THE visit of German choir to Ledbury, over the Bank Holiday weekend, is being hailed as a great bridge building success, and one which will lead to a reciprocal visit.

The Kantorei Schwarzenbruck from Bavaria gave a Concert in St Michael's and participated in a joint service on Sunday, May 3.

Event spokesman, William Hopkinson said: "By common acclaim, the concert and service were both excellent, and gave much pleasure.

"The programme started with the newly-restored Master’s House where the choir were given a very informative tour of this remarkable building. They also found time to visit Worcester Cathedral, the Elgar Museum, Hereford Cathedral and the Mappa Mundi, and the Big Blossom Festivities at Putley and Aylton. At all of those they sang, sometimes spontaneously."

Mr Hopkinson added: "A number of them also played their brass instruments at Worcester and Aylton, as well as in St Katherine's Hall in their first minutes of arrival. They sang as they departed. By then, friendships had been formed and the choir felt that they had been most warmly welcomed in Ledbury and the surrounding villages.

The concert included choral and organ music ranging from Mendelssohn songs and organ solos to a movement from Brahms’s German Requiem, for which the German choir was joined by members of the Ledbury Choral Society.

"The visitors were shown that there is more to the Ledbury Deanery area than just Ledbury. Like other Big Blossom visitors they had lunch in the magnificent 500-year-old thatched barn in Aylton, and looked into the little, also recently-restored Aylton church, where Rev. John Rhodes had arranged a practical sermon involving seeds which the visitors could take home so that some corner of an Altdorf field can be forever Aylton."

Mr Hopkinson continued: "Then it was time for them to cross the fields through the apple trees to Putley Village Hall. The visitors had heard of cider but had no idea how diverse the varieties can be, before encountering the tasters on offer in the Hall. Then the Leominster Morris Men arrived to do their stuff. Tapestried coats, shoes with bells, and hats full of flowers – this was a side of England for which nothing had prepared the choir. For one dance, the audience were invited to take part, and several visitors gamely accepted sticks and followed instructions about how to beat each other with them."

A contingent from Ledbury will go to Altdorf for a preliminary visit in June, ahead of a larger visit by Ledbury-area some time in 2016.

Mr Hopkinson said: "It is clear that we shall be made very welcome. We shall be seeking people who wish to visit then to carry further the forging of understanding between the people of the Ledbury and Altdorf areas."