THE annual Orville Manning and Friends Concert at the Spanish Town Methodist Church on December 7 was one of the best in its 28-year history.

The large cast of performers did justice to the splendidly decorated 150-year-old chapel.

Spreading joy were regular guests, the Nexus Performing Arts Company; the Curtis Watson-led Brandenburg Singers, Jomo Aikens, Faith Livingstone, violinist Aaron Lawrence, founder/promoter Orville Manning and pianist Yanique Leiba-Ebanks and organist Trevor Beckford.

There were several high points, from the Brandenburg Singers’ opener Glorious Is Thy Name/12th Mass-Mozart to the closing item We Wish You A Merry Christmas by the Mass Choir.

Manning’s rich tenor shone on Elijah Mendelssohn’s Then Shall The Righteous Shine Forth, Handel’s Rejoice Greatly and Jehovah Hallelujah (The Lord Will Provide).

Faith Livingstone thrilled with Sweet Little Jesus Boy and Gesu Bambino; Lawrence was fantastic on A Long Time Ago; Nexus and the Brandenburg Singers combined for superb renditions of Once In David Royal City and Ding Dong Merrily On High.

Aikens’ humorous take on White Christmas (Irie Christmas) drew sustained laughter. His version of Wonderful World was also well received while Nexus member Phillip Wheatle’s delivery of the popular gospel song, You Raise me Up, was commendable.

Nexus brought an unmatched joviality to proceedings with a suite of traditional songs including The Virgin Mary Had A Baby Boy, Never A Baby Like Jesus and Run Come See.

— Basil Walters