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An Evening of Light Musical Entertainment

25 April 2009 at 19:00:00 - 23:00:00

"Alli, we've got Thornbridge Hall booked but no event - do you have any ideas?" and so an evening of Light Musical Entertainment was born.

Being a singer myself and having contacts in the musical world I was able to draw on a number of ideas which I knew could be refined to suit all musical tastes from classical to jazz and the musicals. I am very fortunate to have recently joined Buxton Musical Society from where I ended up finding my artists, Andrew Cummings being the accompaniest and Jane McNeill and Frances Brindley both being members of the choir. I was also inspired by the local nature of how the event was developing. Thornbridge Hall being such a stunning local venue it seemed appropriate to have top local musicians performing there and between the three of them they selected a truly lovely mixed repertoire of solos and duets which delighted all our audience.

To add variety to the evening Pius Hume gave a talk on how to sing. He made the audience laugh with his stories and enchanted them with his imagery, he got them singing too, reaching notes they wouldn't have expected to reach.

Keeping the theme local we invented the "Derbyshire Platter" which was a delicious selection of terrine, pork pie and cheeses with onion marmalade, salad and bread, with a warmed Bakewell Pudding to follow. All of the food had been sourced and made locally and much of it had been donated by businesses keen to support the work of the Trust. The audience were delighted by the uniqueness of the meal and its high quality - I think it was more than they were expecting!

The evening ran like clock work and the food was served efficiently. We temporarily ran out of white wine but Thornbridge came to the rescue and sourced us some more. Pius forgot his cuff links but Thornbridge again came to the rescue and found him a pair! Andrew played the piano during the reception which created a welcoming and relaxing ambience and Jane and Frances mesmerized the audience with their stunning voices and delightful rapport on stage.

We naturally held a raffle and were very generously supported, again by many local businesses, enabling us to provide a wealth of exciting prizes.

Everyone left fulfilled and happy - even the hard working Trust team. This has been an experiment for the Trust having never hosted this type of event before but it has been a great success and has introduced the Trust to a new group of people, some of whom we hope may become new "friends".

Alli Kay

Event Leader