James Gillett & Friends
Thursday 8
th
January 2026
James Gillett, Victoria Simmonds, Henry Waddington, Kelsey Thomas
Reflections on our first concert of 2026 when we thoroughly enjoyed
“
A
Lyrical
Journey
Through
Time
”
-
a
concert
put
together
especially
for
the
Society
by
Grimsby
born
James
Gillett;
now
a
pianist,
conductor
and
vocal
coach
based
in
Manchester.
Including
himself
James
brought
four
remarkable
artists
together
to
perform
a
selection
of
operatic
favourites,
from
Purcell
to
Wagner
and
favourite
moments
from
Gilbert
and
Sullivan
and
the
Golden
Age
of
Musicals
Including
Gershwin,
Cole
Porter,
and
more.
The
first
half
of
the
concert
featured
popular
classical
pieces
up
to
and
including
the
19
th
Century.
The
second
half
featured
songs
drawn
from
shows
and musicals of the late 19
th
Century and of the 20
th
Century.
The
wonderful
mezzo-soprano
Victoria
Simmonds
opened
the
concert
with
strong
clear
vocals,
well
enunciated,
delightful
controlled
melodic
scales,
with
superb
dynamic
control.
Henry
Waddington’s
bass-baritone
counter-balanced
Victoria’s
tone;
Henry
projected
powerfully,
and
was
emotionally
expressive
with
great
sustain
at
the
end
of
phrases.
The
final
member
of
the
troupe
was
lyrical-
soprano
Kelsey
Thomas
who
sang
with
a
wonderful
natural
vibrato;
she
sang
convincingly
in
French and then in Russian – Russian has never sounded so good!
All
the
singers
revealed
a
good
sense
of
humour
in
their
introductions,
as
well
as
revealing
marvellous
acting
ability
through
their
performances.
Individually
all
of
the
singers
were
superb,
but
the
effect
of
their
combined
voices
was
positively
synergistic.
It
was
hard
to
believe
that
Victoria
and
Kelsey
had
never
sang
together
on
stage
before
this
day
–
they
harmonised
so
beautifully.
Victoria
and
Henry
sang
a
duet
showing
great
understanding
of
the
song
in
their
interactions
with
each
other.
The
three
provided
an
emotional
rendition
of
a
trio
from
Cosi
Fan
Tutte;
this
was
later
humorously
contrasted
with
Gilbert
&
Sullivan’s
“Three
little
Maids”
–
possibly
an
original
interpretation of this song.
With
these
three
singers
one
felt
that
the
best
of
opera
had
arrived
in
Grimsby,
all
perfectly
accompanied
by
James
on
piano
as
he
played
with
perfect balance and understanding. This was wonderful concert that will long be warmly remembered by all those you attended. IM
Rehearsal
James Gillett & Friends
Thursday 8
th
January 2026
James Gillett, Victoria Simmonds, Henry Waddington, Kelsey Thomas
Reflections
on
our
first
concert
of
2026
when
we
thoroughly
enjoyed
“
A
Lyrical
Journey
Through
Time
”
-
a
concert
put
together
especially
for
the
Society
by
Grimsby
born
James
Gillett;
now
a
pianist,
conductor
and
vocal
coach
based
in
Manchester.
Including
himself
James
brought
four
remarkable
artists
together
to
perform
a
selection
of
operatic
favourites,
from
Purcell
to
Wagner
and
favourite
moments
from
Gilbert
and
Sullivan
and
the
Golden
Age
of
Musicals
Including
Gershwin,
Cole
Porter,
and
more.
The
first
half
of
the
concert
featured
popular
classical
pieces
up
to
and
including
the
19
th
Century.
The
second
half
featured
songs
drawn
from
shows
and
musicals
of
the
late
19
th
Century
and
of
the
20
th
Century.
The
wonderful
mezzo-soprano
Victoria
Simmonds
opened
the
concert
with
strong
clear
vocals,
well
enunciated,
delightful
controlled
melodic
scales,
with
superb
dynamic
control.
Henry
Waddington’s
bass-baritone
counter-balanced
Victoria’s
tone;
Henry
projected
powerfully,
and
was
emotionally
expressive
with
great
sustain
at
the
end
of
phrases.
The
final
member
of
the
troupe
was
lyrical-soprano
Kelsey
Thomas
who
sang
with
a
wonderful
natural
vibrato;
she
sang
convincingly
in
French
and
then
in
Russian
–
Russian
has
never
sounded
so
good!
All
the
singers
revealed
a
good
sense
of
humour
in
their
introductions,
as
well
as
revealing
marvellous
acting
ability
through
their
performances.
Individually
all
of
the
singers
were
superb,
but
the
effect
of
their
combined
voices
was
positively
synergistic.
It
was
hard
to
believe
that
Victoria
and
Kelsey
had
never
sang
together
on
stage
before
this
day
–
they
harmonised
so
beautifully.
Victoria
and
Henry
sang
a
duet
showing
great
understanding
of
the
song
in
their
interactions
with
each
other.
The
three
provided
an
emotional
rendition
of
a
trio
from
Cosi
Fan
Tutte;
this
was
later
humorously
contrasted
with
Gilbert
&
Sullivan’s
“Three
little
Maids” – possibly an original interpretation of this song.
With
these
three
singers
one
felt
that
the
best
of
opera
had
arrived
in
Grimsby,
all
perfectly
accompanied
by
James
on
piano
as
he
played
with
perfect
balance
and
understanding.
This
was
wonderful
concert
that
will
long
be
warmly
remembered
by all those you attended. IM
