FIFTY SHADES OF PURPLE – well, more like 100!

March 8th is International Women’s Day and this year, for the first time, the Ladies hosted a musical celebration to mark the event. They were joined by Mevagissey Ladies Choir who were invited following our visit to them last year in the beautiful St Goran church.

They were also joined by the wonderful ladies barbershop chorus Celtic Chords – their current MD, Isabel Austin, sings with our choir. The Kenwyn Quartet also came along to play in the finale.                                              The soloists were soprano  Simone Hellier and ‘cellist  Becky McGlade, both talented and engaging musicians and all the performers received a warm response from the capacity audience.

The Ladies were joined by Sarah Newton MP

The purpose of the concert was to celebrate the lives of inspiring Cornish women and during the evening narrators Sue Whitmore and Oriel Bennett kept us enlightened and entertained with facts and stories about Mary Kelynak, Emily Hobhouse, Rowena Cade, Suzanna Hext, Esme Page and Anne Glanville. These are all remarkable women, setting us all an example through their achievements, determination and sheer ability to get things done.

Jeannette Preston spoke about the charity Pants Cancers and a very useful amount was raised in the collection.

The colour adopted by International Women’s Day, and worn throughout the world, is purple and Falmouth Methodist Church was beautifully decorated, awash with varying hues worn by performers and audience. This added to the lovely celebratory mood of the evening which was warm, relaxed and buzzing with bonhomie. Sharing a common purpose always brings a genuine feeling of togetherness and, following a grand finale where almost a hundred performers joined to sing “ Let There Be Peace On Earth,” we spilled out to partake of a huge feast and enjoy each other’s company.

This was a memorable event and the Ladies pulled out all the stops, enlisting their menfolk to help, cheerfully undertaking the host of jobs involved, looking resplendent in their purple, singing like angels and proving once again that Stithians Ladies Choir is a force to be reckoned with.