2008 event Reviews
Gatley’s Music Festival 2008 was a mixed bag of concerts as usual . The traditional and classical concerts were better attended than in previous years which reflects the fact that our publicity has improved though only slightly and there is still much room for improvement. If anyone feels that they could help in this area of our work we would be delighted to hear from them.
One concert was a complete washout and three others had to be cancelled. The washout was a concert by two very distinguished classical musicians and designed for primary school children. We had no audience at all.
The proposed Hotpot and Jazz concert at Cheadle Cricket Club had to be cancelled as a result of the failure of the population to show any interest in the purchase of tickets.One week before the due date only four tickets had been sold.
Unhappily the concert by “Three of a kind” intended to appeal to older members of the community had to be cancelled due to two of the kind being too ill to perform and the opening concert which was to take place at the Gateway pub had to be cancelled due to a double booking!
This is all the bad news and what follows is much more encouraging for the future.
Our opening concert took place 24 hours later than scheduled at The Horse and Farrier pub. A very busy pub was treated to an evening of high quality acoustic music provided by Turtlegrin, Stu Baggley, Cerca Trova and a last minute performance from Ian Ewing which was to be a taster for the Sunday evening concert at the Prince of Wales where Ian and Chris Brown wowed a enthusiastic crowd to an evening of Folk / Irish and Scottish classics. The Night before on the Saturday saw a classic Reggae / Soul covers evening in the company of duo Baz and Mox who performed to a packed Gateway pub.
The Gemini Ensemble was made up of very distinguished musicians and very old friends who played our first two Music at St James concerts twenty years ago and who have performed for us every year since.This year gave us the opportunity to celebrate our birthday including the traditional cake and a glass of champagne.
Much more important was the music which included a piece composed specially for the occasion and which was played by a string quartet, oboe,electric piano, an electric violin and a synthesiser.Richard Aylwin composed “A Journey to Mars” which included music the like of which none of us had ever heard before.Richard introduced the instruments and the music with his usual panache and humour and many said how valuable such an introduction was to a better appreciation of the whole piece.Certainly many of the various elements of the return journeyThe Flight, The Landing,Touchdown and Landscape, The Return were comprehensible and much was instantly enjoyable. We were pleased to present Richard with an award from The Vaughan Williams Society.The second half of the programme included music by Haydn, Martinu,Frank Martin and Elgar.
The traditional Schools concert was an outstanding success despite the fact that only four schools chose to participate and as usual was warmly applauded throughout.The finale was the assembly on the stage of all the participants from the very youngest to the oldest and magnificently did they sing for us.
Members of the Yeshurin synagogue and friends were treated to a simply superb concert by the Quatuor Deconet string quartet who played a Janacek’s Quartet no.2 “Intimate letters” which one hears only very rarely and which makes demands on the audience’s musical knowledge. The Janacek was sandwiched between Haydn’s Quartet Opus 20 no.2 and Mozart’s Quartet in C kv465”The Dissonance” Look out for Quatuor Deconet next season at Music at Saint James.
Friday evening saw a welcome return visit by the Tintwistle Brass Band who were simply magnificent.Almost every single member of the audience told me how good the Band are and how much they had enjoyed the concert. What baffles me is the absence of support from the people of Gatley. Are the ticket prices too high? Do you not like brass bands? Answers on a post card please....
The final concert of the week was given by Alteri Chamber Choir who are without doubt the most talented choir in the region.The programme consisted of Cathedral choruses which make great demands on the audience’s concentration but provide a variety of sound such as one rarely has the privilege of hearing.
They sang music by Gerald Finzi, Francis Poulenc, Henry Balfour Gardiner, David Ellis, Sir Charles Parry and Sir Edward Elgar.
Do let us know if you have ideas about how we might improve the Festival next time round see you in 2009
Len Mather
Festival sponsors
