THE Washburn Valley resounded on Saturday evening to the sound of Opera, Pop, Swing and Songs from the shows when the Norwood Methodist Chapel hosted an evening with Two Voices – Il Due Voci. This was the second of the social events that the Chapel has put on for local residents and beyond, following on from the very successful Folk Evening back in May. Audience members on Saturday included visitors from Otley, Guiseley, Bramhope and Roundhay as well as Norwood residents.

Tom Kowalski from Heckmondwike and Ben Priestley from Bradford are a superb vocal duo with an extremely large repertoire of songs that they perform at their concerts and are regularly in demand throughout West Yorkshire and beyond. Both are trained tenors singing in a wide variety of genres.

They delighted the capacity audience at Norwood Chapel throughout their two-hour programme. Pop songs included My Girl, Nights in White Satin, Under the Boardwalk, Can’t take my eyes off you, Shotgun and Bye Bye Love. In their swing section this included several Sinatra numbers at which Tom excelled, particularly You make me feel so young and Sway, whilst Ben was superb with his rendition of Mr Bojangles. Also in this section they included that great Italian number Volare. Songs from the shows included You’ll never walk alone, Oh what a beautiful morning, Bring him home and Impossible Dream which was their final number in the first half. Operatic songs included Nessum Dorma which was the number that they usually end their shows with. However, with it being the same evening as Last Night of the Proms, the duo included Jerusalem after this as an encore for the highly appreciative audience.

If any performers or groups wish to put on a concert at the Chapel to help us raise funds to keep the Chapel and Retreat Centre successfully operating, contact Sue the bookings secretary on 01943-467517.

John Burland