By Keef Williamson
Saturday evening (13 December 2025) saw St Peter’s Church in Bramley host a Christmas Concert with three local bands and the String of Beads Ladies Choir.
The show was very well attended and was opened by Prima conducted by Joelle Braithwaite. This band is for beginners, but you might not guess it – their performance of classics like ‘All I Want For Christmas’ and ‘Frosty the Snowman’ was excellent.
Between acts, the Rector of Bramley, Rev Julia Wilkins, interviewed each band’s conductor and regaled us with some truly dreadful jokes.
Next up was Vivo Jazz Band, conducted by Greg Moor. Their set included a brilliant version of the Mission Impossible theme and then went on to more Christmas tunes including ‘God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen’ and ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’.
Concluding the first half, String of Beads Ladies Choir, conducted by Joe Smith in a blue sequinned jacket, entertained us with more Christmas goodies including an intricate multi-parted version of ‘Carol of the Bells’.
During the interval, refreshments were available including mince pies and mulled wine.
The second half was all about Tutti, conducted by Tricia Moores. Their first set included music by Gustav Holst and a Stevie Wonder medley. Following that the audience were invited to sing along with some carols. String of Beads were there to help out and bring the singing to another level with some glorious descant parts.
And then to finish off, more Tutti featuring a rendition of ‘White Christmas’ with solo singer David Bowman.
This excellent band finished with two pieces by Leroy Anderson. The first one, ‘Sleigh Ride’, included the clip-clop of equine hooves performed on coconut shells, whip cracks imagined by banging two bits of wood together and finally a horsey neigh performed by a member of the band wearing a horse’s head, no less.
The final song, ‘A Christmas Festival’, was a marvellous entwining of themes from our best-known Christmas songs, frequently played over each other but always working very well.
As the Rev Julia said, the concert was excellent value for the £6 suggested entry, and all of that money is split between the four groups.
St Peter’s has several special events coming up in the days before Christmas. Check the website for more details. And for more information about Primo and Tutti visit their website. For the choir go to stringofbeads.org.uk, and for Vivo e-mail vivojazzband@gmail.com.
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