The beautiful setting of Hope in Derbyshire was an ideal spot for the largest gathering of Dulcimer players at a Nonsuch Annual weekend to date.

Getting to the Nonsuch annual weekend at Hope in November this year wasn't easy, but it was well worth it! With a packed program of events, some superstar performances, and a great atmosphere, the general consensus was that this was the best weekend yet!

Members had to survive a particularly difficult journey to get there, battling through a diversion along twisty lanes in low cloud. Nevertheless some fifty of us duly arrived, making it also the biggest weekend yet. A sell out in fact.

This was also the first year of including Mountain/Appalachian dulcimer sessions, and these were well supported by members and ably taught by maestro Roger Nicholson assisted by Dan Evans.

The range of workshops continues to grow with sessions on early and 18th century music, dulcimer history, basic and advanced techniques, ornamentation, arranging tunes and more. Everyone went away with more skills and knowledge than they came with. It's especially nice that the club can draw upon its own membership for tuition. A good example was the workshop on reading music run by June Perry, just a small informal group, but invaluable to those taking part.

The AGM on Friday night resulted in some major steps forward including an improved constitution, and some genuine measures to help new and struggling members. A copy of the minutes is being mailed with this issue.

For most people though, the most enjoyable aspect was the company. So many friendships are made at these events and it really gives extra meaning to being a club member. Notwithstanding the late night sessions, the highlight of the weekend socially is the Saturday night concert. The traditional Star turns from the professionals (Jim Couza, Maclaine Colston, Gillian Alcock, Roger Nicholson, Dan Evans and Attacco Decente) topped the bill of course, but the mere mortals did well too. The beginners led by Roger Frood gave their first ever performance (after some persuasion), a scratch band (pictured right) did the overture, the early music workshop did their bit, and so on. And it wasn't just dulcimer players either, it was an evening of allsorts, including two splendid clog dances. A great night. A great weekend!

The organisers earn our grateful thanks. Among the comments received were the following:

We both agree that we have seldom felt so much at home with a group of people that we were meeting for the first time, and hope to attend many more Nonsuch events in the future. We were especially impressed with Attacco Decenta's performance, and by Geoff's approach to the dulcimer. As a beginner on the instrument, Rosie got a great deal of help from Maclaine's workshop, and I got loads of ideas from Jim on song accompaniment. Roger Frood, John Crocker and Fred have given me lots of help with regard to building my #2 instrument, so we now have enough inspiration to keep us going till next years summer school which we hope to attend. - Pete and Rosie Fletcher

We both appreciated the welcoming atmosphere and by the end of the weekend had made several new friends who we are hoping to keep in touch with over the next year. It was nice that so much was provided for beginners, and that the tutors were so patient! - Jill and Paul Nicholas