Thursday, February 25th
at 7.30pm Martock Church
The Avalonian Free State Choir
The Guardians
are delighted to announce that the Avalonian Free State
Choir have been engaged to sing for us in All Saints Church
at
7.30pm on Thursday 25th February. This 16-24-strong group
of singers have given concerts in Wells Cathedral every
year since 2006 and will also be singing there soon after
our
Martock date.
The choir was originally founded in 1992
to sing traditional and contemporary English folk songs and
carols, but by 2004 they had widened
both their repertoire and the range of venues at which
they sing. They tailor their programme to suit each venue
and
have become an integral and much loved part of the music
scene in Glastonbury and the surrounding community, singing
in churches, halls & private homes at holidays, festivals,
weddings and seasonal celebrations. They regularly sing
at the “Celebration of Voice” festival at Stourhead Gardens,
where they have been much praised, yet also sing for the
WI and at three Respite Homes in the area.
The Avalonian Free State Choir is an unaccompanied
“natural voice” choir with a repertoire of songs from all
around the World, including
the awe-inspiring stillness of sacred and gospel songs
from
Greece & Georgia and heartbreaking melodies from Bulgaria.
The thrill of listening to them comes from clear bright
harmonies that are uplifting to the soul.
They performed
regularly at Glastonbury Music Festival until 2007 and
have been
on the Main Stage three times. Michael Eavis, the organiser,
said in 2004: “The greatest thing about the Avalonian
Free State Choir is the way they translate music into a joyful
and almost theatrical experience.”
Their CD “Long Live Life” is sold out and
the latest, covering their World Songs, will be released
shortly. Their earlier tapes are still available.
The choir has a reputation for its unique repertoire, stunning
tunes and high standard of a capella singing, reminiscent
of The Blagovest Ensemble, so this opportunity to hear
them for as little as £4 for tickets booked in advance should
not be missed.
Tickets £5 at the door
Or
£4 in advance
from Martock News & Martock Gallery
or by phoning 01935 822706. Wine & soft drinks will be available before the
concert & in
the interval
Thursday 25th March:
Ewan Hewitt’s Fifth Audio/Visual Classic Jazz Talk
The first two talks covered “A History of Jazz in the USA”
from 1919 to 1940. The third talk covered “A History of Jazz
in Britain” over the inter-war period.
The fourth talk covered “Jazz in New York” from 1924 to
1938 with 25 recordings by 14 different bands, most featuring
the talented multi-instrumentalist Adrian Rollini on bass
saxophone, hot fountain pen, goofus, piano, xylophone or
vibraphone.
OHP slides are shown whilst the music
is played to give information on the musicians and the
recordings. Copies of
the Booklets & Playlists for the previous four talks
will be available for inspection on the night and copies
of the CDs or Cassettes of the 106 recordings played may
be ordered.
The fifth talk will mainly feature
the guitar and violin in jazz, including recordings by
Joe Venuti’s Blue Four and
Django Reinhardt in the Quintette du Hot Club de France,
as well as more recent examples by violin and/or guitar exponents,
including Tony Oreshko, to provide a taster for his appearances
in Martock in May and June. Tickets are just £3 for
this talk.
Tuesday 6th to Saturday 10th April
The Guardians 6th Art & Photographic
Show
Admission is free to this Exhibition featuring some 300 pictures,
photos and craft items from around 60 Somerset artists. Open
9.30am to 6.30pm (4pm Saturday). Tea, coffee and light lunches
will be served daily.
Saturday 1st May: The Barnstaple Male Voice Choir
This talented group of 40-plus singers have an exciting
and unusual repertoire. The Choir celebrated its 90th Anniversary
in November ‘09 and during 2008 and the first 11 months of
2009 it performed at nearly 60 venues, including one in Germany.
It has played in Chiselborough in ’08 and ’09, filling the
church on both occasions and we are delighted to have them
sing for us in Martock in 2010
The Choir performs two sets of 40-minutes
duration, but they like to take a 5-minute break in each
set whilst another
artist performs. This year we are delighted to have the celebrated
guitarist Tony Oreshko to play some classical solos during
these two breaks. He will also demonstrate some jazz guitar
in the Django Reinhardt-style during the interval. Tickets
will be £6 on the door or £5 in advance from
01935 822706.
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Thursday 3rd June: The Tony Oreshko Trio
The Tony Oreshko Trio, comprising two guitars and a string
bass, has been playing at Jazz Festivals around Britain since
2007, to packed audiences. They have played 22 times working
with a violinist or reedman and another 26 times just as
the Tony Oreshko Trio or Quartet. The Quartet is the Trio
plus a further guitarist.
For this Martock concert he will
play some classical guitar solos and the Trio will play
well-loved tunes from the repertoire
of Stephane Grappelli & Django Reinhardt in the 1930s.
