The end of an era for a remarkable musical partnership will be celebrated in Perth later this month.
The Fair City Singers, who have played an important role in the formative years of hundreds of youngsters, are bidding farewell to founder and conductor Marion Neilson and her husband and choir accompanist Martin after 22 years.
Former members of the youth choir for 11 to 17-year-olds are invited to take part in A Night to Remember at Perth Concert Hall on August 28 at 7.30pm.
As well as saying farewell, the performance will be an opportunity for the choir to welcome their new leaders another husband and wife team, Marjory and Stuart Watson.
As Marion and Martin prepare to move to the Scottish Borders, Marjory and Stuart prepare to open a new chapter in the life of the youth choir which has performed throughout Europe as well as in the US and Canada.
In July they undertook a successful concert tour of the Netherlands, performing in Valkenburg, Aachen and Amsterdam and Brussels Cathedral in Belgium.
Mrs Watson, the choir’s new musical director, is an experienced singer, having performed in many of the UK’s best concert venues, including the Royal Albert Hall in London, The Festival Theatre in Edinburgh and Perth Concert Hall.
She is also a recording artist and her first solo CD, The Spark of Creation, was released in 2004. Having worked for a time in Los Angeles, she and Stuart returned to Scotland in 2009 and, as well as performing, she lectures in singing at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
Stuart is a former pupil of Perth High School, who graduated as a tuba player from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and, more recently, gained a Masters from St Andrews University.
After some time working in education, first in London and then Los Angeles, he is now a freelance musician, currently responsible for the musical direction of performances of My Fair Lady at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
Earlier this year he was the musical director for I Do! I Do! at Perth Theatre and has worked in many of the theatres in Fife and Tayside.
The couple say they are delighted to be taking up their respective posts of musical director and accompanist for the Fair City Singers and look forward to providing new and exciting experiences for the young people.
A Night to Remember will also showcase the talents of other guests, all of whom have had close connections with the Fair City Singers. Baritone Donald Maxwell will compere the evening as well as offering a few songs himself, Rosanna Young, a former FCS member and recent graduate of RSAMD, will perform piano solos, while Perthshire Brass and Chansons add their own touches to the programme.
It will be doubly poignant for Martin as, after 15 years, he also hands over the reins of Perth Barbershop Singers to one of the other members, Lindsay Clark, former depute head and business manager at Perth Academy.
All former Fair City Singers are invited to sing with Marion and Martin at their final evening. People able to join them should email faircitysingers@btinternet.com.
Tickets for the concert are available from the box office at Horsecross. Call 01738 621031 or go to www.horsecross.co.uk.