Masonic Hall, Aspatria

The Dalston Male Voice Choir, presented a delightful and imaginative programme of vocal music at Aspatria Masonic Hall, which ranged from folk songs to Grand opera. From the very outset, it was clear we had a gifted, committed choir, who for nearly two hours thrilled their appreciative audience with their musicianship, enthusiasm and love of their repertoire.

The musical director, Michael Deakin, has a wonderful knack of getting the very best out of his choir. It was a pleasure, to see his unobtrusive and sensitive conducting. The choir has a very gifted accompanist in Lorraine Gash, who effortlessly interpreted the most technically demanding piano passages. The different items in the programme were introduced humorously and concisely by David Wood. David quickly established a rapport with his audience and made a most effective compare.

Throughout the evening, Michael’s hard work was reflected in the expression, tunefulness and crystal clear diction of his singers. Particularly impressive was where the choir coped with some difficult harmonies and modulations. Their conductor evidently pays great attention to detail. Perhaps in this feast of musical delectation, the highlights for me were the Morte Christe by E. Jones, Verdi’s Chorus ‘Speed Your Journey’ from his opera, Nabucco and the topical and unashamed nostalgia of a medley of evergreen First World War songs.

It was nice to see two young guest artists, Eleanor Hatch and Samantha Jones, both A level students at Cockermouth School. The audience was delighted with their confident and polished performances. Their pure singing voices, unaided by microphones were an absolute joy to hear. What particularly thrilled everyone was when they sang two duets, where their natural sensitivity and tonal clarity shone through. The rapturous, spontaneous applause they received, spoke for itself. Quite unexpectedly and to the admiration of the largely masonic audience was a splendid arrangement of some masonic festive board songs.

Thank you Michael, what a multi-talented and versatile musician you are ! All in all this was a fantastic musical evening.