Heart for the Arts

FalmerIcthus2

Falmer Concerts 

For over 15 years St. Laurence has organised an annual programme of musical events throughout the year and also participates in the Brighton Fringe

www.facebook.com/falmerconcerts 

suemileham2013@gmail.com/01273 508951


 St. Laurence Recital Series, 2024-25

Unless stated, refreshment and admission to these recitals are free, with donations going to the outreach and upkeep of the church and duration is 45 minutes


THE COPPER FAMILY   COPPER FAMILY

 

The Copper Family traces its roots back to 1593 in the Sussex village of Rottingdean.  A deep love of the Sussex Downland was always the backdrop to the family music and is still never far away from many songs in the repertoire – songs in celebration of everyday life, work and pride taken in it; treasured and handed down purely through the oral tradition.


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SATURDAY, 21ST SEPTEMBER, 5.30pm:  JOHN BRUZON (PIANO):

john bruzon

TCHAIKOVSKY  

January: "By the Fireside"  March: "Song of the Lark"       

May: "May Nights"  October: "Autumn Song" 

December: Christmas"

 

STEPHANIE CANT - Seven Fantasies:  Waves; Birds; Machines;           Calm;  Machines Dance;  Celebration;  Reflections

 

ALBÉNIZ    Mallorca Op. 202;  Rumores de la Caleta Op.72 No. 6

 

LISZT     La Chapelle de William Tell  S.160

 

SATURDAY, 19TH OCTOBER, 5.30pm:  THE COPPER FAMILY: the internationally acclaimed Sussex folk singing family returns to entertain us with the authentic songs of the Sussex Downs



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SATURDAY, 31ST AUGUST, 5.30pm:  JEM BYRNE,Soprano and WILL WALSHE-GREY (organ scholar, St. Mary's Redcliffe), Piano present a programme to include music by Ravel, Brahms, Samuel  Barber, Gilbert & Sullivan and organ solos


 SATURDAY, 22ND JUNE, 5.30-6.15PM,

 THE  BOTHY SINGERS

The feisty femmes fatales present

 

 MUSIC FROM THE ‘80s

COME AND SWING ALONG TO ALL YOUR FAVOURITE NUMBERS INCLUDING:

 TRUE COLOURS, RUNNING UP THAT HILL, SWEET DREAMS


BOTHY SINGERS 2024


SATURDAY & SUNDAY, 29TH & 30TH jUNE, 2024, Falmer flower festival

Beautiful  arrangements in Church on the theme of Hymns, delicious refreshments in the Parish Hall

Free entry, donations to church funds welcome

Vote for the best arrangement

Refreshments and stalls in the Village Hall

Enquiries:  01273 695164

fringe 2024

Friday 3rd May, 7.30pm: Those were the days - the Falmer Singers directed by Jason Pimblett with guest soloists. Come dressed in your finery for the event! Prize for the best Victorian/Edwardian costume!

Sunday 5th May, 5.30-6.15pm: Simon Madge, Baritone, Katy Friese-Greene, Piano: Mozart to the Musicals.  Simon and Katy explore different Mozart opera characters from lovestruck Papageno to manipulative Don Giovanni , & the gravitas of Sarastro. Then G&S, Weil, R&H and Lloyd Webber.

Saturday 11th May, 5.30-6.15pm: Duck Soup: the crazy, eclectic folk band featuring Adam Bushell (marimba, mandolin, triangle, musical saw & phonofiddle), Dan Quinn (voice & melodeon) and Ian Keary (bass guitar, 12-string dobro, mandolin & tipple).

Saturday 18th May, 5.30-6.15pm: Belladonna: Sue Mileham (soprano), Jane Plessner (clarinet), Nicola Grunberg (piano): Love & Marriage - songs and arias from Mozart to Rodgers and Hammerstein, Schumann Phantasiestucke for clarinet, Mendelssohn piano solo

Saturday 25th May, 5.30-6.15pm: The Pastores Ensemble: the ensemble of period instrument directed by Robert Carrington and Paul Neville, includes works from 16th to 21st century.

Saturday 1st June, 5.30-6.15pm: The Elysium Ensemble: Helen Doble flute & alto flute, Ken Wells flute and piccolo, Lucy Rackham flute and piano, Helen Modern, flute - music from the Baroque period, via Classical to light 20th century compositions.


