THERE was a standing ovation to end a special concert in Lydney last week, as refugees joined local performers on stage for an “emotional” rendition of the Ukraine National Anthem.

Local group Forest Singers hosted a benefit concert billed ‘A Song for Ukraine’ at Lydney Town Hall last Friday (September 30), with most of the proceeds going to support the Forest’s Ukraine Community Hub.

Forest Singers, conducted by Lewis Hutton and accompanied by Anita Chaloner, kicked off proceedings with ‘City of Stars’ from the film La La Land, followed by ‘A Thousand Years’ by Christina Perry and ABBA’s ‘Mama Mia’.

Next up was the first of the group’s bursary winners for 2022, 11 year-old singer Lola Davies.

The Singers’ David Chaloner said of Lola’s “brilliant rendition” of ‘Opportunity’ from Annie: “What a voice! A future in music must beckon to this great young talent.”

She was followed by Drybrook and District Male Voice Choir with an “entertaining and fun” Flanders and Swann number, ‘A Transport of Delight’.

They continued with the theme of transport singing ‘Speed Your Journey’, ‘Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves’ by Guiseppe Verdi and ‘Take Me Home’ by Edwards and Hand.

It was the turn of Cinderford Town Band next, who David said “demonstrated just why they have such a good reputation” with performances of ‘Born Free’ by John Barry and ‘Music’ by John Miles.

Their set included two numbers from Les Miserables, the first, ‘Bring Him Home’ featured a stunning solo by Alan James on Soprano Cornet, followed by ‘I Dreamed a Dream’.

The second half opened up with the next of the bursary winners, singer Frankie D’Amato.

Frankie, who is well known locally as a member of the Forest Musical Society, overcame a technical glitch to receive “prolonged applause” for her performances of ‘Don’t Rain on My Parade’ from Funny Girl and ‘She Used To Be Mine’ from Waitress.

David explained: “The performance was particularly difficult for Frankie as the house lights failed just as she was about to start and didn’t come back on until she had finished, she carried on regardless, a real trooper!”

The next set from the Drybrook Male Voice Choir included the “wonderful” ‘A Land Between Two Rivers’, written by well-known local Dick Bryce and accompanied by Charles Taylor and Robin Wintour on guitar.

After singing ‘Steal Away’ by Wallace Willis and ‘You Raise Me Up’ by Graham and Lovland they ended with great performance of Gershwin’s ‘They Can’t Take That Away From Me’ including a solo part sung by Malcolm Cape.

Then came the last of the Forest Singers bursary winners, violinist Talia Racine.

David said: “Talia had wowed the audience of a previous Forest Singers concert with her Violin, playing ‘Allegro Brillante’ by Ten Have, and she did it again this time with a brilliant performance of ‘Sonatensazt’, a Violin Sonata in C minor by Brahms.

“Accompanied by Sara Harris on Piano, it was a beautiful and mature performance from such a young player.”

Forest Singers then returned to the stage for the final set, starting with ‘Feeling Good’ by Bricusse and Newly and moving on to ‘Ashokan Farewell’ by Jay Ungar and “a real crowd favourite”, ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen.

Then, Forest Singers, the Drybrook Male Voice Choir and Cinderford Town Band came together to perform the Ukraine National Anthem, joined on stage by Ukrainians from the audience.

David said: “It was a very emotional moment for those playing and singing as well as the audience, there were very few dry eyes at the end and the applause from the standing audience went on for several minutes.”

He added: “The organisers wish to thank all those involved for their hard work in making the concert such a success.

“A big thank you to the Lydney Town Hall trustees for the much-reduced cost and also all involved for their valuable help in the setting and clearing up of the hall.”

“Many thanks to all the performers without whom there would be no concert.

“A huge thank you to all those who bought tickets and then braved horrible weather to get to the concert where they also bought raffle tickets and generally donated to the cause in such a generous way.”