Concerts and Recitals

Concerts and Recitals for 2020

You can help us keep the organ playing by coming to our concerts, or sponsoring a voluntary. We are also looking for more volunteers to help Julia Mathews with the refreshments and Ian Burgess with the screens at the recitals.

New Event for your diary on Saturday 18 April. From 11.30am to 12pm as part of ‘National Organ Day’ Jonathan Holmes will be playing a special version for organ of Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the wolf’ showing off all the colours of the organ. This is aimed at children and adults and the story will be told by Sarah Holmes. Free Event……..further details of rest of our ‘National Organ Day’ events below.

21 March  The Imperial Organ (great British organ music by Whitlock, Howells, Elgar, Healey Willan W.T Best and Yorke Bowen including Howells: Rhapsodies, Elgar Marches, W.T. Best Fantasia on Welsh Themes, Healey Willan Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue, and Bowen’s Fantasia played by Jonathan Holmes

18 April ‘Film Night’ with Simon Gregory

In addition to Simon’s Evening recital we will be taking part in ‘National Organ Day’ an initiative by the Royal College of Organists when as many churches and organs will be open and played in the country as possible.

From 10am until 11.30am we will be encouraging children and adults to come and play our mighty Willis organ in an ‘Open Console’ session. No playing experience required. All welcome to have a go.

There will be cameras inside the instrument to see the pipes and inner workings, and a talk about the organ and its maker‘ Father’ Henry Willis, the great Victorian organ builder.

Jonathan’s pupils will play from 10am and at 11.30am Jonathan will play Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf especially arranged to illustrate the sounds of the organ to children and adults alike. The story will be narrated. Later in the day, at 7.30pm, Simon will play the following popular programme including an improvised score to Buster Keaton’s silent classic film ‘The haunted house’.

Recital for National Organ Day by Simon Gregory on 18 April

The Versatile Organ:

Part 1: Music from several centuries

Ut Re Mee Fa Sol La                                  Byrd

Organ Concerto op. 7 no. 8                        Handel

Piece for an organ in a clock k594             Mozart

Carillon de Westminster                            Vierne

Mozart Changes                                         Gardonyi

Part 2 Music while you Work, Rest and Play

Calling All Workers                                  Coates

Dusk                                                          Armstrong  Gibbs

Coronation Scot                                         Ellis

The Boulevardier                                      Curzon

FILM  The Haunted House (1921)           Buster Keaton

By the Sleepy Lagoon                                 Coates

16 May An evening with J. S. Bach including the ‘Great’ chorale preludes from Clavierubung Part III and Bach’s ‘greatest hits’ including the famous D minor Toccata BWV 565 played by Jonathan Holmes

27 June Our ever-popular ‘8 Hands on 2 pianos’ with friends Sarah Holmes, Simon Gregory, Matthew Burgess and Jonathan Holmes

25 July An evening of Gilbert and Sullivan with stars of music theatre Rachel Chalkley Gunton and Stephen Chalkley and friends from the Parish Choir.

5 September The Annual Patronal Festival Organ Recital. Jonathan plays Liszt and his pupils including Liszt’s Fantasia on BACH and Reubke’s Sonata on Psalm 94

10 October The Brahms Requiem performed by the Parish Choir and visiting singers ‘from scratch’, in the piano duet version with Simon Gregory and Sarah Holmes (piano duet) and soloists from the Parish Choir.

All our concerts are on Saturdays at 7.30pm. They include close-ups of the soloists on ‘the big screen’, refreshments and programme notes.

Tickets cost £8.00 (18 and under £1). The only exception is for Brahms Requiem visiting singers, when the cost is £10 including hire of score.

Tickets are available ‘on the door’.

Further information from www.stmarysewell.com

directorofmusic@stmarysewell.com