IT CAN be pretty tough sharing a stage with a musical “name” but New Mill Male Voice Choir and their guest Aled Jones managed it rather well on Saturday.
Together, they filled the Town Hall with atmosphere as well as music. That atmosphere was relaxed, at times moving, and also, delivered more than a touch of humour.
And the latter wasn’t just the preserve of Aled Jones, though it has to be said, he couples a remarkable vocal range with bags of charm and a natural sense of fun.
The choir men too, conducted by their musical director Elizabeth Hambleton and accompanied by Anne Levitt, managed a neat balance of thoughtfulness and humour.
The tone though, was set by Aled himself. Slimline in an elegant silver grey suit, his appearance on stage was preceded by the song which for many summed up the remarkable clarity of his teenage chorister’s voice when, as a 15-year-old, he recorded a cover version of Walking In The Air, the theme associated with Raymond Briggs’ story of The Snowman.
But it didn’t take long, when Aled added today’s mature voice to that recording, to understand how substantially his musical gift has matured.
These days Aled is known as much as a broadcaster on radio and TV as perhaps for his singing – this man can still waltz beautifully a la Strictly Come Dancing when required. So it was a delight to hear him sing everything from classical to contemporary all with the same flawless diction and agility of voice.
This is a singer with range, with a totally secure technique and the ability to bring colour and emotion to everything from You Raise Me Up to Bread’s Seventies’ hit song If and to the lovely Welsh lullaby, Suo Gân.
He relished the full-throated sound of the New Mill men behind him in How Great Thou Art and brought a breath-taking stillness to the hall when he sang, unaccompanied, as an encore, a moving farewell in his native Welsh.
His stage presence and ease with an audience rubbed off on the New Mill choir who responded well to the work of their musical director.
For it is clearly her efforts which have brought out such a strong and distinctive tone in a choir which, on this showing, was a little over 50 strong. The choir were at their best in The Lord’s Prayer and in the Irish folk song, Carrickfergus, when their power, shape and tonal balance impressed.
They were confident and delightfully light-hearted in their delivery of What Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor, complete with hiccups, and made finger-clicking light work of Short’nin Bread.
Under pressure in the quieter moments of a couple of items, the overall sound lost its balance and then there were minor issues with pitch and diction.
But this was an evening, compered by James Masters, for the choir to celebrate, to revel in sharing the stage with a musician of the stature of Aled Jones and to hope that together they have raised vital funds for Macmillan Cancer Support and Huddersfield Cancer Support.
