Moray choir prepares to bow out after 48 years
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A MORAY choir is warming up to give its final performance in an illustrious history spanning 48 years.
The Culbin Singers' 127th and last public concert will take place in Forres' St Laurence Church on December 14.
Since its beginnings in 1971, the group has performed choral works of great magnitude and diversity under the baton of Alistair Hardie.
Along the way, they have raised audiences to their feet as well as vast sums for local and national causes.
However, with an ageing membership and difficulties in recruiting younger members, the decision was taken to end on a high note.
The committee and founding conductor began to give serious consideration to the future in 2017 and in September this year a meeting was held to consider winding up.
In the choir's history, Alasdair Joyce wrote: "There was agreement that the choir could not continue indefinitely, and it was vital that the quality of performance should not fall below that which the audience had come to expect."
The motion was passed with an overwhelming majority and Mr Joyce added: "After 48 years of continuous activity, the choir’s final concert, public performance number 127, will take place on December 14, 2019."
The choir first came together under the leadership of Mr Hardie to mark the centenary of the town's Castlehill Church. From there, the Culbin Singers was formed.
Although based in Forres, it drew members – and audiences – from as far off as Buckie to Grantown-on-Spey and Nairn.
Initially, they presented an annual spring concert in Forres Academy, where Mr Hardie taught, but by 1975 a Christmas concert was added to the programme.
During those early years, the choir focussed on Scots songs, choruses from opera, spirituals, church anthems and Christmas music.
Over the next decade, the repertoire expanded in tandem with the choir's ability and by the mid 1980s, the Culbin Singers embarked on more challenging musical adventures.
In 1984, Edith Cook took over as accompanist from the late W Mitchell and has remained in the role since.
Audiences were given a taste of what was to come in May 1985 when the concert programme included some Handel choruses.
The following year, the choir performed for the first time with a professional orchestra, taking on the might of Handel’s Messiah with four supporting professional soloists in the surroundings of St Leonard's.
It was an undoubted success and the forerunner for many more performances of major choral works.
Regular concerts were peppered with special events, from the annual Christmas Lights Switch On to a recording for the BBC’s Sunday Half Hour and from a special Millennium Concert to the choir's 40th anniversary look-back performance.
They've been joined on stage by countless professional soloists and orchestras and have taken part in exchange trips to Forres' twin town of Vienenburg, performing their 100th public performance with the town's Kirchenchor.
In 2014, in recognition of his extraordinary service to music, Mr Hardie was awarded the British Empire Medal.
The Christmas concert, which will be a celebration of the choir's history, gets underway at 7pm. Subject to availability, tickets are available from the R&R Urquhart office in Forres or by messaging the choir's Facebook page.
