Join us to sing Messiah for our anniversary

A choir is looking for British singers to create an Anglo-French event with a performance of Handel’s Messiah in December for its 40th anniversary in Saumur, Maine-et-Loire.

Chorale Contrepoint has nearly 50 members, singing church music and works by French composers Saint-Saëns, Fauré and Charpen­tier, and also by Brahms and Mozart.

Secretary Helen Davey said choirmaster Christian Foulonneau felt Handel, with his associations with the UK, would be perfect for such an event. “I am making contact with as many British groups as possible, as we would love people to join us.”

A meeting has been organised on June 17 and anyone who has sung the Messiah before can attend that and then once-a-month Sunday rehearsals, in September, October and Nov­ember. Anyone who has not sung it before can join rehearsals on Tuesday evenings and one Sunday a month.

Mrs Davey said she had never sung in a choir before she retired to France and members gave a lot of support.

“I love it. It is so good on so many levels. For your health, because you have to learn to breathe correctly; for your morale as when you sing, you concentrate solely on that and other worries are set aside; you make new friends and the music is uplifting.”

If interested, contact Mrs Davey at helen.kathryn.davey@gmail.com

www.contrepoint-saumur.com