A musical night in Bellrock

Nov 20, 2019

The musical variety night held Saturday Nov 16 in BellRock was an evening of contrasts. Instruments ranged from the delicate sounds of handbells to the sweet sounds of flutes . From a the sounds of a strident bagpipe, to that of a gentle harp.

The hit of the night was almost certainly the Limestone Bellringers, conducted by Janet MacDonald. The delicate and magical sound of this group had the audience mesmerised. Honestly, the acoustics in this 150-year old former schoolhouse seemed to be made to best show off the resonance of these bells. Janet explained a few of the techniques and sounds that can be obtained from the instruments and the bellringers demonstrated.

Ian Mackay turned up in full Highland dress and delighted the audience with several medleys on his bagpipes. He educated us on some of the details of his outfit and also on the instrument. And no, we didn’t ask to see what he was wearing under that kilt!

Toute Ensemble, a flute group played a varied selection of music including a piece by Elvis, some swinging blues, a few classical pieces and finished with several Celtic melodies, accompanied in some of these by Merrilyn Barber on her harp.

Merrilyn Barber enchanted the audience with her selections on the harp. She played several traditional folk tunes and some less familiar Christmas carols. The audience was enthralled. The music was wonderful.

Ian finished up the concert, sending us back out to our cold cars at the end of the night with a rousing version of Amazing Grace.

A lovely evening for all who attended. We collected a good selection of items for the food bank and raised some much-needed funds for the maintenance of this special community building.