Our 2025-26 season started with a performance of Handel’s most popular oratorio, Messiah. Perhaps unusually, this was a September matinée performance, on 27th September, at Christ Church, New Mill. A small group of instrumentalists from The Valley Sinfonia (led by Mary Barber) provided the accompaniment, and the soloists included internationally acclaimed operatic soprano Nicola Mills, with Emily Reaves-Bradley (who is a long-serving musical director of Honley Ladies’ Choir, and has sung solo for us previously), Colin Shires (a Mrs. Sunderland trophy winner) and David Kaye (of the Mastersingers) and indeed it was a memorable performance. It was conducted by Geoffrey Lockwood – his final Messiah with Holmfirth Choral before he retires in December, and Malcolm Hinchliffe was at the keyboard. The concert attracted a large and appreciative audience.
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