MEMBERS of Corsley Festival Choir and Athenaeum Singers recently travelled to Austria where they performed with other choirs from all over the world.

Together with two choirs from Austria, a choir from Bavaria Germany, and a local orchestra, the 23 Warminster singers performed their rendition of Mozart Requiem.

After being invited by Austrian choir Kufsteiner Singkreis, the British visitors were made to feel very welcome by the Austrian choir master Drummond Walker, who is brothers with a member of the Corsley Choir.

The performance received a lot of positive attention in local newspapers.

Guest reviewer Peter Schroeder said “From the opening Introitus Requiem aeternam donna eis and an almost spine chilling rendering of the Kyrie eleison, the choir sang with a great emotion and homogeneity. That the singers knew the work well and could concentrate on their conductor shone through, though the Sopranos didn’t respond totally to his call for some diminuendo in the otherwise superbly sung Lacrimosa.

The Sanctus and the Agnus dei again demonstrated the choir’s passion and commitment.

The four Soloists played their part admirably with all four voices coming together well in the Tuba mirum. Occasionally the Soprano and mezzo soprano could not be clearly heard against the choir and orchestra in what was a very large concert hall.

The orchestra, made up of a strings section associated with the German choir and brass and woodwind players from around the area, played their part well, but the evening belonged, above all, to the four choirs and their very gifted conductor Drummond Walker

Was it a perfect performance? Not quite. Was it totally memorable? Absolutely.”

The participants from Corsley Festival Choir and the Athenaeum Singers were hugely impressed by the amazing talents of Drummond Walker in coaching the four choirs in two languages, and to his instruction in singing techniques and how to bring real passion and feeling into the performance.