June 2007 Darvel was visited on this occasion by the very charming personality, Sean Rea. Sean had sung roles in operas at Covent Garden, Glyndebourne and the London Coliseum. His choice of repertoire for this recital was limited by the fact he was suffering from flu and had extricated himself from his sickbed so as not to let Gordon down. However, his carefully chosen songs assured the audience that, despite illness, he was a singer of high quality. In order to alleviate the pressure on his voice he also performed two well-known and immaculately executed songs on the harmonica, much to the delight of the audience. He and Gordon then improvised a twelve-bar blues, displaying both their skills as jazz musicians. Making a welcome return was cellist, Sonia Cromarty who last appeared in Darvel for the July 2005 recital. Her re-appearance reinforced the audience's high opinion of her musicianship and artistry as she played favourites such as "The Swan" and "Tarantella."

July 2007 This month's recital was of the very highest quality. One of Scotland's most rapidly advancing careers is that of superb mezzo-soprano, Cheryl Forbes. Her programme was immaculately constructed and consisted of such favourites as "Softly Awakes My Heart" and "Seguedilla" from Carmen, as well as lighter favourites like "Bewitched" and "Mr. Wonderful." Also on the bill was Wayne Robertson who showed the audience that the accordion's capabilities were far beyond that of the general public's perception. He proved this by playing, in addition to the usual Scottish favourites, music by Tchaikovsky, Schostakovich and Chopin as well as Latin American Sambas and "The Teddy Bears' Picnic."

August 2007   This month's concert was opened by Derrick Kirkwood, trombonist, who performed Gordon Langford's "Rhapsody for Trombone" and the old favourity, "Misty."  The guest singer was operatic baritone, Julian Tovey.  His first half consisted of arias from opera and oratorio and folksong settings by Benjamin Britten and Aaron Copeland.  Gordon then delighted the audience with a selection of theatre organ favourites on the church's organ.  Derrick then made his second appearance playing "Stardust," "The Acrobat" and his own composition, "One Minute Encore."  The recital was then rounded off by Julian singing a selection of light favourites, such as "Some Enchanted Evening," "Every Time We Say Goodbye" and the old Victorian ballad, "Friend o' Mine."

September 2007  It would be fair to say that this concert was among the the highlights of the 2007 season.  Gordon Cree and his orchestra (12 strings, 3 woodwind, piano/celesta/harpsichord, drumkit, guitar, harp and vibraphone) delighted the audience with a wide range of music from Vivaldi to Johnny Mandel and from Tchaikovsky to Scottish jigs and reels.  Gordon linked the items with his usual easy wit and the fine violinist Justine Watts played several solos:  Allegro - Winter from Vivaldi's Four Seasons and two pieces by Angela Morley, "Reverie" and "A Tender Mood."  Other instrumental features within the orchestra were Robert Farnon's, "Little Miss Molly" by flautist, Andrea Kuypers, "Where or When" by harpist, Saida de Lyon, "The Liaison" by cellist, Sonia Cromarty, "Alice Blue Gown" by pianist, Pamela Dunsmuir.  The orchestra's guitarist, Frank Henery provided melodic features in "Tenderly" and "The Shadow of Your Smile." The guest singer for the evening was soprano Catherine Baker who sang "Where E'er You Walk," "Dream a Little Dream of Me," "You Made Me Love You" (with a Louis Armstrong style trumpet obbligato from Gordon) and "Dancing on the Ceiling."  The finale, A medley of Scottish tunes, leading up to reels and jigs caused a rapturous applause and partial standing ovation from the audience.  A superb finale to a wonderful season of music.

June 2008  This, like many others, was a concert very much enjoyed by all.  The guest singer for this concert was a far-travelled gentleman indeed: Rhys Jenkins, who had travelled from Wales to perform.  His warm and versatile voice took him effortlessly through a programme consisting of Wagner, Verdi, Gounod, Rossini, Scottish and Welsh traditional songs and his pièce-de-resistance, "If I Were a Rich Man."  The audience reaction said it all.  Our instrumentalist for this month came in the shape of a very gifted flautist named Andrea Kuypers, who was previously seen playing principal flute in the orchestra at last September's Gala Night.  She played a wide variety of music which included Scottish-Baroque pieces by James Oswald, "Siesta" by Richard Rodney Bennett, "Suite de Trois Morceaux" by Benjamin Goddard, "Pavane" by Fauré, "Sunday Morning" by Ian Clarke and "Fantasie" by Hüe.  However, although the audience were enthralled by all her music, their warmest reaction came in response to her encore, the much-loved "My Funny Valentine" by Rodgers and Hart.  Gordon played his own piece, "18th Variation on a Theme by Paganini" by Rachmaninov with his usual flair, and the audience reaction was so great that he gave an impromptu encore of Kachaturian's "Sabre Dance." 

