St Michael's Church, Dalston

I have been to the Christmas Concerts of this choir ever since my wife and I moved locally. It had always been a treat but recently, with the addition of the mulled wine and mince pies, things got even better! Best of all was the delightful singing by the choir: the best I have heard from them.

I liked the contrasts in the selection of music which balanced popular seasonal yuletide songs with some really unusual harmonies, such as the one from the Outer Hebrides (sorry,I can't pronounce the title).

Soothing harmonies as in the Welsh carol "Suo Gaan" and the bare tones of "Gaude Te" an excellent rendition of a Latin Text, provided lots of variation in this concert. "Let it Snow" and "Chestnuts Roasting" brightened up this gloomy afternoon and the selection of First World War songs left us with many mixed emotions during a very moving last post.

A young soloist, the singer Brihannon Strathern, added her own particular charm in a series of modern songs of which "Can't help loving that man of mine" really stood out. The addition of "Abide With Me", which she sang with her brother, was really moving. Her accompanist also happened to be the musical director, Michael Deakin who, along with choir accompanist Lorraine Gash complemented both the choir and the soloist very well indeed.

However, as the storm raged outside and temperatures began to plummet, we began to hear lyrics such as, "Jack Frost nipping " and "Let it Snow"! It was only when the happy compere announced "please stay for mulled wine" that I couldn't get to the bar fast enough.