It had been a month since our last performance, but there were few signs of rust as the Serenata Singers travelled to the Viridian Retirement Village in Boondall on Sunday afternoon 18 August. It was a perfect winter day in more ways than one! Choir attendance was perhaps as good as for any performance yet this year and the audience responded appreciatively to our repertoire of songs, which – as compere Ian Symes noted – were drawn from an impressively wide range of years, with songs from the Nineteenth Century, and early, mid and late Twentieth Century. Beverly Crouch’s solo performance of “Whispering Hope”, from 1868, represented only the second oldest item on the program. The other soloists were choir conductor Lois Cutmore, who performed “A Taste of Honey” and Roberta Fletcher, who treated the audience to another one of her self-composed humorous poems, this one detailing the ins and outs of “modern communication”. The audience participated enthusiastically in the two sing-along numbers, “In the Mood” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo”. Prue Gibbs once again provided admirable and flawless accompaniment. Afterwards choir members mingled with audience members over afternoon tea. A very pleasant afternoon.

Sadly, this concert marked the last one for our Secretary of the past year, Paul Beckmann, who is leaving us to take up grandparenting duties in NSW. Paul’s contribution to the choir has been significant and he will be missed. We wish him all the best.