What a fantastic evening! Despite high temperatures and one or two trivial national sporting fixtures the same evening, the church was full on Saturday evening to welcome the twenty or so talented musicians and vocalists of the North Swindon Big Band.The concert was an incredible cornucopia of delicious big band hits, ranging from the 1930s to present day. No less than 24 separate items were played, plus encore, encompassing a rich variety from soulful trumpet solo on Feelings, to timeless swing classics like It Don’t Mean a Thing, to the show-stopping vocals of Don’t Rain on My Parade and New York, New York.The Musical Director (who somehow managed to play the saxophone as well as directing), Karen Cordon, gave charming intros to each piece – not only giving a potted history of their inception but introducing us to the key members of the band who were due to shine in that particular item. Band members did amazing solo turns in the middle of pieces (trumpet, flugelhorn, drums, trombone, sax, organ…) to enthusiastic spontaneous applause from the listeners.There was plenty of toe tapping and swaying in time to the beat from the audience – even in our ancient pews - and more than one couple dancing the aisles.The evening was punctuated by a much-needed and well-managed “hydration break” (thank you David, Ingrid, Sally and others) - what a friendly bunch the band were, mingling with the audience and answering questions.A special shout out to the singers Pauline Richings and Graham Frampton, to the trumpeter Kevin Edwards, drummer Steve Carter and keyboardist Alan Cobb.Everyone I talked to thoroughly enjoyed themselves, the evening must be judged a resounding success. It was lovely to see a good representation from our congregation, but plenty of other faces as well – which is what Music at St Mary’s is all about. Thank you very much to Caroline and Jane-Emma and Alison, particularly for all the organisation. At the end Karen the MD gave a lovely farewell nod to Music at St Mary’s which I thought was a great reflection of the warm and generous attitude of this uplifting ensemble. Thank you and please come again!My favourite was New York, New York – what was yours?Lucy Hodson
Just in case you haven't found them, the sermons and readings are now on the website. These are audio versions of both Caroline's and Vicky's sermons together with the Bible reading references for the week in question and the article from the Parish Newsletter based on the readings written by either Caroline or Vicky. For those using a desktop layout the menu Sermons and Readings can be found in the right hand column under the Search button. If you are using a mobile phone the right hand column menus can be found at the end of an article. The button Sermons and Readings https://stmaryschurchfairford.org.uk/sermons-and-readings/ will take you to a page listing all the current sermons (from mid-September) from which you can select the one you wish to read and listen to.
Thank you to everyone who attended and supported this wonderful concert. To hear the Carducci perform once more in St. Mary's Church was already a gift, the value of which increased considerably with the addition of Roderick Williams’ beautiful voice. St. Marys was one of only eight venues across the UK to perform this interpretation of Schubert’s “die schöne Müllerin” and our wonderful acoustics and the intimacy of the setting made it truly magnificent. Roderick Williams expertly involved the audience in the story of the lovestruck young miller and swept us along by involving us intimately in every twist and turn of the folly of young love. The entire event made £6,695.50 and will contribute just shy of £3,500 after costs once all monies have been collected.
Saturday 17th May - Soup lunch and Organ Concert was agreat successThe Soup lunch raised £512 thanks to the lovely St Mary’s community, and we are grateful to everyone who helped us work on the lunch and come along to enjoy. Good things happening when we work together, thank you once again.Organ Concert: Keith Hearnshaw The Organ Concert, given by Keith Hearnshaw on the afternoon of Saturday 17th May, raised a gross figure of £1007. We had 72 in the audience and the £582 profit will go directly to the roof fund. This amount will enable the purchase of 9 square metres of top-quality lead for the church tower roof of which 25 square metres required! If you look on the North side of the church you will see that work has begun, at the time of writing, on the scaffolding.
