AMAZING lighting in the Innerleithen Church of Scotland set the scene for a most enjoyable concert on Saturday.

Continuing their 10th birthday celebrations, and as part of the Innerleithen Music Festival, InChorus with special guests, Traquair Choir, entertained a most appreciative audience with a very varied programme.

InChorus performed an extensive accomplished set, introducing several new pieces added recently to their repertoire, including the beautiful How Sweet the Sound, an arrangement of Amazing Grace written for the choir by Grammy award winning Philip Lawson of Kings Singers fame.

As a complete contrast the choir’s sultry rendition of this summer’s hit Havana by Camila Cabello, cleverly mashed with Madonna’s La Isla Bonita by the choir’s Musical Director, Aly Skidmore, raised the temperature in the room.

Traquair Choir took the stage after the interval with songs which were a lovely combination of folk, trad and work music, accompanied by choir members on guitar and percussion, and by Mark Hindley on piano.

Of particular note were Hold Me Rock Me by Brian Tate, and a true audience pleaser, Alexander L’Estrange’s arrangement of Carol King’s You’ve Got A Friend.

After the concert Musical Director Julie Harvey told us: "Traquair Choir had a wonderful evening as guests of InChorus - the first ever collaborative performance of two local choral tours de force.

"We were thrilled by the audience’s enthusiastic response to our choice of vocal music which showcases Traquair Choir's warm vocal sound and their great sense of ensemble. Huge thanks to InChorus!"

The host choir returned to the stage for the second half of the evening, ending with an enthusiastic rendition of Elton John’s I’m Still Standing, their 10th birthday theme.

Musical Director, Aly Skidmore said: “For such a small community, Innerleithen has a great deal going for it, and we were delighted to be invited to contribute to their thriving arts scene as part of the festival.

"InChorus has performed in the town a few times, and I am always impressed with the support we receive. We really enjoy singing for such good audiences.”

InChorus can be seen next Saturday (August 25) giving a lunchtime concert at 12.15pm in St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh, followed by a performance on the Mercat Stage on the Royal Mile at 3.15pm as part of the Fringe.

On Saturday, September 1 they will undertake their 10/10 Day in Peebles singing at ten locations around the town, ending at the Eastgate Theatre for their ‘Choiraoke’ concert at 7.30pm.

Tickets are available from the Eastgate Box Office. For further information contact InChorus on www.inchoruschoir.co.uk or Facebook.

Traquair Choir will be performing in a fundraising concert for the Eastgate Theatre in November. Please see the Eastgate brochure or the Traquair Choir website for more details www.traquairchoir.org.uk