Thame voices to be broadcast on the BBC

A THAME choir will have a moment of national fame, when a world première performance of a piece specially composed for them is broadcast BBC Radio 3.

Thame Chamber Choir’s world performance of The Hoard was written by Neil Tòmas Smith as part of a scheme called “Adopt a Composer”, for which Thame Chamber Choir and Thame Children’s Choir, TCC2, were selected a year ago. The composition was inspired by “The Thame Hoard”, a collection of medieval, gold and silver artefacts, found in 1940 by the river Thame and now housed in the Ashmolean Museum.

The recording was made last October during the choirs’ concert in St Mary’s Church, Thame, and was not without incident – the BBC’s super-sensitive recording equipment picked up some extraneous noise, and so the choirs had to stay behind after the concert and re-record the piece once the audience had departed!

The programme will be broadcast on January 23, at 9.20 pm.

Thame Chamber Choir’s next concert is on Saturday, March 11, also in St Mary’s Church, Thame.