Eaton Concert Series

01/09/2024

Just one week to go before we welcome Emma Johnson at Eaton next Sunday. This will be a treat so do come if you can!

Described as 'Britain’s favourite clarinettist’, Emma’s career was launched after winning BBC Young Musician of The Year at the age of 17, in front of a TV audience of 12 million. Emma was honoured by the Queen with an MBE in 1996 and in 2020 she received the Cobbett Medal from the Musicians’ Company Guild in the City of London for distinguished services to chamber music.

Emma will be accompanied by the distinguished conductor and pianist, David Parry, in a programme to include works by Weber, Schumann (Fantasiestucke), Verdi (Rigoletto Fantasy), Poulenc, Mozart and Bernstein (Scenes from West Side Story).

Admission to this concert will be £15 for adults, £7.50 for students and children admitted free of charge. For details of all concerts in the series, please visit www.eatonconcertseries.co.uk

29/07/2024

EMMA JOHNSON comes to Eaton on 8th September!

Described as 'Britain’s favourite clarinettist’ Emma Johnson is one of the few clarinettists to have established a career as a solo performer which has taken her to venues all over the world. Emma grew up in London and her career was launched when, at the age of 17, she won BBC Young Musician Of the Year in front of a TV audience of 12 million, followed by the Young Concert Artists Auditions in New York. Emma was honoured by the Queen with an MBE in 1996 and in 2020 she received the Cobbett Medal from the Musicians’ Company Guild in the City of London for distinguished services to chamber music. Rather appropriately, Emma plays a clarinet made by the English instrument maker, Peter Eaton!

Emma will be accompanied by the distinguished conductor and pianist, David Parry, in a delightful programme to include works by Weber, Schumann (Fantasiestucke), Verdi (Rigoletto Fantasy), Poulenc, Mozart and Bernstein (Scenes from West Side Story).

Please note that this is a change to our originally advertised concert. Admission will be £15 for adults, £7.50 for students and children admitted free of charge. For details of all concerts in the series, please visit www.eatonconcertseries.co.uk

28/06/2024

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: it is with huge regret that this Sunday’s Eaton concert is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. This is a massive disappointment to everyone concerned - a lot of work has gone into this concert so we will reschedule for a later date. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause and we'll keep you posted.

23/06/2024

Just one more concert to go before our summer break and it will be a fun one. VoiceBox will perform a wide-ranging programme spanning the centuries to include international traditional music, secular and sacred items of every mood and style - with Jeremy Jackman at the helm, you can be guaranteed to be taken on a high-octane musical journey!

09/06/2024

A few photos from our fabulous Gryphon gig on Friday evening (courtesy of Michael Barnes). Musical talent and eccentricity in abundance! Attendance exceeded our expectations too. Thanks to everyone who came out to support. Will post more photos at a later date.

31/05/2024

One week to go! It’s not too late to bag yourself a ticket for GRYPHON next Friday 7th June. Tickets are available from We Got Tickets https://www.wegottickets.com/event/605323 (£22) or £25 on the door.

Hot on the heels of our GRYPHON concert, we welcome the return of VOICEBOX on Sunday 30th June under the direction of the inspirational choral conductor and former member of the King’s Singers, Jeremy Jackman. The theme of this concert is ‘Trad, Glad, Sad and Mad!' and you can certainly expect a diverse and entertaining programme of choral music from the sublime to the frankly ridiculous!

10/05/2024

4 weeks today! Get your tickets from:
https://www.wegottickets.com/event/605323

07/05/2024

We are just a month away from our Gryphon concert at St Andrew’s on Friday 7th June. This is a unique opportunity to see a band of talented multi-instrumentalists who encompass genres of music from folk and rock through to classical and early music. Originally formed in the early 1970s, they have a very loyal following and continue to tour and appear at major Festivals. If you are unfamiliar with their music, here is a link to a gig at the Union Chapel in London in 2016: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovj3QS1p2pQ

Gifted, unpredictable and impossible to pigeonhole, Gryphon is adored by lovers of Renaissance, prog rock and folk music alike. Using crumhorns, bassoons and recorders alongside violin and mandolin, guitars, keyboards and percussion, Gryphon has always dazzled and delighted a wide range of music lovers, once appearing on BBC Radios 1, 2, 3 and 4 in a single week!

If you are thinking about coming to this concert, please don’t just think! Go online and book a ticket as this will ensure that we can go ahead with the gig - the last thing we want to do is cancel due to lack of support!

We are now releasing this video as a free gift to all our wonderful and loyal fans. We do hope you'll enjoy it and please do leave some feedback. Love and th...

