ALISON CROOSE There were plenty of reasons to be among the audience at King's Lynn Corn Exchange for this annual treat, apart from the welcome opportunity to escape the pre-Christmas rush.

ALISON CROOSE

There were plenty of reasons to be among the audience at King's Lynn Corn Exchange for this annual treat, apart from the welcome opportunity to escape the pre-Christmas rush.

An eclectic programme of words and music refreshed the senses and was a timely reminder of the true Christmas message.

The entertainment provided by the City of London Sinfonia residency at Lynn has earned such a reputation it was no wonder a large audience witnessed the orchestra teaming up again with the Joyful Company of Singers.

The icing on the cake was the appearance of Gabriel Woolf, who demonstrated the great range of his skills with readings of TS Eliot's The Journey of the Magi, an excerpt from the Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol, the hilarious version of Twelve Days of Christmas by John Julius Norwich and the Stanley Holloway favourite, Old Sam's Christmas Pudding.

Conductor Peter Broadbent introduced the programme in which the leading chamber choir sang delightful arrangements including John Rutter's Shepherd's Pipe Carol and a traditional version of Twelve Days of Christmas.

The audience also enjoyed singing favourite carols accompanied by a first-class orchestra, which excelled itself playing Prokofiev's Troika and Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride.