“What a wonderful feeling of warmth, a glow from the satisfaction of a job well done and an enthusiastic audience. From the moment we walked into the auditorium
we felt welcome, and the appreciation lasted right down
to the last minute.”

Some of the audience were there because of an interest in the poet William Thom who lived and worked in the area in early Victorian times. Ben Lunn discovered Thom's poetry while doing his research on the area, and it served as his inspiration for the composition ‘Rhymes and Recollections’. In between singing, local Doric expert Gordon Hay gave full-bodied renditions of three of Thom's poems.
All those involved were rightly proud of themselves for tackling such an enormous work, a full 30 minutes of music, and the challenging early stages of online Zoom rehearsals and socially-distanced outdoor rehearsals in bitterly cold temperatures.
Ben’s music is intricate and complex with unusual harmonies, making it challenging and exciting - well worth making the effort as the effect created was magnificent.
Ben sang with the choir as did their MD James Campbell who had already nobly taken a back seat so that ASO’s MD Richard Ingham could conduct the combined ensemble. The choir’s accompanist, Mathew McVey also joined the singers.
In their set, ASO premiered a piece commissioned from Richard Ingham in memory of a players. So the
audience were treated to not just one première of newly
composed music, but two!