03/05/2024

We had a fabulous gig last month with Alden and Patterson - now we're only 5 weeks away from our next musical extravaganza! We have the wonderful and extraordinary Gryphon coming to Eaton - so do get online and buy yourself a ticket to see a truly unique band from the 1970s!

https://www.wegottickets.com/gryphon/

10/04/2024

04/04/2024

Just 10 days to go before we welcome back Christina Alden and Alex Patterson for a very laid back, folky concert at St Andrew's Church, Eaton on Sunday 14th April. They're currently touring and we're thrilled that they are making a return visit to Eaton Concert Series! For a flavour of what to expect, you can catch them here:

This is a story of unusual friendship and strength in companionship, inspired by the beautiful work of Finnish photographer Lassi Rautiainen. In Finland’s no...

16/03/2024

Not strictly speaking part of Eaton Concert Series but on the same patch so if you're at a loose end tomorrow evening, do support the Eaton Choral Society in this performance of the Verdi Requiem conducted by Susie Self with fabulous soloists. Admission is free (pay to get out) - what's not to like?!

Eaton Choral Society present The Verdi Requiem. Sunday 17th March 7pm at Christ Church, NR22AQ. Free Entry - retiring collection. All welcome

10/03/2024

Thanks to everyone who supported our fabulous piano duo recital at St Andrew’s this afternoon. It was an absolute treat to hear young Stanley Butcher play alongside the eminent David Parry. Here’s a clip of them playing part of an encore by Schubert.

03/03/2024

What could possibly be better than one pianist but two?!

Next Sunday, 10th March we have a fabulous concert coming up. Pianists David Parry and his protégé Stanley Butcher will perform works for four hands to include the wonderful Schubert Fantasia D940 and one of the Mozart Sonatas. Also on the programme will be another work by Schubert, Fauré’s Dolly Suite and a world première by Jonathan Dove.

David Parry is a musician of international standing and is predominantly known for his work as a conductor of opera. Stanley is a gifted young pianist taking a gap year before studying at the Royal Northern College of Music. He is already doing solo piano recitals around the UK and, as well as being a highly accomplished pianist, Stanley is also a composer!

07/02/2024

Check out Jack Hancher playing J S Bach - the opening work in this Sunday's concert at Eaton:

Jack Hancher performs J.S. Bach's Bourree and Double from the first violin partita. Recorded live in concert in London

20/01/2024

We had a fabulous opening concert at Eaton last weekend with Ae**us Winds. We’re now only 3 weeks away from our next concert with the third one in quick succession on 10th March featuring David Parry and Stanley Butcher.

On Sunday 11th February, we look forward to welcoming JACK HANCHER who will perform a programme for solo guitar. In addition to the advertised programme of French and Spanish music, he will also be performing works by J S Bach and John Dowland. Described by Gendai Guitar Magazine as a “poet and a painter, colouring sounds out of the guitar as if his imagination and the guitar were one”, Jack Hancher is a rising star of the classical guitar. In 2022, he won the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal Overseas League Competition, becoming just the third guitarist to win the award. This was preceded in 2021 by a tour of several European Guitar Festivals as a EuroStrings Artist.

This should be a lovely concert so hope to see you there!

09/01/2024

And now for something completely different! We are thrilled to announce that we have GRYPHON coming to perform at Eaton Concert Series on 7th June. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this rather unique and extraordinary band, originally formed in the 1970s and which has seen something of a reincarnation in recent years, you are in for a treat! Check out the following link to get a flavour... https://vimeo.com/369593860

Tickets available here and the 150-day count down starts now:
https://www.wegottickets.com/event/605323

Gryphon is the oldest and the newest thing - a legendary UK band that won a huge international following in the 1970s with its uniquely enjoyable approach to early music and British folk. They are touring again and celebrating 50 years since the release of their debut album. Gifted, unpredictable an...

24/12/2023

Thank you so much for all your support over the past year as we have been getting back on track - we’ve had some memorable concerts in 2023. Highlights include the wonderful viola recital back in February (sadly very poorly attended), the King’s Men in June and Fontanella Record Quartet with their Byrdsongs programme in October - who would have thought that a recorder concert could generate so much interest?!

The 2024 season of the Eaton Concert Series kicks off on 14th January. There is huge variety to come throughout the year which will comprise a mixture of classical and other genres of music including folk (Duo Alden and Patterson) as well as mediaeval prog folk from the 1970s band Gryphon. To whet your appetite, we also have a performer of rock star status coming to Eaton - full details to be unveiled in due course!

Our first concert features Ae**us Winds, a Norwich-based wind quintet which will perform works by Poulenc, Danzi, Farkas (17th century Hungarian dances), Nino Rota and Sir Malcolm Arnold (Three Shanties). 3pm on Sunday 14th January at St Andrew’s Church, Eaton. Admission to this concert will be £15 for adults, £7.50 for students and children admitted free of charge.

