Choirs on Song in Ilkley

They may not have sung all the way on top of the moors as the famous chorus goes, but the Bradford Boys' and Girls' choirs recently delighted concert goers in the historic town of Ilkley.

All Saints Parish church was packed for the Gala Concert which featured a wide range of music ranging from 14th Century Catalan songs through to a medley from Andrew Lloyd Webber's hit musical 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.'

The Girls' choir entertained the audience with songs from Africa (complete with percussion) alongside 'Hail Holy Queen' from Sister Act and Caccini's Ave Maria. The boys' complemented these selections by singing songs from the Llibre Vermell and works by Peter Hurford and Mervyn Cousins.

The choirs opened the concert together with the Gloria from Haydn's 'St. Nicholas' Mass, also joining together to sing the spiritual 'I am his child' by Moses Hogan.

The concert was rounded off with organ solos fro the two conductors: Christopher Johns played Percy Whitlock's evocative 'Folk tune' while Christopher McElroy roused the audience with a transcription of War march of the Priests by Felix Mendelssohn.