NEWS: Guildford in Harmony

24 Nov NEWS: Guildford in Harmony

Dame Penelope Keith, patron of Oakleaf, introduced the Guildford in Harmony concert before handing over to our emcee of the night Matt Pinches of the Guildford Shakespeare Company who presented our wonderful choirs!

First to sing was Guildford Vox, with a mixture of contemporary and traditional songs from Britain and around the world. Guildford Jazz were next with some amazing arrangements of popular favourites.

Guildford in Harmony was a wonderful evening full of uplifting music raising over £2000 for Oakleaf!

Our CEO Clive Stone kicked off the evening with a rousing speech about Oakleaf and what we do to help improve the lives of people managing mental ill health in Surrey.

The year 8 and 9 girls from the Guildford County School Chamber Choir kicked off the second half. They performed beautifully with both traditional chamber music and a song from Disney’s Moana. Despite choir director, Roger Pinsent being ill. our very own Everyman choir performed brilliantly; earning the biggest applause of the night! A special mention to Bellow Fellows director Dom Stichbury for stepping up to the plate. He marvellously lead the choir in 2 of the 3 songs they were set to perform.

Bellow Fellows were our last choir of the evening and not only did they entertain our audience they also entertained their train carriage on the way home to London! The evening of music culminated in Guildford Vox, Bellow Fellows, and the Guildford County School Chamber Choir performing ‘True Colours’.

The final act of the night was Clive and Matt hosting our raffle! The double act ran up and down the aisles asking members of the choirs, the audience, and the High Sheriff of Surrey, Jim Glover, to pick the winning tickets.

A huge thank you to everyone who volunteered and attended the concert, helping to raise over £2000; the night was a real success!

If you would like to make a donation toward our mental health work, we would be incredibly grateful. For more details about upcoming events, click here.