The London Symphony Orchestra played with the kind of brilliant concentration only loyalty and love can command, and the 150-strong choir, drawn from the London Symphony Chorus and the London Philharmonic Choir, sang with controlled power and beauty.
It variously takes in modern dance; a score influenced in equal part by "György Ligeti, James Horner film scores and experimental electronica like Dan Deacon"; a choir drawn from open rehearsals (that includes everything from trained opera singers to would-be R&B vocalists); 3D projections; a "strong ecological message"; and a genderfluid whale.
I sang in the choir, danced, drew, and I watched television avidly.
In London, where he moved at 17, a choir performance drew attention to his voice and led to his first regular paid solo singing job -- which led to his new life.
The choir members are drawn from a few different Baptist churches in Beacon and the surrounding area and sing a range of different gospel styles.
The family group, featuring their son Elliott — then 10 years old, now a soloist for the choir — was on the program at the tabernacle itself, the building from which the choir, generations earlier, had drawn its name.
Sky News 8.15pm GMT All together now...a choir of 500 children, drawn from schools in Spain and Belgium, performed at a charity concert held at the Royal Theatre of Madrid, Spain in honour of Belgian's Queen Fabiola, who celebrated her 85th birthday this year.
Jonathan Griffith, the artistic director of Distinguished Concerts International New York, assembled a huge orchestra and a chorus that looked to be at least 250 strong, drawn from choirs across the country, for a mammoth "Messiah" at Avery Fisher Hall on Sunday afternoon.
Chanticleer, the ebullient (and stunningly expert) San Francisco men's chamber choir, has been drawing eager crowds for several years by offering a tempting mix of carols, spirituals, and sacred polyphony from the medieval and Renaissance periods.
"In fact it was said that in one of the cathedrals where I worked that the choir used to draw lots to see who had to sit next to me because I put them off so badly," he said.
The vocal soloists, drawn from the choir, ranged from adequate to good.
