St Hilary Concert 2015

Tuesday 21st April, 2015 - 11:55am

The glorious and sun drenched St. Hilary Church was the venue for Mousehole Male Voice Choir's first concert of 2015. A lovely setting, a full house and a superb special guest artist ,soprano  Simone Hellier and a choir that was in magnificent form throughout the evening made for a very special night.

                     Before Mousehole entered the Church, choir marshall, Morgan Elliss, had the pleasureable task of welcoming young James Dale to his first concert with us. In the baritone section, his father, Julian, was bursting with pride as his son carried on the Dale dynasty. Mum was there as well making sure his tie was straight and that he'd washed behind his ears. Welcome to the bass section, young man.

 Walking in to "The Spirit Lives" the choir opened with "Deus Salutis" and "Go Down Moses" under the watchful eye of Deputy MD, David Williams and ended the first set with the Mark Hughes spiritual "Wade in the Water". The quiet singing in those numbers was impressive. A choir of over 80 men will always be powerful, but to sing softly and sweetly is far harder and is a testament to the hard work and ability of Mousehole.

 Simone Hellier, our guest soprano, then captivated the audience with "Voi Che Sapete" by Mozart followed by "O Mio Babbino Caro" by Puccini. With a beautiful tone, wonderful clarity and range and a superb choice of material, it's no wonder she is in great demand.We certainly hope she sings with us again in the near future.

 The choir also sang "Trencrom" specially arranged for us by Roger Pinsent. The tight harmonies and words captured the beauty of West Penwith and also reflected how connected to and how lucky we are to live here. The choir enjoyed and relayed its sentiments perfectly.

 A programme of 16 songs by Mousehole and 6 from Simone was enjoyed by all. Simone's last two songs," Waltz of my Heart" by Novello and Schonberg's "I Dreamed a Dream" were just perfect and the audience demanded an encore which she duly gave.

 Before our final set our chairman made his customary speech and quite rightly thanked our musical team, Musical Director Stephen Lawry ,Assistant Musical Director, Dave Williams  and our wonderful accompanist, Annette Turton.

 Mousehole closed the evening with the hauntingly beautiful "When I Hear Music" by Michael Martin and an audience favourite "We Rise Again"

 Driving home through Marazion.....after some more singing in the Falmouth Packet after the concert....we saw the moon and the stars glistening over the Mount that was still lit. That beauty and perfection summed up the evening .I feel lucky to live here and blessed to sing with this wonderful choir. As the chorus to "Trencrom" says......"this is the place where I belong"