Music at GMC

14/12/2023

Thanks everyone for your kind messages and support. I’ll leave this page here but it will be no longer active after today.

11/12/2023

Dear Friends and Supporters,

All are welcome to join us at Gillingham Methodist Church for our special Carols by Candlelight service at 7pm on Thursday 14th December. There will be the traditional Carols and Lessons along with some lovely organ and piano music and there will be music to please everyone. Admission is free and the service will be followed by mince pies and refreshments.

It is with a heavy heart, I must inform you that this will be GMC’s last ever service since the church will be closing on this day. The building is being purchased by the local Catholic Church so our wonderful Sweetland organ is safe, but Gillingham Methodist Church Society will be closing, as will Music at GMC. Since it was formed in 2004 to fund the restoration of the organ, Music at GMC has held more than 200 concerts and these have greatly benefited numerous charities as well as church funds. Our concert last year in aid of the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal was probably the most ambitious since it featured four famous organists, a concert pianist and a celebrity trumpeter and raised more than £5,500 for the appeal! However, over the years we have been honoured to have had visits from many famous faces in the organ world including Ian Tracey (Liverpool Cathedral & City Organist), Thomas Trotter (Birmingham City Organist), Thomas Heywood and David Briggs (International Concert Organists) and not forgetting the late, great Carlo Curley. Our recent hosting of a performance of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius featuring David Briggs taking the part of the orchestra was certainly a highlight for me personally and the realisation of a long-held dream.

We are hoping to make our last Carol Service particularly special so do please join us if you can. It would be good to go out on a high and with a large congregation to raise the roof during the Carol singing!

It just remains for me to thank you all for your loyal support of our Music at GMC concerts over the last 19 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed planning, organising and attending every single one of them and also ensuring that our amazing Sweetland organ has been heard around the world by means of virtual concerts (these are still available on YouTube – just search for Music at GMC).

All best wishes,

Gordon

Gordon Amery
Organist & Concert Organiser
Music at GMC
Gillingham Methodist Church
High St. Gillingham, Dorset. SP8 4AG

10/12/2023

Oh goodness, what an emotional day! Our last ever Communion service this morning followed by a Circuit Thanksgiving service this afternoon. Thank you to everyone who came along to say goodbye to our amazing church.

Just our final Carol Service at 7pm on Thursday left now. Do please come along if you can - it’s sure to be a very special evening 😍

31/03/2023

At 7.30pm on Sunday 7th May 2023, Music at GMC will be hosting a performance of Edward Elgar’s sublime choral work ‘The Dream of Gerontius’ with a 50-strong choir and the international concert organist, David Briggs playing our incredible Sweetland organ which will be taking the place of an orchestra. There will also be three well-known soloists, including tenor, John Graham-Hall (of ROH fame) taking up the role of Gerontius.

Elgar composed this profoundly moving work in 1900 and the score was set to the text of a poem by Cardinal John Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man’s soul from his deathbed to his judgement before God and settling into Purgatory with the promise of everlasting glory. ‘The Dream’ is generally acknowledged to be one of the greatest pieces for chorus and orchestra ever written and it has long been my personal dream to hear it performed in Gillingham. David Briggs last came to GMC in 2019 for a performance of Louis Vierne’s ‘Messe Solennelle’ and we agreed that it would be amazing to perform ‘The Dream’ with the same choir. Plans started to come together during the latter part of that year and we agreed a performance date for 2020 but sadly the pandemic meant we had to postpone. Since then it has been quite an uphill struggle to get David Briggs, the choir and the 3 soloists all available at the same time but we have finally managed to do this and Sunday, 7th May is the big day!

Gillingham Methodist Church will be closing its doors during the next 12 months, so sadly this is our last planned concert under the ‘Music at GMC’ banner. However, we are determined to end our musical outreach on a high note, so this will be our most ambitious concert ever! As you can appreciate, an event of this magnitude does not come cheaply and we have set an admission price of £20. I am sure that this will be a very special and spiritual (not to mention emotional) evening and any support you can give would be much appreciated. If you’re not able to attend yourself I’d be grateful if you could spread the word so we can fill the church for this amazing event. Any offers of sponsorship would also be gratefully accepted!

Tickets can be obtained online from www.wegottickets.com/event/492351, from The Copy Shop in Gillingham High St or directly from me by calling 07817 379006.

Gordon Amery
Organist & Concert Organiser
Gillingham Methodist Church

17/09/2022

Just a quick reminder that our 2 concerts scheduled for this weekend have been postponed as a mark of respect for the death of HM Queen Elizabeth II.

The 21st Century ABBA tribute concert will now be held at 7.30pm on Saturday 18th March 2023.
The organ recital by Geoffrey Morgan has been moved to 3pm on Sunday 13th November 2022.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

09/09/2022

It was with great sadness that we learnt of the death of our beloved Queen. Our thoughts go to the Royal Family at this sad time.