SATURDAY 23rd MARCH, 5.30-6.15pm

WOMAN ALONE

LUCY MAIR - SOPRANO,  ZHANA KEMP - PIANO

Maid on the Shore (Trad)

 

Rachmaninoff (1873 - 1943):      сирень (The Lilacs);    COH (Dream)

 

Chaminade (1857 - 1944):          Les Rêves

 

Duparc (1848 - 1933):                Au pays ou se fait la guerre

 

The Blacksmith (Trad)

The Cruel Mother (Trad)

 

Dring (1923 - 1977):                   It was a lover;  Through the centuries;  Separation;  Song of a Nightclub Proprietress



LUCY studied Music and Italian at Royal Holloway College, attended the Conservatorio di Benedetto Marcello, Venice, and graduated with an MMus in Performance and Composition from Newcastle University.  Awarded a bursary to Oxenfoord International Summer School, Lucy worked with Janis Kelly, Linda Ormiston and David Cowan, and then with Malcolm Martineau, Karen Cargill and Susan Bullock. She was twice awarded bursaries to study voice at Dartington International Summer School for masterclasses with Joan Rodgers, Emma Kirkby and Jessica Cash.

 

As a recitalist Lucy performs frequently locally and has performed at the Corbridge and Steyning Festivals and the Newcastle ‘New Music’ Festival. She gave the UK première of Alain Daniélou’s arrangement of Rabindranath Tagore’s Song Poems and the première of They are all gone into the World of Light (2011) for John Tavener at the funeral of his librettist and “spiritual mother”, Mother Thekla.

 

Extensive oratorio and other sacred work includes Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat, Bach’s Magnificat, Graun’s Der Tod Jesu and Mozart’s Vespers and Mass in C.  Operatic roles include Fiodiligi (Così fan Tutte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Ellen (Peter Grimes), Countess (Le Nozze di Figaro), Sandman (Hansel and Gretel), Pamina (The Magic Flute), Mařenka (The Bartered Bride) and L’Egisto (Bellezza).

 

Lucy works privately with singers 1:1 and at Roedean School, and as a voice consultant for choirs.  In order to bring therapeutic elements into her work she has recently completed a Diploma in Therapeutic Counselling, providing a space for singers to explore and connect with their voices, as free from “should” as possible.

 

Born in Saint Petersburg, Russia ZHANNA studied the piano from the age of seven, and graduated from The Mussorgsky Musical College, Saint Petersburg with a Diploma of Music (School Teacher and Accompanist). She studied with a student of Schmidt-Shklovskaya, a Soviet pianist and pedagogue, was widely known in the Soviet Union for her work with pianists with professional injuries. After five years of study in St Petersburg State Pedagogical University Zhanna qualified as a Teacher of Music and Music Education Methodologist in 1995, after which she worked in different music and art schools in Russia. She moved to the UK over 12 years ago and continues teaching piano (in both English and Russian).  She performs in many Brighton venues as an accompanist, participating in many events and festivals. She is the official accompanist of the Brighton-based choir, Women of Note.


SATURDAY 23RD MARCH FROM 7PM in THE SWAN INN Falmer (north):  DJs BARNEY & THE VICAR, All things bright and beautiful??????  Enjoy the classical concert in Church (above) then cross over the footbridge to the Swan and continue your evening's entertainment!  Bring your own picnic as the pub kitchen won't be open.    





SATURDAY 2ND MARCH, 5.30-6.15pm:  THE BRIGHTON GUITAR QUARTET:   Olga Amelkina-Vera:  Ninochka,  Philip Houghton:  Opals,  Luigi Boccherini:  Introduction & Fandango,  J.S. Bach:  Sheep may safely graze,  Juaquin Turina:  Miramar Valencia, Leo Brouwer:  Tocatta, Modest Mussorgsky:  The Old Castle


SATURDAY 23RD MARCH, 5.30-15pm:  LUCY MAIR, SOPRANO & ZHANNA KEMP, PIANO,  programme to include works by Henri Duparc, Cecile Chaminade, Rachmaninov, Madelinei Dring and traditional English folksongs


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SATURDAY, 4TH DECEMBER, 2.30-4.30pm

SHEPHERDS ARISE!  A selection of beautiful old West Gallery carols from Sussex villages accompanied by flute, fiddle, serpent, bassoon, clarinet, concertinas & recorder.  Between the carols are readings about Christmas in Sussex in the past, and the musicians play lively dance tunes from old Sussex manuscripts.  There is also a Sussex Mummers' play.  As always, there will be some old favourites & some new additions.  

This is a lovely celebration of Christmas from earlier centuries, still full of the joy and delight it gave then.

Please note:  admission and refreshments are free and donations will be split between the Martlets Hospice and church funds.




