“I didn’t want to go, my wife dragged me, I didn’t want to listen to boring oompah music. But I was on the edge of my seat throughout. The breadth of music, really upbeat, so pleased I went!” Such was the feedback from one audience member convert after Friary’s sell-out concert at St Nicolas Church, Great Bookham last month.
The programme certainly contained something for everyone: Indiana Jones and Capriccio Espagnol started the concert in high octane fashion, before Richard Straker’s spellbinding cornet solo Someone to Watch Over Me, featured in Friary’s Brass in Concert set last year, gave the audience pause for breath. Balkan Dance livened the proceedings up again before Lauren Straker’s poignant flugel solo, A Little Star Went Out, moistened more than an eye or two. Caravan, Appalachian Mountain and Toccata in D brought the first half to a close.
Mill on the Cliff, The Lord Bless You and Keep You and Coronation March opened the second half which then moved into classic Last Night of the Proms fare, much to the audience’s delight. An enthusiastically requested encore gave MD Nigel Taken the opportunity to air his summer concert standard, Manhattan Skyline.
“St Nicolas was a new venue for Friary,” explained percussionist Chris Atwood who helped mastermind the event, “so we were delighted that we filled the church to its absolute capacity. We were thrilled by the reception we received, and hope that this will result in a return engagement,” he concluded.
“St Nicolas was a new venue for Friary, so we were delighted that we filled the church to its absolute capacity. We were thrilled by the reception we received, and hope that this will result in a return engagement,”
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