Spring Concert Jubilee Celebration

It was a new venue for Saddleworth Musical Society to perform their Spring Concert Jubilee Celebration in and to also perform with the award winning Boarhurst Silver Band. It is daunting to perform with a full band but Saddleworth M.S. rose to the challenge beautifully under the ever watchful eye of Musical Director Alasdair Gordon. The affable Martin Paul Roche took on the Master of Ceremonies role and kept us well informed of exactly what was happening interspersing his dialogue with some well timed albeit cheesy jokes that catered for all ages and certainly pleased the audience. The band took their places but we ( the audience) were still left wondering where was the choir? A black backdrop curtain silently slid back and revealed the tiered choir looking resplendent in their trademark black outfits but with vibrant turquoise bow ties for the gentlemen and turquoise corsages for the ladies - very impressive.

The sound balance between the choir and the band was a little off to start with but the choir soon found their stride. It was very obvious to me that the choir really enjoyed singing “Look at the World” as you could hear the warmth, gentleness and smiles throughout the vocals. The audience was invited to join in with both choir and band for “Jerusalem “ which we did tentatively. The big classical numbers came at the end of the first half with a resounding “Anvil Chorus” and then a spine chilling “O Fortuna” the choir delivered the drama well with poise and beautiful “s” diction on their latin without losing any attack, they kept within their vocals and held their own against the band crescendo - very well done.

The second half consisted of a trip into musical theatre land which enabled us to see the contrast between the classical singing styles and delivery. Oklahoma is a massive song, very wordy, high energy, big diaphragmatic breathing and deliverance, unfortunately at the start of the song some of the ends of words were dropped a little to sneak that breath in for the next phrase, it could be that this was the first song after the interval though because the finish was strong, it may be beneficial for future to put a starter/warm up in before starting a main selection (only an idea). Martin Bradbury and Mirriam Lawton delivered “ People Will Say We’re In Love” , it is not enough to just sing a duet it has to be performed and Martin certainly did. He reacted to all Mirriam’s lyrics and then acted his own using hand gestures, eye contact  and head and body movements, I thoroughly enjoyed his well rounded performance. Mirriam  had some pleasant vocals, it would be nice to see more interaction during the duet.

The “Singin’ in the Rain” arrangement was very interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed it, it showcased the various vocal groups and threw different timings and tempos in, I suspect Alasdair ( M.D.) was a little tired after that one as he commits his whole self and fully immerses himself in the music from start to finish. The West Side Story selection was a good contrast to the Oklahoma selection, the soloists all performed well vocally but I would like to see more of a full well rounded performance from the ladies, the diction and projection was strong, tone was good but for solo’s or duets I personally would like to see a little more personality and presence too, own your moment, it’s yours, show me you and what you can do.

The audience were again invited to join in for the closing numbers “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and of course “The National Anthem” , we were all ready this time and joined in properly, it was a fantastic ending that left us all feeling proud , uplifted and joyous. Well Done Saddleworth Musical Society, I enjoyed the concert, it was diverse and challenging. I look forward to seeing you all again very soon. 

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