SATURDAY, 25th NOVEMBER, 5.30pm:

SOUTH DOWNS WIND QUINTET present a lively programme to cheer a November evening, with music 

Malcolm Arnold:  Wind Quintet, Op.2: Allegro, Presto, Alla Marcia

George Gershwin:  Promenade (Walking the Dog)

Scott Joplin:  Two Rags: Maple Leaf Rag, The Cascades

Dave Brubeck:  Blue Rondo a la Turk

Mike Mower:  Two pieces from Jazz Suite for Wind Quintet in the Style of Bebop & Dixieland

Irving Berlin:  Alexander’s Ragtime Band

Karen Rash - Flute, Barbara Ashby - Oboe, Clare Moisan - Clarinet, Zoe Hurlock - French Horn, Hilary Ougham - Bassoon



Saturday, 2nd december, 2.30-4.30pm

SHEPHERDS ARISE!  Quite & Band directed by Mary Motley

OLD SUSSEX CAROLS from SUSSEX CHURCH MANUSCRIPT BOOKS & ORAL TRADITION with voices, flute, fiddle, bassoon, serpent, clarinet & concertina

DANCE TUNNES & READINGS  from SUSSE SOURCES

SUSSEX MUMMERS PLAY


Monday, 4th December, 7-8pm

THE STRING ENSEMBLE of Brighton & East Sussex Orchestra

directed by Andrew Sherwood:  the stars of the youth orchestra play in aid of ENCORE, a charity raising funds to enable young musicians in East Sussex to receive instrumental lessons.  Admission free, donations will be split between the charity and St. Laurence church 



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Sat. 4th November, 5.30-6.15pm:  JIGSAW JAZZ CAFÉ! Come and enjoy jazz classics with delicious, home-made snacks from Marine Cuisine (cash please), fireworks afterwards (weather permitting) – bring sparklers and friends! Admission free, donations will be split between the band and church funds.

Saturday, 21st October, 17.30-18.15

EVELYN HARRISON - SAXOPHONE and ZHANNA KEMP - PIANO

Concerto 2d and 3d movements by Ronald Binge

Melody by Tchaikovsky 

Danse by Darius Milhaud 

Serenata by Gaetano Braca 

Chante Corse by Tomasi 

Valse Romantique Seymour Burns 

“My man’s gone now”, Promenade by Gershwin and “Bess, you is my woman now” by Gershwin- Heifetz 


Saturday, 9th September, 5.30-6.15p,:  Will Walshe-Grey (organ scholar, St. Mary's Redcliffe, Bristol), Organ, to include Cecilia McDowall, ) Antiphon Sequence and Graig Phillips, The Archangel Suite. 


Friday, 15th September, 7.30pm

MAGIC OF THE MUSICALS

The Sound of Music, Sunset Boulevard, South Pacific, Phantom of the Opera…….

Narrated by Dame Evangeline Rackett!

Musical Director – Jason Pimblett

with the Falmer Singers and Guest Soloists


Saturday, 21st October, 5.30-6.15pm:  Evelyn Harrison - Saxophone and Zhanna Kemp - Piano



 


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Saturday, 1st July, 5.30-6.15pm

DUCK SOUP:  English folk music , with a dash of the music-hall, a dollop of groove and a soupcon of surreality.  Duck Soup is a happy accident. 

Way  back in 2005, Dan Quinn (Gas Mark 5, Flowers & Frolics) started thinking about recording a solo album, and thought it would be fun to get Ian Kearey (Shirley Collins, Oysterband) and Adam Bushell (Stocai, Tacet Ensemble) to join him on a couple of numbers. He was right! So much so that we recorded the whole album as a trio, and haven't stopped since.

Our sound is based around Dan's melodeon and vocals, which keep us firmly rooted in English tradition even when we're playing tunes from Canada, Barbados or beyond

Whatever instrument Ian plays, he provides solid groove. He's a man that can find the rock'n'roll heart of any traditional ballad, and vice versa.

Adam’s array of instruments might not immediately make you think of folk music, but the way he plays them certainly will – from polka-ing with a marimba to ballad-ing with a phonofiddle.

It all ends up as a glorious cross between an English tune session in your favourite pub and a collision in an instrument shop.

