospel Choir about their music and upcoming performance.

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(by alto, Kate Slater)

At the end of March, we held a concert to raise money for Refuge at Wade Street Church, as part of my fundraising efforts for this year's London Marathon.I always think every concert is the best ever, but this time I'm fairly certain it wasn't just me on a hallelujah-fuelled high, because so many of the choir (and, most importantly, Themba) said they thought so too! We sold out of tickets (there was even a waiting list on the door), we received an almost complete standing ovation and we raised a HUGE £1609.78 for Refuge - more than I dreamed possible. The energy and focus in the choir was incredible and the audience were fantastic. I've never felt prouder to be part of LGC.While I have the chance, I'm going to repeat what I said on the night and just say thank you everyone in this wonderful choir for being so brilliant. Every year I've run the marathon for Refuge (2019 will be my third), they've cheered me on and sponsored me and really been the best support team I could possibly ask for. It is such a joy to sing with them every week and, as corny as it sounds, they really do feel like a huge extended family.Here's a little bit of our encore, This Little Light, which I think sums up the evening!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n81GiNMIvjwThere are a few more photos and videos on the website, and quite a lot more on Facebook.One final thank you to everyone who helped bring such a fantastic night together, I really couldn't have done it without you!

Our year got off to a wonderful start with a concert at the Methodist Church. Here’s a great account of the evening from one of our basses, Warren Bardsley, who also organised the event.Lichfield Methodist Church was delighted to be able to host a Gospel Choir concert on January 27th, though we wondered just how many would attend, in view of  some counter-attractions on the same night, not least, being the visit of Pam Ayres to the Garrick! We needn’t have worried.  Although ticket sales led us to expect an audience of at least sixty, about double that number turned up on the night and the church was full for the performance, which is always gratifying!  It was an appreciative audience too, entering into the spirit of the performance, responding to the invitation to sing along, if not quite dance in the aisles!  Comments afterwards were fulsome in their praise of the choir, the quality of our singing, range of material and evident enthusiasm. A truly inspirational evening!

This gives me the opportunity to say how much membership of LGC has meant to me, personally.  I joined in October 2016 when recovering from illness.  A member had been encouraging me to join and I decided that this was the right time.  I have sung in choirs over the years but not recently and never in one quite as large.  I felt immediately welcome – especially by the bass section!  Also I was fortunate to join when  we were beginning rehearsals for the National English Opera’s  presentation of Bach’s St John Passion, which involved several choirs in an Advent concert in Lichfield Cathedral – a memorable event.  Its a privilege to belong. I feel very much at home.

One of the things I love about the Gospel Choir is the way we support and encourage one another. With numbers approaching 100+ its impossible,  with the best will in the world  to know everyone, even by name, but there is a strong sense of togetherness and although we work hard in rehearsals, we have fun! Recently I heard it said of an orchestra that in order to be successful it is imperative to create the right environment, and that is essentially the work of the conductor. In this, are singularly fortunate to be led by Themba who combines professional skills as a musician and a relationship with the choir which is warm and empathetic. He is a great  encourager and brings out the best in us.  Even when he is issuing a mild ‘telling-off’ to a section of the choir, he does it so graciously that it almost feels like a compliment!  His spontaneity can be challenging at times and keeps us on our toes! So thank you for having me.

Just a brief word about ‘ Phakamisa’ the remarkable  ministry of Pinetown Methodist Church in Durban South Africa which the concert supported. It began in 1993 with five women who trained to be nursery school teachers, enabling them to earn a small wage and give 100 children the benefit of a good pre-school education.  Now, almost 25 years on the project supports over 16,000 children and their carers.  In an area devastated by the AIDS pandemic there are many children whose parents have died. Inspired by the compassion of Christ, Phakamisa offers people, through education, social care and life-skills training, the possibility to support themselves and the orphans in their care. This is the meaning of Phakamisa - ‘a hand-UP not a hand-OUT’.Saturday’s concert raised £550 for this vital humanitarian work, for which we are very grateful.  The Director of the project came to Lichfield last May to launch the fund-raising programme here .  Thokozani  Poswa is a Zulu woman and told us that when they meet to worship they often sing songs like ‘Manginsondele’! So some kind of link perhaps  between Phakamisa and Lichfield Gospel Choir? Hopefully when I next send a report of our fund-raising we can include some pictures of the choir in action!

A lovely review of our concert with Black Voices at Lichfield Cathedral by one of the Festival's Young Critics! Read the full review here.

It certainly is - although the singing is rather wonderful too. Themba has been talking to Lichfield Live about our Lichfield Festival concert TOMORROW (14th June) at the Cathedral with Black Voices.Read the full interview here.There are still a few tickets left for tomorrow, available here. We really can't wait!

We had such a fantastic evening singing at the Birmingham Symphony Hall on Sunday. Community Spirit brings together choirs from around the West Midlands to sing in one of the best concert halls in the world!

Our choir has been taking part since the very beginning and it was lovely to hear Carol Pemberton of Black Voices tell everyone that we were actually the inspiration behind the project. A huge thank you to everyone who made Community Spirit happen this year, and the biggest thank you of all to Themba. We were all slightly nervous in the dress rehearsal, but after an impromptu practice in a corridor, everyone felt much better!

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Here's a little bit of us singing Death Came a Knocking, specially arranged for our choir by Sara Colman

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In between all the eating, drinking and merry music-making that made our wonderful Christmas party, we also held what quite possibly became the longest ever raffle in aid of Lichfield Foodbank. If there's one thing Lichfield Gospel Choir excelled at in 2016 (as well as, you know, singing in ETO's St John Passion and taking the Symphony Hall by storm for Community Spirit) it is surely raffling. We raised £121 which, amazingly, was enough to pay for 190 meals!Lichfield Foodbank have been in touch to thank us for the donation and say how much it was appreciated! They've fed approximately 900 people since April and of those more than 300 were children. It's great to know we played a small part in that.

"Everyone who came to the foodbank from 28th November up until Christmas was given a special voucher so that they could collect a Christmas bag for each member of their household just before Christmas.We were able to assemble 200 of these bags which was really good as we know they were all very much appreciated. They make a real difference to families who are in crisis at this challenging time of the year."

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