On Monday 13th April, the ladies of Wattisham Military Wives Choir had the privilege of performing to another very special group of ladies… at the Three Valleys’ WI monthly meeting held in Elmsett. We arrived early evening and rehearsed outside whilst enjoying the Spring air.

To begin our performance, our Chairlady Anna Lewis took to the stage to introduce the choir, its concept and brief history before sharing her own reasons for joining and passion for singing with the ladies. Anna described how singing together each week brings joy to so many. Our introduction concluded with a recital of ‘When God created the Military Wife’ from Catherine Johnson, which was met with humoured yet empathetic applause from the audience.

We performed a variety of music opening with an unaccompanied piece ‘Down in the River’, (Arr Kenyon) then moved onto more popular-style pieces of ‘Stronger Together’ and ‘Wherever You Are’ (with solo from Emily Albon). We also showcased ‘The Snow’ (Elgar), a piece the Military Wives Choir performed at the BBC War Horse Prom last year. We have been working on it as a choir and it was a pleasure to share our efforts with the audience. The tempo then shifted as we sung ‘Annie’s Song’ followed by a medley of Vera Lyn classics (‘Songs that won the War’), culminating in a solo from Kitty Meeks. The next two songs of ‘Corner of the Sky’ and ‘Whisper of Angels’ moved the audience back into our more popular-style repertoire. We ended our performance with an uplifting rendition of ‘Sing’ which was met with great applause.

Following the concert, several of us were able to stay and meet members of the audience. We then enjoyed sampling the delightful homemade cakes & pastries along with wonderful cup of tea in true WI fashion!