 

picture1, duck soup



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SATURDAY, 24th JUNE, 5.30pm

THE PASTORES ENSEMBLE:  A BANQUET OF MUSICAL DELIGHTS, music for viols, mandolins, guitar and voice by Johnson, Tye, Marais, Playford and Robert Carrington and others

BRIGHTON FRINGE 2023BRIGHTON FRINGE LOGO


Saturday, MAY 13th, 5.30pm  -   THE COPPER FAMILY

The Copper Family traces its roots back to 1593 in the Sussex village of Rottingdean where an entry in the first extant Parish register records a marriage. The Family singing tradition can be traced back at least to the 18th Century. The Coppers were always renowned as singers in the village and the Copper menfolk, largely comprising farm labourers, carters, ploughmen and shepherds were always in demand at sing-songs, pubs, harvest suppers and seasonal celebratory events around the farms and villages.

 

Sunday, May 21st, 6pm – THE AMITY SINGERS  (Please note the change of time)

The Amity Singers (women’s voices) perform 6-10 concerts a year in the local community and will entertain us with an eclectic mix of styles, ranging from Purcell to The Evening Prayer from Humperdink's Hansel and Gretel to Chicago by Ebb and Kander.

 

Saturday, May 27th, 5.30pm – BELLADONNA: Sue Mileham, Soprano, Jane Plessner, Clarinet, Nicola Grunberg, Piano presents Love is in the Air, a programme on the eternal theme taking us through varying styles from Thomas Arne to Cole Porter, including such gems as Finzi’s Romance for Clarinet and Piano, Mendelssohn’s piano solo, On Wings of Song, and Rusalka’s Song to the Moon by Dvorak. 


FRINGE AT FALMER IS A GRATEFUL RECIPIENT OF A

Brighton Lions Logo

 BRIGHTON LIONS' BURSARY


FIVEWAYS AT FALMER

Weekends 6th-28th May

Saturdays, 10.30-16.30

Sundays, 11.30-16.00


St. Laurence Church is pleased to announce that members of the Fiveways Artists' Group will be exhibiting at St. Laurence as part of their Open Houses scheme.  The following artists will be exhibiting:

Sue Barnes (Falmer artist):  sacred art

  Sam Beck:  recent contemporary paintings inspired by the cityscape and landscape

Laura Darling:  still life and landscape paintings in oil

Rex Matthews:  acrylic paintings inspired by Gaudi's Sagrada Famillia in Barcelona

 Eva Wibblerley:  seascapes and landscapes in a range of painterly media

Teresa Winchester:  printmaking and storytelling using animal and floral imagery 



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SATURDAY, 15TH APRIL, 5.30pm

ELLIE BLACKSHAW – VIOLIN

J.S.Bach:  G minor solo sonata, BWV 1001

Bela Bartok:  Solo Sonata in G minor, Sz.117:  Melodia, Presto

Peter Copley:  The Violinist is hanging on the wall… 



SATURDAY, 25TH MARCH, 5.30pm

BRIGHTON GUITAR QUARTET:

Simon Hopkins, James Hartt, Olivier Thereaux , Ruairi Gann

(Director:  Gregg Isaacson)

Luigi Boccherini, Roland Dyens,

Simon Hopkins, Turlough O'Carolan,

Stepan Rak, Maurice Ravel, Andrew York

 

SATURDAY, 4TH FEBRUARY, 4.30-5.40pm

SOUTH DOWN WINDS QUINTET

Arrieu, Fauré, Poulenc, Gounod, Debussy and Bizet

(this slightly longer concert includes a short interval)

 

SATURDAY, 11TH FEBRUARY, 5.30-6.15pm

LEWIS KINGSLEY-PEART – PIANO

Paderewski: Minuet in G, Op. 14 No. 1, Nocturne in B-flat major, Op. 16 No. 4 

Dohnányi: Aria, Op. 23 No. 1, Rhapsody in C, Op.11 No. 3

Billy Mayerl, Song of the Fir-Tree,    Railroad Rhythm, Marigold

Grünfeld, Soirée de Vienne, Op. 56


SEE WHAT WE HOSTED IN 2021-22 SEASON 

SHEPHERDS ARISE!  Sunday, 11th December, 2.30-4.30pm, a selection of beautiful old West Gallery carols from Sussex villages accompanied by flute, fiddle, serpent, bassoon, clarinet, concertinas & recorder.  Between the carols are readings about Christmas in Sussex in the past, and the musicians play lively dance tunes from old Sussex manuscripts and there is also a mummers'play.  Admission and refreshments free, donations will be split between the church and the Martlets Hospice

Saturday, 10th September, 5.30-6.15pm

Lewis Kingsley-Peart, Piano          

Beethoven, Sonata quasi una fantasia, (Moonlight),  Schubert, Fantasie in C Major (Wanderer), Chopin, Ballade No.1, Op.23 

Lewis made his debut at St. John's, Smith Square in March 2013 in a programme of music celebrating the 75th birthday of renowned American composer, Stephen Montagu.  In the summer of 2021 he had the privilege of working with the British concert pianist and composer, Stephen Hough, on his third piano sonata, "Trinitas" for the Trinity Laban New Lights Festival of Contemporary Music.  Lewis looks forward to future recital engagements, and is excited to make his debut at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in September, as well as his concerto debut in 2023.

