WHOEVER would have thought that the story of David and Goliath would have been enacted in front of our very eyes by David throwing a tennis ball at Goliath; hitting him clean on his forehead, rendering him dead; brandishing a sword and producing a sawn-off blooded head!

Such was the scene brought to life at Crediton’s Holy Cross Church on October 15 before a packed out church.

The Crediton Church Choir together with the Devon County Junior Choir joined forces to perform the Dramatic Jazz Cantata by Nicholas Brown.

Paul Evans as the huge Philistine, Goliath cut an impressive tall figure dressed all in black, as his gravelly, gruesome bass voice chastised the Israelites.

David, bravely sung by Alex McNeice, a young chorister from Colyton embodied the role as “a real cool dude” complete with rustic jerkin and a bag containing the stone that was soon to deal the fatal blow!

The whole story was narrated and held together brilliantly by the baritone, Daniel Rudge, who had flown over especially from Milan, Italy.

There were plenty of good tunes and the choirs sang their hearts out to entertain and educate us simultaneously.

We won’t forget the story of David and Goliath in a hurry! Thank you to Nicholas Brown who directed the choir and Andrew Millington, former Organist and Director of Music at Exeter Cathedral who accompanied the whole concert on organ and piano with great aplomb.

Our recently appointed organ scholar, Jonathan Rawles played the organ splendidly for “Go Goliath”.

The two choirs introduced the concert with a selection of sacred music and jazz arrangements.

Jonathan Rawles directed the Crediton Church Choir with youthful enthusiasm and brought the best out of them as their voices soared to the rafters.

The Devon County Junior Choir, with their Director Andrew Downton, entertained us with some jazz arrangements to get us in the mood for what was to come. What a joy to hear all these young fresh voices singing with such gusto.

The concert was put on in aid of the Crediton Church Music Endowment Fund which gives grants to encourage choristers to take up instrument or singing lessons and we raised £445 profit.

Thank you to my fellow Trustees and the audience for supporting this venture.

Penny Pearkes

Hon Secretary