By Keith Hunter

CHOIRS in the Stokesley, Great Ayton and Middlesbrough area are joining forces to put together an online Christmas Concert.

The Angrove Singers, Stokesley Choral Society and Vox Choir, all conducted by Jeremy Harbottle, have previously come together to perform in Stockton Parish Church, but none of the local choirs has been able to meet and sing since the middle of March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The sudden halt to singing was quite devastating to choir members, especially the loss of social contact and the benefits to people’s well-being through singing together. This was particularly the case when everyone was having to avoid social contact and when there was no live music anywhere.

Liz Greenhalgh, from the Stokesley Choral Society, said: “We began singing together via Zoom meetings, which felt like a slice of normality, although vastly different from physically meeting.

"As time progressed and we realised that it would not be possible to put on our usual Christmas Concert, we decided to pool the resources of all three choirs and record ourselves at home, singing a range of carols.

"This has been a really interesting process and definitely a new and often very scary experience for most of us. It has only been possible because of Jeremy’s skills as a musician, as well as his extensive computer knowledge and his ability to balance the sound of all our individual voices into a very pleasing result, which will bring some lovely Christmas music to people in the comfort of their own homes.”

The concert should last just over an hour and will consist of a range of traditional and more modern carols, plus solos.

These will consist of a cello solo from Jeremy Harbottle, a piano solo by Lada Khazanovych, the accompanist for the Stokesley choir, and solos from Rohan Hill and Georgia Williams, plus a reading from Jan Snowden.

The concert will be streamed via YouTube at 7.30pm on Friday, December 11, and again at 3pm on Sunday, December 20.

Tickets are £5 per household and can be booked at www.ticketsource.co.uk/the-joint-choirs , where all the relevant details can be found.

The recorded concert will be streamed via YouTube. Ticketholders will be sent a unique viewing link a couple of hours prior to the concert. This link will be unique to the purchaser and can only be viewed within their house.