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Wandsworth Fringe 2015

Concert by the Dover House Singers

The Dover House Singers

Genre: Music

Venue: St Mary’s Church, Putney SW15 15N

Festival:


Low Down

 An entertaining community event

Review

The Dover Singers are a group of local residents from Putney and Barnes who come together weekly to sing.  Their conductor is Carl Speck, a music teacher in the school system there and with his leadership and inspiration the choir has become not just a performing group but a social group as well.  “”It is so lovely to work with them,” said Speck.  “I love their good humor and the warm friendly atmosphere of the group.”  And the group loves him.   Janice Humberstone has been in the choir for ten years and she says “You can go to the rehearsal feeling very low and you come out enervated and happy.

And this is the feeling conveyed in the eleven selections the group sang for their hour long concert at St. May’s Church.  The enthusiasm for in the singing was so infectious, one wanted to join in and many of the audience did.  The group  opened with Count On Me, by Bruno Mars, a song that reminds us that we find out what we are made of when we help our friends in need.  They continued with the beautiful The Rose by Amanda McBroom, and The Skylark by Johnny Mercer.  The final section was a series of selections from popular musicals: Tonight, One Hand, One Heart from West Side Story, Webbers glorious Music of the Night and Somewhere Out There from An American Tale.  The program reflected the taste of the singers and the audience.  Most of the melodies were not only familiar but the kind of songs everyone wanted to sing along. 

The chorus sang in three and even four part harmonies and the audience was captivated.  The concert was not the caliber one expects from a professionally trained choir and it was not meant to be.  What worked best was the magic connection of the group to their conductor and their audience.  It was a joyous affirmation of the power of song. 

 

 

 

Published