Youth and International committees combined to hold a school choir concert in Alsager School hall on 25th March 2022. It was run by Allan Smith [Youth] and Peter T [International] and Vince Galley the school’s music director.. It was a fraught process from minute one. Our headline celebrity, Denise Leigh was diagnosed with breast cancer but said she would still sing even if she had no hair. Husband Stefan was also enthusiastic about accompanying her on piano whilst also doing solos on his piano accordion. I remind you that both are blind.

A week before the concert Vince Galley, the school's Musical Director reported that he had lost three of his lead male singers and a couple of female leads including soloists due to Covid and if any more succumbed he would have to cancel. In the meantime, Denise and Stefan had also caught the bug.

Five days before the concert Vince decided to go ahead with a diminished number of choristers and stand in soloists. One of these only had the afternoon to rehearse her spot while Rotarian Tom and I were setting up the hall and the site staff were laying out the chairs. Not an ideal way to rehearse but she stuck to it and performed brilliantly in the evening. Denise was in A & E on the Thursday and again on Friday, the day of the concert.

As Allan had departed the day before on a long-arranged holiday, I became chief cook and bottle washer so it became a bit frenetic towards start time but by the time I left to transport Denise, plus wig, and Stefan to Alsager everyone who had volunteered was in their place, knowing what to do and when. It was business as usual for this club. When the crunch comes the whole club turns out except of course those down with or in close contact with covid.

At 7-30 the concert began with some excellent singing, choral and solo from the school senior and junior choirs conducted by Vince Galley [senior] and Ms Alex Maxwell [junior] with Denise and Stefan filling middle slots. A short interval to sell the drinks and hopefully a few more raffle tickets followed and then the big surprise from Vince as he decided to put both Denise and Stefan up on stage, something he had regarded too dangerous. His main reason was that he wanted to showcase Stefan on the accordion, not possible if he was at floor level. Good thinking. Apart from being a virtuoso performance we were treated to a Hungarian piece where Stefan played the accordion with his left hand and the piano with his right hand, at the same time. Brilliant.

Denise also sang beautifully as usual from the stage not knowing from one song to the next how her voice would hold out. Before and after Denise and Stefan we were again treated to excellent choral and solo music from the school senior choir. The talent in this school must be heard to be believed and this was without some of their leads. The last selection was from Phantom of the Opera, great music at the best of times but with the school choir and Denise in tandem it was magic and a rousing fitting end to a great concert.

President Lynn did the final honours and with thanks to all involved. She also gave a resume of the work done by Biddulph, Congleton and Alsager Rotary Clubs packing clothes. toiletries, medication, toys etc for the Ukraine Appeal and listed some mind-blowing statistics of what has been collected and sent to the front line. (see photo – Taughtliner) If anyone in the audience did not know what Rotary is about they did then. Well done, Lynn. Her last task was to draw the raffle, £50, cash donated by County Vets, Alsager.

It was won by Rotarian. Jan Lancaster who unselfishly put it straight into the Ukraine exit collection. Cash is now what is urgently required so our exit collection added £188 to the fighting fund.

The beneficiaries of the concert, the school and Marys Meals. should share approx. £800 plus. Once all expenses have been covered. These have been mitigated by Rotarians refusing to accept any reimbursement for outlays on printing tickets and posters.
We may also receive some funding from Vodafone via President Elect Paul.

At the risk of missing someone out my thanks go to Rotarians Peter M, Tony and Ian on the door, Tom Ann and Jan on the 'Bar', Tim, on camera and President Lynn.

One final point. I mingled with parents and pupils after the concert and I can't remember when I last saw so many smiling, laughing and excited kids of all ages in one place. All down to music and the thrill of being on stage with professionals.

Was putting on this concert a lot of hard work? Yes. Was it worth it? Yes. See above paragraph. Would I do this again? Yes. See above paragraph.

This was a wonderfully entertaining evening put on largely by Rotary with a lot of help from the school.

Rotary has also been active in support of the Alsager Food Bank and over £800 has been raised. Delivery of supplies to the foodbank will start next week.

Rotary, like many other charitable associations, has been put under considerable stress by Covid and did itself proud in delivering such a high-quality concert against all odds. Our thanks go to all of those who attended whether they be proud parents or fans of Denise and Stefan who once again showed all their professionalism in being able to perform on the night in true show business tradition.