Chorale’s Letchworth concert on Saturday ‘a fitting finale to centenary year’

Moving music inspired by the suffering of the victims of war will be presented at a concert in Letchworth on Saturday.

The Letchworth Chorale concert features a performance of The Armed Man by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins.

Subtitled A Mass for Peace, the piece was commissioned by the Royal Armouries Museum for the Millennium celebrations, marking the museum’s move from London to Leeds. It was dedicated to victims of the Kosovo crisis and is essentially an anti-war piece.

Howard Goodall’s beautiful Requiem Eternal Light will also be performed, and the soloists are soprano Emma Lewis and tenor Jonathan Smith, who have both earned high praise for their performances in opera and concerts nationwide.

The choir will be joined by pupils from the town’s Highfield School and accompanied by The Fiore String Quartet and local percussionist Daniel Basford.

Musical director Kevin McCalman said: “This concert marks, for the Chorale, a fitting conclusion to a momentous centenary year of remembrance of those who died in the First World War. We are delighted that pupils and staff from The Highfield School will be singing with us.”

There will be a retiring collection in aid of the War Child charity.

The venue is Letchworth Free Church, from 7pm. Tickets are on sale at David’s Music in Eastcheap, or on the door (£10, £8 concessions).