Past Performances

9 events to display

Love Walked In

Sat, 5 Jul 2025

Oh, We do like to be beside the seaside! That’s what Suffolk Singers thought when they
performed their summer concert in St Edmund’s church in Southwold. Under the watchful
eye of Southwold Jack – a well known 15 th C clock jack and a symbol of the local Adnams
Brewery – the choir performed an eclectic programme entitled “Love Walked In”. Music,
ranging from Elizabethan part-songs and John Rutter’s jazzy Birthday Madrigals to
romantic and sentimental favourites including A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square and
Sting’s Fields of Gold, delighted the audience in the stunning 15 th C church in the centre of
town.
As always, Claire Weston, former Principal Artist of English National Opera and now Head
of Singing at Woodbridge School, directed the choir with expert precision and great
feeling, resulting in a highly polished performance by the choir.
For part of the concert, Christine Wiffen expertly accompanied the choir on the piano and
was joined for Rutter’s Birthday Madrigals by Melanie Da Benga on the double bass. In
addition, Christine and Melanie treated everyone to several duets including The Elephant
from The Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns.
During the afternoon, Suffolk Singers charmed the shoppers and holiday visitors in the
town by singing a taster of some of the music that would be performed at the evening’s
concert, including a rousing rendition of Goodnight Sweetheart, a popular Doo-wop song
from the 1950s.
So although there was no brass band playing "Tiddely-om-pom-pom!”, the singers did
enjoy a stroll along the prom and an ice cream or two before getting ready to give their
best performance to residents and visitors alike in sunny Southwold...beside the sea!
If you are interested in singing with the choir, we meet on a Thursday evening during term
time in Otley Village Hall. We are especially looking for additional singers for the tenor
section of the choir. Further information and contact details can be found on our website at
www.suffolksingers.co.uk
Our next concert will be at St Michaels Church - Framlingham on Saturday 18 th October
at 7.30pm.

Spring Concert - St' Jo's Ipswich

Sat, 5 Apr 2025

As twilight descended over Ipswich, Suffolk Singers stepped forward to perform their latest concert, Night Into Day, in the impressive and atmospheric chapel of St Joseph’s College. The chapel provided a splendid setting for the concert, the first time that Suffolk Singers had performed there.
Led superbly as always by Suffolk Singers’ musical director, Claire Weston, the choir was in good voice in front of an appreciative audience. Suffolk Singers were delighted to welcome once again The West Tones, a group of talented young singers from Woodbridge School where Claire is Head of Singing, who also performed several pieces. Both choirs were ably accompanied on the piano by Christine Whiffen.
The varied programme took the audience on a journey from night into day and then back into night again. The concert opened with pieces celebrating the coming of the new day, including “O Radiant Dawn” by James MacMillan, a favourite of Suffolk Singers’, first performed by the choir at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium in 2017. The theme continued with several pieces contemplating the onset of day which included another Suffolk Singers favourite, Gerald Finzi’s “My Spirit Sang All Day” and the uplifting gospel song, “Unclouded Day”, arranged by Shawn Kirchner.
The concert’s second half unfolded with three pieces reflecting on day turning to evening including “Second Eve”, a piece written in eight parts by Norwegian composer, Ola Gjeilo with complex harmonies and frequent key changes. Finally, the concert theme returned to night from whence it came with the choir performing another Suffolk Singers favourite, “Sure On This Shining Night”, written by American composer Morten Lauridsen.
Our special guests for the evening, The West Tones, beautifully performed four pieces to the delight of the audience. The first was Eva Cassidy’s version of “Over The Rainbow”, followed by an arrangement of “Autumn Leaves”, and “You Raise Me Up”, most notably recorded by Irish group Westlife. Finally, The West Tones showed their versatility with a lovely rendition of George Frideric Handel’s aria, “Ombra Mai Fu” from the opera Serse.
For the final piece of the concert, Suffolk Singers were joined on stage by The West Tones to sing “Dream A Little Dream of Me”. A lovely end to a wonderful concert, beautifully performed by Suffolk Singers and The West Tones and expertly directed by Claire Weston.

FIND Concert

Sat, 18 Jan 2025

Back again for the fourth successive year, Suffolk Singers delivered another spectacular concert helping to raise funds for Suffolk charity, FIND (Families in Need). “Feel The Spirit” the concert title encouraged, and the spirit of the evening was most definitely felt by the packed audience at the Woodbridge Community Hall.
Our host as always was Suffolk Singers Music Director, Claire Weston whose enthusiasm and energy set the mood, helped by a varied programme of spiritually uplifting music. We were delighted to be joined once again by The West Tones, an ensemble of talented young singers from Woodbridge School, who performed five pieces to the delight of the audience. Claire was ably assisted on the keyboard by accompanist Andrew Gosden.
To open the programme, the choir performed an a capella version of “The Continental”, made famous by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astair in the film The Gay Divorcee, and followed it with “The Lily and the Rose”, a beautiful song by Bob Chilcott.
The choir then split into two parts with the ladies performing “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by Eric Thiman, set to Wordsworth’s poem of the same name. The men followed this with a rendition of “Danny Boy” arranged by Julie Knowles.
Next, The West Tones took to the stage for the first of their two sets, beautifully performing “The Rose” sung by Bette Midler in the film of the same name, and “You Raise me Up” made famous by Irish group Westlife.
To complete the first half, Suffolk Singers returned to perform two pieces, “When Daisies Pied” and “Come Live With Me”, from John Rutter’s “Birthday Madrigals” with lyrics from 16^th Century texts by Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare and Walter Raleigh.
After the interval, the wide-ranging programme continued with a blending by Philip Kern of two Paul Simon songs, “Scarborough Fair and The Sound of Silence”. This was followed by an arrangement of Gershwin’s “Love Walked In” and a stirring rendition of “Over The Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz.
Time for The West Tones to return to the stage with a very different version of “Over the Rainbow”. This was followed by two further pieces, Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone” by Rogers and Hammerstein, rounding off a beautifully sung and moving set.
Suffolk Singers completed the evening with Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It”, and a version of the nursery rhyme “Sing a Song of Sixpence”, arranged into a tongue-twisting a capella piece by John Rutter.
For an encore, Suffolk Singers and The West Tones came together to sing “Hail Holy Queen”, originally performed by Whoopi Goldberg in the film Sister Act, bringing the evening to a rousing conclusion.
A wonderful concert that was enjoyed by an enthusiastic audience. But the real winners on the evening were FIND, the inspirational charity that does so much to help families in need in Suffolk. Maureen Reynel MBE, founder of FIND, gave a moving address setting out the work that the charity does and how it is working to further develop its services and the facilities at its headquarters in Ipswich. Suffolk Singers are delighted to have collaborated again with FIND to raise in the region of £1,850 from the concert to help support their vital work.