Past Events
Our picture gallery of previous years' concerts.
The Wandering Minstrels returned to Chatteris on Saturday 16th May 2026. For at least the fifth time in the history of CMS they performed a 2 hour concert at Emmanuel Church, Chatteris. This tribute group to Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas performed to a full house. An enthusiastic and appreciative audience were treated to a varied programme which included items from the very well known popular comic operas: The Gondaliers, The Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe, The Mikado, HMS Pinafore and Ruddigore as well as items from the lesser known and not often performed works: Utopia Limited and The Grand Duke. They brought their own staging and costumes with them to their performances along with specialist lighting and effects which all helped create the setting and atmosphere of the Victorian concerts halls for which these Operas were originally written and performed in. Between some of the musical items the audience was also treated to some comic sketches by Tim Hurst-Brown, the leader of the group. This was a wonderful evening of entertainment and even though G&S Operas are much performed and well known these days there is always new humour to be drawn from them! It is fashionable nowadays to alter the words in some songs in order to make them relevant to the present day. We were not disappointed in this respect with a number of well known current politicians names (including a knight of the realm from No.10!) appearing on the Lord High Executioners list from the Mikado. This is very probably the opera from which The Wandering Minstrels take their name and we thank them for a wonderful and memorable evening. A wonderful concert, so good in fact that 2 hours seemed to disappear in just a few minutes."
'An enthusiastic audience was treated to a thrilling 2 hour concert last Saturday afternoon at Emmanuel Church, Chatteris given by the Opera Dudes featuring a tribute to the professional tenors Alfie Boe and Michael Ball. The Opera Dudes are international singers in their own right both with impressive musical portfolios and the concert included some music in the style of Boe and Ball. In addition Tim Lole is an accomplished Musician and Organist and together with Neil Allen they performed duets on the keyboard as well as introducing much humour into their routines. Featuring endless different styles of music from West Side Story and Les Miserables to some of the best known classical opera tenor duets, pub songs and much more in between. Also mixed into the concert were a number of very witty comedy sketches as well as encouraging much audience participation. A wonderful concert which all who attended enjoyed and will remember for a very long time to come'.