Rest in Peace Queen Elizabeth II.
God Save the King.

29/05/2022

As a change from our usual brand of events, I'm looking into staging a concert by an Abba tribute band, most likely some time in September. The group I have in mind have just performed to a full house in Exeter Cathedral!

Would you be interested in supporting such an event at GMC? Please let me know your thoughts...

Gordon 😀

29/05/2022

Just to let everyone know that the fantastic sum of £2,600 was raised at our Ukraine Benefit Concert on 13th May. This figure will be doubled by the Utility Warehouse Foundation to give a total DEC donation of £5,200.
A huge thank-you to everyone who supported the concert in any way and to the local businesses that gave money or their services for free. Your generosity was very much appreciated. THANK YOU!
😀

11/05/2022

This is a final push for our fundraising Concert for Ukraine which is to be held at Gillingham Methodist Church at 7.30pm this coming Friday (13th May).
If you enjoy classical music then this will be a once-in-a-lifetime concert for you and for Gillingham. To augment our fine Sweetland pipe organ we have hired a second organ (a computer-controlled Hauptwerk instrument that holds samples of the worlds best organs). We will be using the Hereford Cathedral sample set so if you close your eyes, you will be transported to Hereford!
The performers will be Celebrity Organist Thomas Trotter (Birmingham City Organist) and Guests: David Briggs (Organist, St John the Divine, NYC), Keith Hearnshaw (Concert Organist), Jonathan Hope (Organist, Gloucester Cathedral), Duncan Honeybourne (Concert Pianist), Crispian Steele-Perkins (Trumpeter) and Rex Wickham (Treble).
I've attached a picture of the programme so you can see that there will be something for every music lover. The Finale should be especially exciting, with 2 organs, a piano and a trumpet playing!
The concert has been organised to raise money for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and its response to the Russian invasion. Everyone involved, including all of the performers, are giving their services without charge and Utility Warehouse have pledged to double any contributions, so 200% of funds raised will go to the DEC appeal.
So please come and support our exciting event. You will find online booking details on the attached poster. Alternatively, PM me and I would be happy to reserve you a ticket for payment on the door.
Thank you! 😀

05/06/2021

Dear Friends and Supporters,

We're back - at least for a short time!

At the time of writing things are still unclear as to future COVID restrictions, so we’ve decided to record and release four virtual organ concerts at fortnightly intervals over the next couple of months. Please watch this space for news of any later events.

The first virtual organ recital of 2021 will be released next Sunday (13th June) at 3pm. The performer will be Chris Totney.

Chris Totney is Head of Keyboard Studies at St Mary’s School, Calne, following nine years’ teaching at Dauntsey’s School. At Calne, he teaches piano and A Level Music, as well as being involved in the work of numerous choirs, concerts, services and examination sessions. He hails from Stourbridge, West Midlands, where he first studied organ with Andrew Fletcher, before moving on to Durham University with Keith Wright. Whilst there, he released a CD as conductor of University College Chapel Choir under the Lammas label and spent two years as Organ Scholar at the cathedral under the direction of James Lancelot, gaining both the Associateship and Choral Directing diplomas from the Royal College of Organists. For ten years Chris was Assistant Organist to the Edington Festival of Music within the Liturgy, before standing down in 2013 to help develop the Diocese of Salisbury’s Pipe-Up Scheme for young organists. In addition to his school and diocesan work, Chris directs a thriving parish choir at St John the Baptist Church, Devizes, which includes a top line of 22 children representing 12 local schools.
In this concert Chris will be playing music by Howells, Purcell, JS Bach, Bridge, Andriessen, Rheinberger, Moore, Locklair and Boëllmann, so hopefully some pieces to please everyone.

These are the links you’ll need to access the video:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE6l3ekCK6xGxinIbijR4xA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MusicatGMC
Please subscribe to our YouTube channel and/or like our page to facilitate access to our future concerts.

Like very many churches, GMC’s finances have been hit by the pandemic and the income of many musicians has also been affected. We have therefore set up a PayPal account where you can make donations towards the concert if you wish. It can be found here: https://www.paypal.me/musicatgmc. All proceeds will be shared between the performer and GMC. Please add a message (i.e. Concert #6, Chris Totney etc.) in the text box provided, to allow us to identify the performer involved. Please note that if you don’t already have a PayPal account it will ask you to set one up, but this is very easy and only takes a few minutes and you will just need to remember your log-in details if you want to make further donations in the future.

Enjoy!

Gordon

Go to paypal.me/musicatgmc and type in the amount. Since it’s PayPal, it's easy and secure. Don’t have a PayPal account? No worries.