Except for the time of Covid, we were regularly asked to sing at events taking place in Liss. Performing in public always has a ‘roller coaster’ element, making it an exciting and fulfilling experience! Concerts during our 10-year history have included:

• 2014 – First LCC Summer Concert, St Mary’s Church, Liss. A varied programme drew from the great American musicals “Oklahoma” and “South Pacific”. Lucy Flint’s arrangement of “Suo Gan” was sung in public for the first time (remember the soundtrack to “Empire of the Sun”?). Over £1,000 was raised for the Rosemary Foundation.
• 2017 – Summer Concert, St Mary’s. The occasion when Margaret Gussman, (who was key to the Choir’s formation in 2011 and its leader for 6 years), passed the conductor’s baton to Erica Kollek. The programme was brimful of song medleys from “My Fair Lady”, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat” and “Oliver”. Over £600 was raised for the Petersfield Counselling Service, boosted by a collection at the Choir BBQ afterwards.
• 2019 – Liss Film Festival, Triangle Centre, Liss. The Choir set the scene for the screening of “Judy” (the Judy Garland biopic), by singing “Over the Rainbow” and other great songs from her era. A gala occasion!
• Several Informal concerts have been arranged over the years at local nursing and residential care homes, especially at Christmas time.
• July 2022 – Platinum Jubilee Concert, Tea at the Triangle.

With selections made from the early years of the Queen’s life, the Triangle Community Centre put on some multi-channel, comprehensive entertainment on Friday 3rd June. The main offering was Cecil B de Mille’s 1952 film classic, “The Greatest Show on Earth”, with a cast featuring 1,400 circus people. Fans of Charlton Heston and James Stewart could swoon to their heart’s content. 

With somewhat fewer numbers, the Liss Community Choir provided the tea interval entertainment. “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (1927) set a genteel tone to proceedings, followed by “Sentimental Journey” (1944, and which became a big hit for Doris Day), then “In the Mood” (a quick fire, foot-tapping number from 1939 made famous by Glen Miller). A song medley from “My Fair Lady” (1956) brought out the latent Julie Andrews hiding in all the lady attendees. The Choir continued as plate after plate of tantalising cakes and sandwiches appeared from the Triangle kitchen. The final number was a rousing “White Cliffs of Dover” (1941) with conductor Erica Kollek in the role of Dame Vera Lynn, complete with feather boa in Jubilee colours.

 

Feedback? “That was good – we must get them again!”, from Centre Manager Karen, who then approached Erica about a return. We left the lovely Triangle volunteers singing showstoppers from My Fair Lady in the kitchen. “Oh, wouldn’t it be Loverly?”

 

November 2022 – 10th Anniversary Concert, St Mary’s.

A welcome return to normality, after all the Covid-related absences. A scramble for extra chairs was needed to accommodate a well-filled church! The opening number “Bridge over Troubled Water” set the scene, with its message of reassuring support in the face of difficult times. The “Skye Boat Song” challenged the Choir with its twin requirements, the timing of a Swiss watch and the alertness of a gazelle on the Savannah. A set of three Celtic inspired songs produced some well-worked harmonies, followed by the classic “Panis Angelicus” and Verdi’s March of the Slaves, “Va Pensiero”.

After the interval, the audience sang along with gusto to the choruses of popular tunes, and were then treated to a medley of songs from “Oliver”. The final “Music of the Night” sent everyone off happy. Before leaving, they contributed £822.60 to the retiring collection for The Rosemary Foundation, Petersfield. A stunning achievement!

June 2023 – Visits to Blenheim Court and Forest Brow Care Homes.

On a swelteringly hot Saturday, the Choir members donned their most colourful outfits and set out to disturb the afternoon slumbers of the residents at two of the larger local care homes. Windows were flung wide open, electric fans buzzed incessantly and jugs of cool orangeade kept things manageable. These were our first public airings of recent additions to our repertoire: “Mr Blue Sky”, “All you need is love”- the Beatles Medley, and “Barcarolle”. Audience participation was clearly apparent during all the Beatles numbers. It was a joy to see the uplifting effect all around the lounge rooms. Bring on the next concert!

 

 

November 2023 LCC Autumn Concert, St Mary’s

With the warm-up songs done and dusted, the Choir charged ahead with a medley of Beatles numbers, taken from different tracks amongst this fabulous group’s 12 LPs. It was great to pay tribute to this band. Meanwhile, suffering from writer’s block in a snowbound chalet in the Swiss Alps, writer Jeff Lynne had been much relieved by the reappearance of the sun, resulting in “Mr Blue Sky”. The Choir gave it a lusty rendition. Who knows where inspiration is going to come from next? 

The interval included a jaw-dropping presentation by Marylin Weston of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance (HIOWAA) charity, the beneficiaries of the concert proceeds. It turned out that helicopters are very expensive to run (£15,000 per day!) and get called out regularly across the county.

More audience participation followed to test the effects of the interval wine. The Choir relived teenage kicks with the Beach Boys (“Fun, Fun, Fun”, “Help Me Rhonda”) featuring the T Bird, the extravagant gas-guzzling car with tail fins which could have been the envy of Dame Edna Everage. A total contrast was provided by “Sunrise, Sunset”, a poignant song about hard-working country folk in southern Russia, pausing to marvel at their children growing up.

Then it was Freddie Mercury’s turn to crash the party with “Crazy Little Thing called Love”, which had Freddie’s hedonistic lifestyle to a T. Sir Elton John got a look in with “Hakuna Matata”, a title containing probably the best message of the evening: “It means no worries, for the rest of your days”. Amen to that!

The Concert raised a welcome £664.39 for the HIOWAA. So, if you ever see a green and yellow helicopter flying about, you now know who it belongs to!

December 2023 – Joint Concert LCC / Liss Junior School

The Hall at Liss Infants School was already full with parents, Choir members, pupils and visitors to the School’s Christmas Fair, when still more parents came through the door, anxious not to miss their children’s singing. Conversations usually conducted at the school gates continued energetically as the singing got underway. Somewhere behind the pile of winter coats on the grand piano was Lucy, bravely trying to make out what might be happening with conductor Erica elsewhere in the room. Somehow it all worked; the children sang their own songs beautifully under the direction of music teacher Vanessa Cook, and then joined forces with the Community Choir for “Hakuna Matata” and “Santa got stuck up the chimney”. Achoo! x 3!

December 2024 – Carol Concert for the Liss Village Club, Triangle Centre, Liss.

Lots of favourite carols were sung out, with the audience readily joining in. With lyrics projected onto a large screen behind the choir, there really was no excuse to hold back! Canapés and mulled wine rounded off an enjoyable afternoon.