Choral Christmas Melodies

What a privilege it was to receive an invitation to this Christmas Concert that truly set the scene and transported us into the spirit of Christmas. This all "female" choir of thirty-two members allowed their voices to ring out in the beautiful setting of The Emmanuel Church, Saltburn. Under the musical direction of Dan Matuszak and accompanied by Gillian Ash, accomplished in playing more than one musical instrument of broad appeal. 

The programme provided the audience with Christmas song titles familiar to many of us but others that were not so familiar as the concert gave us a broad range of Traditional Carols, songs from Christmas Films and Christmas Musical Shows. The song Little Toy Trains was a simple song, with simple lyrics that were so full of meaning and brough tears to my eyes. The Christmas duet When a Child is Born was sung by Jennifer Ash and Becki Stowe whose voices were truly angelic. A beautiful performance.

Other delights were, Christmas Children from the musical Scrooge and When Children Rule the World from the musical Whistle Down the Wind. In Act 2 we were entertained by outstanding performances from Christmas films including That Christmas Morning Feeling from Spirited and Where are You Christmas from The Grinch. Karen Roberts entertained us with a solo rendition of The Twelve Days After Christmas. This humorous spoof addresses the use and disposal of those twelve famous gifts and Karen clearly has a talent for humour and comedy which she shared with us. 

We were all given an opportunity to raise our voices by singing two of our favourite traditional Christmas Carols O Come All Ye Faithful and Hark The Herald Angels Sing so fitting in such a wonderful setting with excellent acoustics. When the Songsters sang The Snowman, they demonstrated the brilliant harmonies of the choir with serious intensity.

As we reflect on this concert it brings to mind the songster's performance of the Greg Gilpin song Why We Sing. This spectacular musical performance demonstrated the bridge that music builds, a language that speaks to us all in pursuit of harmony. The songsters and Dan their musical director certainly achieved this. How satisfying it was to know that whilst we had benefitted from the music, the bucket collection from the concert was going to the Intensive Care Unit at James Cook University Hospital. So many in different ways experienced the benefits and will experience the benefits of The Saltburn Songsters Christmas Melodies. Well done to all involved. 

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