Farnham Youth Choir’s 40th anniversary year was launched in style on Saturday, October 14, with a dazzling concert by the senior choir in St Andrew’s Church, Farnham.

This musical celebration had the dual purpose of showcasing the choir’s talents alongside fundraising for its forthcoming trip to the World Choir Games in Auckland in July.

The choir welcomed several representatives from Farnham Town Council in the audience as well as former members of the choir, parents and friends.

As ever, the programme was hugely varied, with songs from the Renaissance up to the present day, and from around the world – with lyrics in Spanish, Latin, Hungarian and Malay – as well as featuring contemporary British composers Will Todd, Michael Higgins, Oliver Tarney and Ben Parry.

The programme was interspersed with some wonderful performances from instrumentalist alumni Amelie Budd on oboe and Maddie Perryman on saxophone, as well as a captivating performance of a Massenet aria by Hannah Poulsom, another alum and FYC vocal coach.

Current choir member Grace performed Voi, che sapete from Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and past and present singers explained to the audience what being a member of FYC means to them, and shared some of their memories of past tours.

All in all it was a wonderful evening with many musical highlights, as well as raising over £600 to kick-start FYC’s fundraising campaign.

As a charity Farnham Youth Choir believes that no child’s musical potential should be limited by their ability to pay. Any donation, however big or small, will make a difference. See: www.gofundme.com/get-fyc-to-nz