Guthlaxton College raises £400 for heart research

Once again, students from Guthlaxton College at Wigston put on a superb Christmas concert to help the Rotary Club of Oadby Charitable Trust raise money for the Leicester Cardiovascular Research Centre Appeal.

As Rotarians, their partners, families, friends and families of performers arrived, the college's new foyer also filled to the beautiful a capella sounds of Nonet, a nine-strong choir singing carols and other Christmas music. They certainly did not need the safety net of instrumental backing as they were note perfect.

The music that followed in the next couple of hours under Musical Director Mr Richard Dacey was equally superb. He emerged to conduct the Big Band's opening numbers dressed as Santa (complete with an itchy-looking false beard) from beneath the hall's stage, representing a traditional fireplace.

The Big Band was clearly on a high, having won a Gold Award at the National Concert Band Festival on November 18.

The show, as always, demonstrated that the Performing Arts College is far from a one-man band, with Mr Dacey's Music Department colleagues Will Smith and Chris Hirst conducting other sections of the concert, both of whom occasionally took their seats and played instruments among the students.

The music ranged from instrumental, rock, and jazz and featured a trailer for the college's staging of Disney's High School Musical from March 6-9. On the basis of the quality of their performances for the Rotary Club of Oadby, the audiences in March are in for a treat.

During the evening, the Rotary Club of Oadby's President Elect Philip Burrell thanked Mr Dacey, Mr Smith and Mr Hirst and all the students and support staff for helping the club raise money for the heart research centre. He also presented a bottle to Mr Dacey, for which Mr Dacey wrote to thank the club.

The concert raised