Exning 3rd -5th March 2017
Just returned from a brilliant weekend in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Friday night saw us all gathered in Exning village hall enjoying a fabulous meal (the No1 LAO don’t have a fantastic reputation for good food for nothing!) followed by an evening of rehearsal. Saturday was rehearsals all day, as we had added several new pieces to the repertoire which we would be performing for the first time at the concert. Then a break, so several of us took the opportunity to get some much needed fresh air and exercise. The concert was lovely – the hall was full and the audience were so friendly and supportive. Lots of people came up and talked to us in the interval, tried out accordions and were very complimentary. And the encore went down a treat – we had hardly started before a buzz of recognition went round the room and then everyone was clapping along with us! A really lovely evening.
We had arranged to go to the Cambridge Accordion Club’s Accordion Orchestra day on the Sunday, held in the Quy village hall, and led by Nigel Pasby, leader of the Kennet Accordion Orchestra – a different experience for many of us. We arrived to find the hall packed full of accordions – 57 in total which included at least two bassos and a drum kit! You can’t begin to imagine the sound that so many accordions can create – you probably don’t even want to try! But we had such fun. We were given 4 pieces of music which we had never seen before and the day culminated in us giving a concert to a very select few at the end, so it was very intensive. But the memory of playing the Pet Shop Boy’s “It’s a sin” will stay with me for ever – total exhileration, a broad grin from ear to ear – just pure fun.