July 2008  This event broke away from the usual formula a little and offered something, still musical, but very different.  Gordon Cree went back to his roots as a theatre organist and appeared at the "Virtual Wurlitzer."  This was simply a digital church organ - hired in for the occasion - which was connected via MIDI to a laptop computer which was running the Miditzer - Virtual Wurlitzer programme.  This programme allows you to recreate every single stop and effect of a real, pre-recorded Wurlitzer organ and the hired console only acts to send the signals of notes and pedals played.  The sound was astoundingly accurate, and those present could have been forgiven for believing that they were listening to the real thing.  In addition to various pieces played, four silent films were shown (a Keystone Cops, a Laurel and Hardy, a Buster Keaton and a Charlie Chaplin) and Gordon accompanied them live on the theatre organ - as they would originally have been.  This concert made a nice change from the usual singer/instrumentalist format.

August 2008    Another of the highlights in the history of the season, this concert saw Marilyn Hill Smith render the audience spellbound with her voice, repertoire and sheer artistry as a performer.  Her programme consisted of everything from grand opera to comedy songs and everything in between including Franz Lehar operettas, stage musicals and her beloved Ivor Novello repertoire - her recordings of which have sold the world over.  The church was ringing to the sound of her voice in arias such as "One Fine Day" and "O Mio Babbino Caro" and Lehar's "Why Did You Kiss My Heart Awake," leading to an emotional finale of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Climb Ev'ry Mountain."  Joining her on the platform was accordionist, Ian Muir who thrilled the audience with music from around the world, including a show-stopping Edith Piaf medley, as well as traditional Scots music and continental polkas.  Gordon presented the artistes, accompanied and contributed a humourous piano solo.

September 2008    Another show-stopping end-of-season gala of music beloved by all.  Gordon proved he was still on form both as an arranger/orchestrator and conductor as he led the orchestra in a selection which covered the whole musical spectrum - from standards like "Begin the Beguine" and "All of Me" to classical evergreens like "Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pachelbel's Canon."  Several members of the orchestra enchanted the audience with solos, including flautist Andrea Kupers (see June 2008 concert) with Angela Morley's "Valse Bleue" for flute and strings, clarinettist Stewart Forbes with "Harlequin" and "Stranger on the Shore" and the leader of the orchestra playing violin solos of Boulanger's "Meditation Avant de Mourir" (a.k.a. "My Prayer") and Kern's "They Didn't Believe Me."  The special guest for the evening was the much-loved Darvel adoptee, Cheryl Forbes who brought the house down with her selection which included "Divinités du Styx" from "Alceste," "At the River," "So Deep is the Night," the "Habanera" from "Carmen," Lady Thiang's aria "Something Wonderful" from "The King and I" and a medley of songs about rainbows.  Such was the reaction of the company that she was compelled to perform an extra number which came in the shape of Stephen Foster's "Beautiful Dreamer," which she sang to the expert harp accompaniment of Helen Thomson - and you could have heard a pin drop before a tumultuous ovation from the audience.  A tremendous night of music at a very fair price!

June 2009   This concert saw a very interesting change of theme when the international jazz violinist, Tim Kliphuis was presented.  Having travelled that day from his home in The Netherlands especially for the event, he proved he was on form as he presented a wonderful programme of music in the style of Stephane Grappelli, much to the enjoyment of the audience.  Favourites such as "This Can't Be Love" and "The Lady is a Tramp" featured heavily.  Joining Tim for this occasion was the popular tenor, Alexander Morrison making a welcome return after many requests by the audience.  His rendering of songs such as "Love, This is My Song" and "Misty Islands of the Highlands" had memories flying.  As always, Gordon Cree was the accompanist and master of ceremonies and, to suit the style of Tim's repertoire, Gordon was joined by Rik Standley on double bass.

July 2009     Due to travel and accommodation problems brought on by the Troon open golf tournament, as well as the shameless profiteering by both local and national-chain hotels and motels, the appearance by international concert pianist, Caroline Clipsham, had to be cancelled.  The idea had been that Gordon Cree would perform as singer accompanied by Ms. Clipsham whilst she also performed as soloist.  However, at very short notice, Gordon was able to secure the services of accompanist, Alan Kitchen, and concert accordionist, Wayne Robertson.  Gordon performed a wide range of songs from Gounod, Vaughan Williams and Bridge, to Paul Robeson, Rodgers & Hammerstein and other broadway composers.  The ever-popular Wayne Robertson astounded the audience with a wide range of accordion solos, including works by Tchaikovsky and Scottish favourites.