ST John Singers gave a concert in St Martin’s Church on Saturday in aid of The Children’s Society.

The choir sang Parry’s Blest Pair of Sirens and Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb.

For these they were joined by three members of the well-known local Hetherington family: Lily, a former Salisbury Cathedral chorister whose voice filled the church with radiant sound, her father Hugh, a tenor in the cathedral choir, whose dramatic singing held the audience spellbound, and his brother Charles, whose rich deep bass voice was perfect for these pieces.

Star soloist, however, was young Joshua Gahon, son of one of the bass members of the choir, whose treble voice rang out to the rafters and held the audience

Hetherington family, Lily a former Salisbury Cathedral Chorister whose voice filled the church with radiant sound, her father Hugh, a tenor in the cathedral choir whose dramatic singing held the audience spell bound and his brother, Charles, whose rich deep bass voice was just right for this piece. Star soloist however, was young Joshua Gahon, the son of one of the bass members of the choir, whose treble voice rang out to the rafters.

The main work of the programme was the Mass in C minor by Mozart, for which the choir was joined by two soprano soloists who were performing in Salisbury for the first time: Sarah Poole and Sarah Doogan who, with Hugh and Charles Hetherington, formed the quartet of soloists in the unrelentless and demanding solos in this masterpiece.

Accompaniment was provided by members of the Shaftesbury Orchestra (leader Norman Savage) and the organ was played most proficiently by the choir’s regular accompanist, David Coram.

The complete ensemble made a fine and balanced sound with beautiful and stirring performances by soloists and choir alike.

John Powell