Fundraising – Project 900-St Giles' Church

8 July: St Giles’ 900 years of history, a parish in a city context

Diversity in St Giles’ – Past; Present; Future

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Join us as we celebrate the rich legacy and vibrant heritage of St Giles’ Church, which has stood as a cornerstone of faith and community for an incredible nine centuries. Our event is a tribute to the enduring spirit of this iconic church and the people who have shaped its story.

Explore the pages of history as we take you on a journey through the ages, highlighting the significant milestones, architectural marvels, and the profound impact St Giles’ Church has had on the city of Oxford. From its humble beginnings to its present-day role as a spiritual sanctuary and cultural hub, our event will provide a captivating insight into the church’s evolution. (ChatGPT)

Talk:

Professor William Whyte: (Chair of the Oxford Preservation Trust, Senior Responsible Owner and Chair of Project Board for the Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities): “St Giles’ at 900, the parish in its city context”

Music

St Giles’ musicians: Presentations with musical interludes

Refreshments

Wine and Canapés

Tickets

Single: £12
Concession: Senior, under 18, unwaged: £10
Family Ticket: 2 adults, 2 children: £20

Pergolesi – Stabat Mater: Good Friday 7 April at 17:30

Composed by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi in 1736 in the final weeks of Pergolesi’s life. It is scored for soprano and alto soloists, violin I and II, viola and basso continuo (cello and organ).

The work was composed for a Neapolitan confraternity, the Confraternita dei Cavalieri di San Luigi di Palazzo and is one of Pergolesi’s most celebrated sacred works, achieving great popularity after the composer’s death.

A retiring collection will be made for the
‘Sponsor a pipe’ Project 900 organ fund

Ishani Bhoola and Margaret Roberts – 21 May

We look forward to hosting Margaret Roberts and Ishani Bhoola on Sunday 21 May at 4:00 for their recital.

Programme

Mozart Violin Sonata in B-flat major, K.454
Beethoven Violin Sonata No.1, Op.12
Elgar Violin Sonata in E minor, Op. 82

Ishani Bhoola

Ishani is an acclaimed violinist, in demand as performer and educator in both the UK and the USA.

Born and raised in Bristol, UK, Ishani studied at the Purcell School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music, winning numerous prizes and awards, including first prize in the 5th Sascha Lasserson Competition.

Margaret Roberts

Margaret studied at the Junior Department of the RNCM, winning the Associated Board’s Gold medal for piano grade 8. From early on in her career she has specialised as an accompanist, playing for some of the first BBC Young Musician of the Year competitions, and working with choirs and vocal and instrumental soloists. She graduated with first class honours from Brasenose College, Oxford before pursuing postgraduate study at the Royal College of Music.

As pianist in a number of ensembles Margaret has made many recordings and has performed at major venues including London’s South Bank and the Wigmore Hall. She has toured for the British Council and recorded for the ABRSM graded examinations.

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Tickets

Homage to ‘Under Milk Wood’: Stan Tracey’s ‘Jazz Suite’ 29 April

Stan Tracey was a British jazz pianist and composer, whose most important influences were Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. He sadly died in 2013.

Tracey’s best known recording is the 1965 album Jazz Suite, inspired by “Under Milk Wood”, the famous BBC radio drama written by Dylan Thomas first heard in 1954. It features the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of the fictional small Welsh fishing village, Llareggub.

Our performers

Using scores produced and transcribed by Clark Tracey, a quartet consisting of Steve Kershaw (bass), Martin Pickett (piano), Ewen Baird (saxophone) and Mike Goff (drums) will be performing Stan Tracey’s musical interpretation of Dylan Thomas’ famous work Under Milk Wood. In addition to the Jazz Quartet the narrative passages will be performed by Tom Neil and Sian Goff. Tom is a multi-disciplinary artist and producer working throughout the UK as a composer, actor and theatre director. He is a founder member of Prime Studios Creation Space in Windsor and an associate artist of internationally touring Blackeyed Theatre. Siân studied acting at The Oxford School of Drama. Recent credits include: ‘In the Long Run’ Sky TV, and ‘To Be Continued’, Freemantle Entertainment.

‘Under Milk Wood’ promises to be a fascinating evening for us, something new to discover at JASG, mixing voices and sounds in an evening that you will look back on fondly.

>>Tickets from Eventbrite (£15 standard/£10 student/£5 under 18. <<

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Trio Amici: Piano Trio 23 April 2023

Jacqui Miles violin, Trevor Burley cello, Bethe Levvy piano

Haydn: Trio No. 39 (Hob. XV:25)

Haydn’s Trio was written in 1795, during the final few weeks of Haydn’s second trip to London, and one of a set of three (H. XV:24–26) dedicated to Rebecca Schroeter. It is perhaps his best-known piano trio and sometimes nicknamed the “Gypsy” or “Gypsy Rondo” trio because of its Rondo finale in ‘Hungarian’ style.

Schubert: Piano Trio No.1 in Bb (D.898)

The Trio No. 1 in B-flat major for piano, violin, and cello, D. 898, was written by Franz Schubert in 1827. The composer finished the work in 1828, in the last year of his life. It was published in 1836 as Opus 99, eight years after the composer’s death. Like the E-flat major trio, it is an unusually large scale work for piano trio, taking around 40 minutes in total to perform.

Trio Amici

Trio Amici is an exciting and energetic group formed by three successful professional musicians from various branches of the musical world, whose paths have converged in the Oxford area.

Their individual expertise and experience, combined with their passion and enjoyment for performing chamber music, is establishing their prestigious reputation with local audiences. Performing an eclectic repertoire, spanning the Classicism of Beethoven and Schubert, the Romanticism of Brahms and Mendelssohn, through to the French Impressionism of Debussy and Ravel.

The concert will raise funds for the new organ at St Giles’ Church by supporting the Project 900 appeal
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Debussy: Sonata for flute, viola and harp (1915) 12 March

Debussy’s 1915 sonata was ground breaking; there are only a few pieces composed for this combination of instruments in the classical repertoire.

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“The Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp floats into a magical dreamscape which feels emotionally detached and ambiguous. Simultaneously melancholy and joyful, it seems to exist in a world beyond emotion. The music just is. In attempting to describe the piece in a letter, Debussy touched on this strange quality when he wrote, “I can’t say whether one should laugh or cry. Perhaps both at the same time?”
(The Listeners’ Club)

Trio Farben

Heather Brooks (harp), Imogen Davey (flute), and Georgia Russell (viola) created Trio Farben in 2018 at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. All three performers are experienced chamber and solo players, each taking a keen interest in many genres of music, from contemporary to jazz, classical, pop, experimental and improv. The group has been coached by Jane Atkins, Garfield Jackson, Imogen Barford, Philippa Davies, Gary Pomeroy and Matthew Jones.

Trio Farben are passionate about performing and commissioning new music. ‘Pinpricks in the Sky’ was written for them by Adam Possener and recorded in collaboration with Orchestra For the Earth, poet Milli Dubin and the Big Blue Blueprint. The video was viewed thousands of times all over the world and shared by numerous high profile environmental activists. Since then, the group regularly perform together in concerts and competitions; most recently, the trio made their Cadogan Hall debut, and were awarded Highly Commended in the St. James chamber music prize.

Programme

Arnold Bax – Elegiac Trio
Tōru Takemitsu – And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind
Claude Debussy – Sonata for Flute, Viola and Harp (1. Pastorale 2. Interlude 3. Final)

Join us for what we know will be a rare and accomplished performance of this ethereal and remarkable work.