Songs of protest against forms of oppression, from the past horrors of the slave trade to present-day disaster of environmental pollution, will form the central theme of a concert by Monmouth Choral Society at St Mary’s Priory Church, Monmouth, on Saturday (6 June). The conductor will be Steven Kings, the choir’s director of music, with Sam Bayliss, piano, and Rebecca Chellappah, mezzo-soprano.

Eloise Gynn’s composition Wye is in three sections. The first, Kingfisher, evokes the beauties of the riverbank, from the blue flash of a passing kingfisher to the wind rustling in the trees. Diatoms (Lament for the Wye) uses phrases taken from environmental campaigner George Monbiot’s writing about the current state of the river. Finally, Awakening reflects the hope that rising consciousness about its condition will lead to progress. Wye was originally commissioned by Monmouth Male Voice Choir as part of the Welsh Government’s Adopt a Composer scheme, which pairs composers with community groups. This will be its second performance. Monmouth Choral Society gave the work’s premiere in 2024.

John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit, for mezzo-soprano soloist and choir, features lively and expressive arrangements that bring new life to seven well-loved spirituals, ranging from Steal Away and Deep River to When the Saints Go Marching in. Loud He Sang the Psalm of David is by the London-born Black composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, who was active in the earliest years of the last century. The text is taken from an abolitionist poem by Longfellow.

Other works in the concert include Wander-Thirst and Night by Florence Price, We Shall Walk Through the Valley arranged by Undine Smith More and three Welsh folk songs arranged by Steven Kings.

The concert starts at 7.30 pm on Saturday May 30. Tickets are £15, under-18s free, and are available from the choir’s website at monmouthchoralsociety.co.uk or on the door.