Crystal Palace Band raises nearly £1,700
for St Christopher's Hospice in Gala
Concert
What an amazing night it was! No-one could
have anticipated what a huge success the
concert would be. By about 6.30pm St Bartholomew’s
Church in Sydenham was half full - and then
with ten minutes to go before the start of
the concert we realised we were going to
run out of chairs! Backstage, members of
the band put down their instruments and joined
the vicar in moving pews and searching for
more seats.
And then the concert began. From the opening
bars of Aida it was clear that this was going
to be an electrifying performance. Offstage
'trumpeters' Laura Gregory and Elspeth Hackett
welcomed in the audience latecomers - who
were forced to sit in the front pews and
risk being deafened! The quiz based on Quilter's
'Children's Overture' went smoothly, and
then our three buglers, James Gordon, Roger
Bleach and Maggie Stallybrass played superbly
as ever in 'Bugler's Holiday'.
Next up were the children from St Anthony's
RC Primary School who, under the direction
of their teacher (and our trombonist) Lucy
Rice, sang their pieces loudly and clearly.
After Harry Potter it was time for the band's
tribute to Nina Simone, with flugel horn
player Sarah Smith growling on the low notes
of 'Feeling Good'.
After 'Hodie', a selection of Christmas favourites,
it was time to have a break - and try to
fight through the crowds of people queuing
for a cup of tea! Unbeknown to us the kitchen
was being refurbished - but Janet, Jean and
Brenda, our team of refreshment helpers,
took it in their stride. Jugs of water were
ferried around, mince pies passed from plate
to plate, and the interval went smoothly.
The second half began with the Florentiner
March, and then our first guest soloist,
Caroline Lovett (wife of our Bb bass player,
Richard), excelled herself in an arrangement
of Corelli's oboe concerto. Following this
was the raffle - and a chance to win one
of eight prizes, including a luxury hamper,
which included wine, chocolates and party
poppers. Each member of the band had donated
a prize or an item for the hamper, which
meant that every penny of the £178 taken
from the raffle went to charity. Over 750
tickets were folded by Claire, Jill and Ross,
our raffle organisers, so thank you! During
the presentations, chairman Roger Clements
took the opportunity to say a few thank yous,
as did Rosemary Fairhurst, who was representing
St Christopher's Hospice.
And then it was back on with the music, with
the winner of the children's quiz conducting
the band through Sleigh Ride, with extra
percussion from the runners-up. Our second
guest soloist, Emma Gray, joined us for the
next item, Gershwin's Someone to Watch Over
Me, and then stayed for Handel's Rejoice
Greatly, which saw Caroline Lovett join the
band on oboe again.
The finale of the evening was a new arrangement
of festive singalongs from the band, entitled
‘A Christmas Holiday Festival’. It was led
by Emma Gray and Lauren Staddon and accompanied
by the children from St Anthony's, and principal
cornet James Gordon on Eb trumpet. It was
a fantastic end to a hugely successful evening.
Everyone in Crystal Palace Band would like
to thank all those who helped in any way
with the concert – conductor Mike Gray, the
raffle ticket sellers, those on the door,
those who hunted down extra chairs, the children
from St Anthony’s – and especially the vicar
of St Bartholomew’s church, Mike Kingston,
and the congregation, for all their help
and support in organising the concert, and
in particular for waiving the hire fee. And
a big thanks to everyone who came along and
supported us – and sorry to those of you
who had to sit in the aisles!
Well done, everyone – and here’s to
next
year!
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If you wish to contact the editors, please
do so via the following ways:
Email clarelipscombe@hotmail.com or ring
on 020 8655 2511
If you have a general band enquiry (e.g.
you would like to join the band, or would
like to book the band) please contact the
Secretary, Rachel Bleach, on 020 8776 2520,
or riz.bleach@btinternet.com - or visit the
website, www.crystalpalaceband.fsnet.co.uk
The views expressed in this newsletter are
the personal views of the Editor and are
not necessarily that of Crystal Palace Band.
© December 2003
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