Annual Gathering, Launde 1999
Alyn Iowerth, Comittee Member

Anyone who had doubts about holding the club's annual gathering in September, instead of at its usual time of late October or early November must have been convinced as they arrived at Launde Abbey on the Friday Evening. The house was bathed in warm autumn sunshine - which remained with us for the entire weekend - instead of the fog and drizzle we have come to associate with this event. And we made the most of it, with outdoor tea breaks, and an informal session in the gar- den. Many of us took the opportunity to explore the surrounding countryside on foot; unfortunately one club member has the wounds to prove it, as he was bitten by a farmer's dog, and had to make an unplanned trip to the local hospital. Happily, he wasn't seriously injured, although his trousers were.

0f course, the weather was a bonus - what we really came for was the music, and that was as good as ever. The format of the weekend was much as it usually is - the club AGM on Friday evening followed by a jam session, with the very full program of workshops on Saturday and Sunday.

This year, the featured tutors were Matt Fox (Hammered Dulcimer) and Roger Nicholson (Mountain Dulcimer). Matt gave two full days of workshops, teaching both tunes and techniques. His enthusiasm is infectious, and he succeeds in getting through a tremendous amount of material in a short time, without in any way discouraging those who are having difficulty. An excellent choice of tutor - I hope he will soon be back. Several club members also offered workshops on a variety of topics or passed on some of their favourite tunes.

Neil Corbett chips in:
Mountain Dulcimer Players had a choice of sessions either with John Shaw or Roger Nicholson. I was with Roger in the beautiful old chapel where he bravely attempted to manage teaching three streams on different tunes at the same time! It's a good job MDs are quiet instruments. Amazingly it succeeded and each player was able to progress at their own level.

Back to Alyn:
Another Nonsuch tradition is the Saturday evening concert. Yet again we were entertained by a wonderfully eclectic selection of music (from Bach to the Banana Boat Song, via a Fred Woodley selection), with a few clog dances thrown in for good measure. Ably compered by Neil Corbett (although it must be said, he did claim to have run out of jokes at one point), the three hours allotted to the show went by far too quickly. This concert, and others at previous weekends, are a clear demonstration of the vitality of the club: a large percentage of the people attending Ihe weekend perform in the concert, many in musical partnerships formed specially for the occasion.

Another late night session after the concert continued well into the small hours, but, somehow or other, most people managed to get up in time for Sunday breakfast. Then, another day of workshops until it was time to set off for home.

All in all, this was another excellent Nonsuch weekend. Numbers were slightly down on last year, because of the change of date, but nol by enough to dampen spirits. Next year, it's back to the fog, but if the atmosphere is as warm as it was this year, no-one will notice.