Canterbury Festival Lunchtime Recital

Date: Thursday 18 October 2007

Once a year the musicians of St Edmund's School get the opportunity to take part in the Canterbury Festival, and entertain a lunchtime audience at the Festival centre at St Alphege's Church in Palace Street.

This year's recital featured five of our pupils, plus the talents of accompanist/duettist Mr Spencer Payne, who together offered 45 minutes of superb music to a typical lunchtime audience of 'friends' of St Edmund's and occasional passers-by!

The presentations were more than good enough to persuade lunchtime eaters to stop opening packets of sandwiches, and carving their way through ploughman's lunches!

Jacob Barnes (piano) played a Bach Prelude and Fugue in D, and proceeded to accompany Susannah Jackson (flute) in a 'Ballade' by Reinecke, and Oliver Jones' (violin) Meditation from 'Thais' by Massenet., before returning for a barnstorming final duet with SJP - Brahms' Hungarian Dance, No.4.

Harriet Burns (soprano) sang beautifully, and did full justice to Schumann's beautiful song cycle, 'Frauenliebe und Leben'; Hugh Saffrey gave us a trumpet 'Fantaisie' in B flat minor by M.Barat - an unknown name to me!

The next public St Edmund's musical presentation? Thursday November 22nd, 7.30pm, in the School Hall, when the Michaelmas Term Concert, involving all our musicians will take place. I hope you can come!