Great Yarmouth Spring Festival 2010, St. Nicholas Parish Church

The St. Nicholas Parish Church Preservation Trust has organised a Spring Festival to raise funds for the £750,000 repair to the organ and the tower pinnacles.  Donations are always welcome and can be  made on-line to www.sncpt.co.uk

Gardener’s Question Time and Demonstration of Flower Arranging: Wednesday 12th May, 6.00 p.m. for 6.30-9.30 p.m. Tickets £10 includes buffet (£5 for college and Priory students).  Venue: St. Nicholas Church. Bar available. Tickets available from the Priory Centre, Mon-Fri 9.00 -17.00 hrs or from Paul Davies 01493 843647.

Lecture by General Sir Richard Dannatt, GCB, CBE, MC: “A Look Back, A Look Forward.  Reflections on 40 Years a Soldier” Friday, 14th May, 7.30 p.m., tickets £10. Venue: Masonic Royal Assembly Rooms, Albert Square. Bar available. Tickets available from the Priory Centre, Mon-Fri 9.00-17.oo hrs or from Paul Davies, 01493 843647.

Saturday 15th May, 10.00-16.00 hrs, admission free. Venue: St. Nicholas Church: Tower open 10.00-14.00 hrs, exhibiton of prints and maps of Great Yarmouth, display of Church silverware, organ recital by John Stephens 12.30 -13.30 hrs. Guided tour of the church and its history, 14.00-15.00 hrs.

Full Choral Evensong using the 1662 Prayer Book: Sunday 16th May 6.30 p.m., no ticket required.  Venue: St. Nicholas Church

Take Three Cooks: Cooking demonstration sponsored by the Imperial Hotel.  Tickets £25 includes lunch.  Venue: The Imperial Hotel, 01493 842000 (limited to 80 people).

Czech National Symphony Orchestra at the Hippodrome

If you have missed any of the International Concert Series at the Hippodrome, here is chance to catch up on that very great pleasure.  Great Yarmouth is incredibly fortunate to be able to host the wonderful orchestras that have contributed to this series organised by SeaChange Arts.  It is a visual as well as oral feast to attend these superb performances in such a unique and atmospheric setting.

The Czech National Symphony Orchestra will be performing at the Hippodrome on Thursdsay 4th February.  The programme includes Smetana, Bruch and Dvorak (Symphony No.9, the New World Symphony).   Libor Pešek and Petr Altrichter are conducting.

Tickets are extraordinarily reasonable for this great event – £6 children and £12 up to £28 adults – and are still available from the Hippodrome on 01493 844172 or online here.

Gorleston St. Andrew’s Competitive Festival

Now enjoying its 40th year, the Gorleston St. Andrew’s Competitive Festival has become renowned for its friendly atmosphere.  It is run by volunteers and is a registered charity, affiliated to the British and International Federation of Festivals for Music, Dance and Speech.

The festival, which takes place at St. Andrew’s Church Chapter House on Church Road in Gorleston, provides a platform for performance of the Arts for amateurs of all ages and abilities.  Classes include instrumentalists, singers, choirs, orchestras and ensembles, speech, drama and compostition.

The dates for this year’s festival are 8th-20th March 2010 and the closing date for entries is January 31st.  Syllabus and entry forms are provided on the website or by phone to 01493 601740, also available at libraries and Allen’s Music Shop.

This year the festival is also celebrating  the 10th anniversary of the Gorleston Millenium Manuscript Poetry Reading Classes with a reading of selected poems from the manuscript.  There will also be  a Folk Workshop and Ceilidh on 12th March 2010, guided by Laura Cannell.

To vew the Gorleston St. Andrew’s Competitive Festival website Click here

Great Yarmouth Keyboard Music Club

Formed in June 1971, and now having a membership base of 65 members, the Great Yarmouth Keyboard Music Club hosts recitals on the third Wednesday of the month at the Masonic Royal Assembly Rooms. Click here to view their site on  the organfax website, see the concert diary and find out more  about the Club  . 

Subscription: £6.00
Members admission: £5.00
Visitors admission: £6.00
Tea, coffee and drinks are available at the meetings.

