The classical-based Charity Concert in aid of [bclink id=”1208″ target=”_blank”], held at the Salvation Army hall in [bclink id=”1136″ target=”_blank” text=”Gloucester”] on 3 October 2010, was something those who gathered will not soon forget. The concert included contributions from the local Salvation Army band and songsters. The guest soloists for the evening were Timothy Keasley (oboe) and Alex Kirk (pianoforte). The response to the concert was a testament to the enthusiasm of the community to support others and the Salvation Army, with £2,024 raised from the evening.
Hope for Tomorrow is a national (UK) cancer charity which helps those with cancer, their families and dependents cope with the reality of their situation. One of the principal efforts of the charity is the development of Mobile Chemotherapy Units, which allow chemotherapy services to be brought to the patient instead of the patient having to travel to the treatment location. This purpose of this concert was to raise money toward a second unit in the Gloucestershire and Somerset area.
The classical pieces and songs, which are a little unfamiliar to the normal band and songster repertoire, were a joy to hear in the Salvation Army hall, and were greeted by the audience and civil dignitaries with much applause. The Gloucester Band (Bandmaster Clifford Matthews) contributed a mix of items, from the lively march from Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Les Toreadors from Bizet’s “Carmen Suite No. 1” and Slavonic Dance (Dvorak) to the more mellow tones of Fibich’s Poem. The Gloucester Songsters (Songster Leader Phil Webb) performed five songs: My Boundless Treasure, J. S. Bach’s Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, How Lovely Are Thy Dwellings from Brahms’ “German Requiem”, the Hallelujah Chorus and a Choral Benediction based on the tunes “St. Clements” and “Abide with Me”.
Timothy Keasley, who is a sixth form student and national Rotary Young Musician of the Year, has played as principal oboe in the Gloucestershire Youth Sinfonia and the Gloucestershire Youth Orchestra and now plays in the CBSO Youth Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra. He performed four items in two sets. These included Sonata No. 1 in C minor (Handel), Fantasie Pastorale (Bozza), Four Impromptus (Antony le Fleming) and Italian Dance (Madeline Dring). These solos were all performed with amazing skill and entertained the audience with a variety of melodic structure.
Alex Kirk, a comprehensive school student in Chepstow, began playing the piano at the age of 5. At the young age of 9, Alex attended the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and he was awarded the Dorothy Grace Atkinson Award from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music for his grade 8 distinction in 2008. During the first of two sets, Alex performed three pieces: Prelude and Fugue in C# (Bach), the first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 27 and The Lark (Glinka/Balakirev). For his second set, he performed Alberto Ginastera’s Three Argentine Dances. All of these were presented with an extremely high level of skill from this talented young man.
Major Adrian Allman took the theme of “Hope” for his Bible message as he spoke about the life-changing hope that God offers to all of us through his son, Jesus. The short message was based on Romans 5.
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