Appreciation by Neil Crutchley

It would be difficult to overestimate the contribution our Chairman David Fisher has made to the Leicester Music Society over the past decade. Not only has he brought fresh ideas, infectious enthusiasm and a sense of optimism to the group, he is also a first class speaker.

David’s programme for St. Valentine’s Day, which was delivered in his characteristically engaging and genial manner, displayed his enormously wide-ranging taste in music and his considerable knowledge of all the 49 short items he played. His insights into each item from a composer and performer’s point of view were fascinating. The accompanying playlist shows the diversity of his chosen pieces and he was equally illuminating whether talking about Guys and Dolls, Monteverdi madrigals, Schubert lieder, Finzi’s Dies Natalis, Frank Sinatra or Bizet’s Pearl Fishers.

It was good to hear David’s own performance of the closing bars of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius with the Derby Choral Union and also to hear what for me was one of the evening’s highlights, his exquisite short wedding anthem 'My Choice Is Made', performed by the Kingfisher Chorale, the choir he founded and directed for many years. These two items alone demonstrated David’s remarkable talent as a conductor and composer. The Leicester Music Society is fortunate to have him as its leader.