Tomorrow (Saturday) there will be a charity performance of Handel’s Messiah at St. Mary’s Church Tenby, starting at 7 pm. This special ‘Come and Sing’ event is in aid of Ty Hafan Children’s Hospice. Handel’s great masterpiece will be performed by a ‘scratch’ choir made up of singers from Tenby, Pembrokeshire, and much further afield, together with four soloists - Angela Allen (soprano), Marilyn Allen (alto), Jonathan Lean (tenor) and Andrew Cusworth (baritone).

Angela, Marilyn and Andrew are establishing a growing reputation as the AMA Trio, presenting enterprising and wide-ranging programmes of a cappella vocal music. Jonathan Lean is Dean of St. David’s Cathedral and has been a leading figure in Pembrokeshire music for many years.

The organist will be Andrew Grace (Rector of Tenby and Area Dean of Pembroke), himself a well-known and distinguished musician. The chorus director is Judy Davies (assistant director of music at St. Mary’s and conductor of the Griffon Choir), and the performance will be conducted by John Harrison (director of music at St. Mary’s).

Throughout the past hundred years, many major choral works have been performed in Tenby, either at St. Johns (formerly Tenby Congregational) Church) or St. Mary’s Church. These have involved many leading local musicians, including William Cecil Williams (organist and choirmaster at St. Mary’s 1895-1942), Richard Williams (organist and choirmaster at Tenby Congregational Church for over 30 years), Edna Howells (for many years conductor of Tenby United Churches’ Choir), accompanists Kenneth Hewlings and Ken Jones and many visiting soloists.

As well as Messiah, the works performed included Haydn’s The Creation and Mendelssohn’s oratorios Elijah and St. Paul. The most recent Tenby performance of Messiah was at St. Johns in 2007 at the request of the Rev. Nanette Lewis-Head, their minister at the time.

An important aspect of the choral music scene in Tenby is, of course, the remarkable achievement of Tenby Male Choir, who celebrated their 40th anniversary this year. This fine ensemble has done much over the years to encourage up-and-coming young musicians and to support other musical ventures in the area.

The organisers of tomorrow’s concert are grateful for their sponsorship which has made possible the purchase of 50 new vocal scores of Messiah. Admission to tomorrow’s performance is £6. As well as raising money for Ty Hafan, it is hoped that this occasion will be a fitting way to mark the first weekend of Advent.