In February we welcome classical guitarist Jack Hancher (a gold medalist in the 2022 Royal Overseas League Annual Music competition) for a programme of French and Spanish music for solo guitar and in March we have a programme of piano music for four hands given by pianist David Parry and his protégé Stanley Butcher. David is perhaps better known as an opera conductor of international standing but his piano playing is also highly regarded and Stanley has already achieved great things by the tender age of 18!

For full details of concerts in the series, please visit www.eatonconcertseries.co.uk

Wishing all our supporters a very happy and peaceful Christmas and we very much look forward to welcoming you in 2024.

A fabulous music recital series based in Eaton, Norwich in the intimate setting of St. Andrew's Church.

05/11/2023

We have a fabulous concert at Eaton next Sunday and the last of 2024. Schubert's masterpiece, Winterreise or Winter Journey is the second of his two song cycles written in 1827 towards the end of the composer's life. It will be performed by Darrell Smith, who has previously recorded the work with Geoffrey Pratley, and pianist Anne Applin. If you're not sure, why not give it a try? A previous reviewer said of Darren's debut performance of the work: “I didn’t want it to end, it was so lovely!”

26/10/2023

The final concert in this year’s Eaton Concert Series features an iconic work for voice and piano by Franz Schubert. Winterreise or 'Winter Journey’ is a song cycle comprising 24 poems by Wilhelm Müller set to music by Schubert. The poetry is written in the voice of a young man who, upon seeing his beloved marry another, sets out on foot in the deepest winter to escape memories of her. His heart is broken and his life is a torment of memories, dreams and present pain. Schubert wrote the work towards the end of his life when his health was failing and his music perfectly depicts the torrent of emotion with exquisite control of harmonies and melodic flow.

Performing this work are bass Darrell Smith who will be accompanied by pianist Anne Applin. Darrell has sung most of the major oratorio works with choral societies in East Anglia and abroad. He has also sung many roles in operas for Suffolk Opera, Opera Live and Holland Park Opera, whilst Anne’s experience as a pianist includes accompanying and ensemble playing, along with examining, broadcasting, recording, adjudicating and acting as a consultant for music publishers. She is also an accomplished teacher.

Admission to this concert will be £15 for adults, £7.50 for students and children admitted free of charge.
For further details of this and future concerts, please visit www.eatonconcertseries.co.uk

08/10/2023

What a fabulous concert this afternoon at Eaton given by Fontanella. Such an array of weird and wonderful recorders!

01/10/2023

Final shout out for Fontanella next Sunday at Eaton!

Featuring four of the UK’s leading professional recorder players, Fontanella entertains audiences of all ages with a repertoire spanning more than seven hundred years of music. Performed on an array of recorders of every shape and size, from a beautiful 15-piece renaissance consort, to a set of quirky Paetzold ‘square’ basses, concert programmes typically feature many styles of music, from early court dances and renaissance polyphony through to jazz arrangements, folk music sets and intriguing modern works by living composers.

The group has a long history of performing, broadcasting and recording across Britain and Europe, entertaining audiences at specialist early music venues, music clubs and festivals alike. The individual members of the ensemble also all have diverse and busy performing careers, ranging from working with ensembles such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The Sixteen, appearing in film and TV recordings, performing with historical chamber music ensembles and in electronic music groups. In 2021 the group featured in Channel 4’s show ‘8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown’!

Admission is £15 for adults, £7.50 for students and children admitted free of charge.

Here’s a clip of the quartet in action so you can get a flavour of what to expect:

Fontanella Recorder Quartet performMarchetto Cara (c1470- ?1525): 'Mentre io vo in questi boschi'The well-known Italian song ‘Occelino, Bel Occelino’ ('litt...

16/09/2023

With 3 weeks to go till our next concert with Fontanella, this is how I’m feeling at the moment - lots to do and racing round to get there!

A 35 minute concert set-up at Lights Theatre, Andover, UK, squeezed into about a minute and a half. The music, 'All in a Garden Green' is taken from Fontanel...

10/09/2023

What a fabulous concert at Eaton this afternoon given by the supremely talented Viv McLean. 9 years since his last solo recital here so very much overdue. To give a flavour of what to expect next month, here's a video of Fontanella playing a 'Ground'.

Recorder Quartet Fontanella play double recorders in their own arrangement of the famous 'Ground after the Scotch Humour' by Nicola Matteis (c1650 - 1714).Re...

09/09/2023

So the BBC Proms might have come to an end, but we have our very own musical feast at Eaton tomorrow with pianist Viv McLean. He will be performing a wonderful programme to include works by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Brahms, Poulenc and Chopin. What a treat! 3pm at St Andrew's, Eaton.

03/09/2023

Don't forget our fabulous concert next Sunday at Eaton. We are delighted to welcome back Viv McLean. Viv is a superlative musician and will be performing a wonderful programme of music to include works by Scarlatti (four sonatas), Brahms, Poulenc, Chopin and Beethoven so what’s not to like?!