The Waveney String Duo Free Concert at Raveningham

The Waveney String Duo at
The Ravenous Café
Sunday 26th July 2009
2pm – 4pm Free Admission
The Raveningham Centre, nr Beccles.

Ravenous Cafe

On Sunday 26th July as part of the continuing Ravenous music series, the newly formed Waveney String Duo will be performing a free concert of classical music. Kate Reynolds (violin) and Kayleigh Simpson (cello) are classically trained music graduates with a passion for orchestral and chamber music.
They have extensive performing backgrounds and are making quite a name for themselves as fine performers. The duo are based in Norfolk and Suffolk and will be joined in the second half by accomplished pianist, John Stephens. Programme to include works by Gehot, Bréval, Glière, Mozart, Bridge & Rowley.

Venue information: contact 01508 548406
Ravenous, The Raveningham Centre, Beccles Road, Raveningham, Norfolk, NR14 6NU. www.ravenouscafe.co.uk

Classical concerts at the Hippodrome

The Czech National Symphony Orchestra

The opening concert will be on November 10th featuring the famous Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra under their conductor Jacek Kaspszyk with soloist Mikhail Rudy in a programme which includes the first Chopin piano concerto and Brahms Symphony Number One.

On February 4th the Czech National Symphony Orchestra will perform two of the most popular classical works, Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” and the Bruch Violin Concerto, with soloist Charlie Siem, a piece which regularly tops the Classic FM charts.

The European Chamber Orchestra will round off the series on April 26th. Piano soloist Freddy Kempf, a regular at the King’s Lynn Festival where he is a patron, will play the Piano Concerto Number 14.  The programme, conducted by Matthias Wollong, will also include Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik and Barber’s Adagio for Strings, both works which ride high in the classical charts.

The extra concert is a piano recital which will be given by Russian Nikolai Demidenko on the afternoon of Sunday March 21st  featuring works by Beethoven and Chopin. The other concerts will all be in the evening.

On offer is a special subscription rate of £70 for anyone who wants to buy the top priced seats for the whole series, which will give a substantial saving of over £30.  There are also seats at just £6 for schools and people under 26, and other age groups and people with particular needs are being encouraged to attend.  Book now at the Hippodrome 01493 844172 or online at http://bookings.yarmouthhippodrome.co.uk or at Norwich Theatre Royal on 01603 630000.

Raising funds for St.Nicholas Parish Church Organ Restoration

St. Nicholas Church Preservation Trust is presenting a piano recital at St. Nicholas Parish Church at 7.30 p.m. on Friday, 21st August, 2009  to raise funds towards the restoration of St. Nicholas’ organ which urgently needs repair at a cost of £250,000.  

Rupert Egerton-Smith, a recital pianist and concerto soloist who has won a number of international competitions and is increasingly in demand, will be playing works by Beethoven, Scarletti, Rachmaninov and Liszt.  Tickets  are £12 and £10 (over 60 and under 18),  and will be on sale at the door or from Howards Estate Agents at Great Yarmouth, Gorleston and Norwich.

The St.Nicholas’ Chuch Preservation Trust is also holding a General Knowledge Quiz in aid of the Church Organ Fund.  This will take place at the Masonic Hall, Royal Assembly Rooms, Albert Square, Great Yarmouth at 7.00 p.m. on Friday 3rd July.  David McDermott will be the quizmaster and question setter. Tables can be reserved at £5 per head by phoning 01493 843647.

For more information about this year’s concert season at St. Nicholas Church, please go to www.stnicholasmusic.org.

GREAT YARMOUTH CHORAL SOCIETY

The Great Yarmouth Choral Society is presenting its Summer Concert at St. Nicholas Parish Church at 7.30 p.m. on Saturday 20th June.   Tickets are available at the door.   The programme is  Haydn, Little Organ Music; Poulenc, Gloria; selected choruses from Mendelssohn’s Elijah.  The soprano soloist is Hannah Long who won Norfolk Musician of the Year in 2003 before successfully auditioning for a place at the Guildhall School of Music. 

The Great Yarmouth Choral Society, directed by John Stephens, gives two public performances a year.  Rehearsals are on Monday evenings at Oriel High School, mainly during term time   For more information go to www.gychoral.org.uk.