             

Saturday, 8th October, 6.30-7.15pm

Simon Madge, Baritone and Katy Friese-Greene, Piano

A programme of English Song, to include works by George Butterworth and Vaughan Williams' "Songs of Travel"

Saturday 18th June, 5.30-6.15pm

THE PASTORES ENSEMBLE with special guests

Roberto Prieto-Labrador Countertenor

Zhou Han (Rose) Erhu

present:   A VARIETY OF MUSIC TO DELIGHT

Tenorlieder @ 4 Ludwig Senfl (1486-1542?)

Wolcum de Mai I

Rosina, wo was dein Gestalt

Wolcum de Mai II

Madrigals @ 3 Michael East (1580–1648 ):  How Merrily we Live            Follow Me

Villancicos Cancionero de Palacio— Songs from the Library of the Palacio Real in Madrid:

Tres Morillas –Anon                        Más vale trocar –Juan del Encina (1468-1530)

Ay Linda Amiga - Anon                   Mano a mano los dos amores –Anon

Solo Lute:         Night Song—Robert Carrington (fl. 2022)

Erhu & Viols:     Wild Swans             Fairest Isle –Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Trio:     Aire– Paul Neville (b. 1969)

Suite from the Tempest- Matthew Locke (1621 – 1677)

The First Music– Galliard– Gavot– Lilk


fringe logo

All concerts 5.30-6.15pm

SUNDAY, MAY 8TH:  UNFENCED UNWRAPPED, Sally Wilson, SAm Brennan, Liz Woodhouse, Jane Peckham and Barney Guy - a musical confectionery:  female voices, sophisticated piano, string bass and a zippy drummer.  Unfenced have one aim only:  to lift your hearts, bring a smile to your faces and get your toes tapping!

SATURDAY, MAY 14TH:  DUCK SOUP:  Dan Quinn - voice, melodeon, Ian Kearey - bass guitar, 12-string dobro, manndolin, tipple, and Adam Bushell - marimba, mandolin, triangle, saw and phonofiddle:  English folk music, with a dash of the music-hall, a dollop of groove and a soupcon of surreality.  It all ends up as a glorious cross between an English tune session in your favourite pub and a collision in an instrument shop.  Amongst the favourites that we'll probably play are Molly Bawn, Hornpipe, The Indian Intermezzo, Marche de 64ieme Batallion, Lena.

SATURDAY, MAY 21ST:  SUSSEX FLUTES:  Sue Gregg, Victoria Hancox, Anne Hodgson and Nicole Leclerc are delighted to be returning to St. Laurence, the very first venue in which they performed as a group 12 years ago!  With a reputation for high quality chamber music for different combinations of flutes ranging from Piccolo to Bass Flute they encompass a wide range of musical styles and genres. 

Mozart - Flute quartet in D major                                            Herman Beeftink - "Birds" for Flute Trio                                        Telemann - Flute Quartet in D minor                                            Kern - "Smoke gets in your eyes"                                                Trad. - "Shepherd's Hey"

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SATURDAY, MAY 28TH:  DOUBLE DUOS:  Alan Larkin - clarinet and alto sax, Michael Withers- clarinet and tenor sax, Trevor Denyer - Horn, Susan Denyer - bass:  a unique ensemble, playing show music from the 1920s to 1950s and beyond. Programme will include The Frim Fram Sauce, New York, New York, Sunrise, Sunset, The Poirot Theme, Stranger on the Shore

SATURDAY, JUNE 4TH:  REFLECTIONS OF LOVE:  DARIA ROBERTSON, Soprano and ZHANNA KEMP-DASHKOVSKAYA, Piano present a programme of well-known romantic arias including works Mozart, Puccini, Poulenc, Stravinsky and lesser-known gems by Offenbach, Menotti and Clara Schumann.

 



Saturday April 8th, 5.30pm

Beatrice Sales, Viola and Kevin Allen, Piano

Beethoven - Seven variations on Bei Mannern from Mozart's Die Zauberflote

Robert Schumann - Marchenbilder, Op.113

D. Shostakovich - Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 147

Beethoven - Country Dances