. . . was how Brian Kelloway, Musical Director of Kingsbury Episcopi Band, described the programme at yesterday’s concert. With pieces ranging from a medley from My Fair Lady to an arrangment of Mack the Knife from The Threepenny Opera, it proved to the case. Thoroughly enjoyed by the audience responding entheusiastically to the marvellous colour of the sound produced by the thirty-piece ensemble which augments brass instruments with woodwind, drums and bass guitar.

Kingsbury Episcopi Band setting up for rehearsal for the concert.

Our next free concert is a performance by Kingsbury Episcopi Band on Sunday 21 May 2023 at 3.00pm (refreshments from 2.15)  in St Mary’s Church, Main Road, Westonzoyland, TA7 0EP.

The thirty piece band will be performing an eclectic range of music based on light entertainment, for example: My Girl, Mack the Knife, My Fair Lady, Whitney Houston, Barnard Castle and Ferry Across the Mersey.  The music will certainly resound in the wonderful acoustics of the church.

‘We are a concert band, made up of brass and woodwind instruments, originating from the small village of Kingsbury Episcopi in South Somerset, where we rehearse in the village Community Hall on a weekly basis’, says Brian Kelloway, the Musical Director.

He goes on to emphasise the community value of the group.  ‘We exist for the pleasure and enjoyment of making music for ourselves and others.  The band attends numerous functions each year, which includes concerts, weddings, and other private functions, travelling as far afield as Taunton, Lyme Regis and Minehead.’

The band also gives young people, who may learn an instrument at school but are unable to play in the school band or orchestra, the opportunity to experience the joy of performing.

Arrangements for this concert

Refreshments (tea, coffee, choice of cakes) are available at a modest charge from 2.15 pm until the start of the concert.

In order to help with the artists’ and other costs a raffle is held. In addition donations are encouraged. It costs around £400 to put on a concert.

Due to current circumstances there is no need to book anymore. Up to now we’ve never exceeded the church’s capacity and never had to turn anyone away but please note, seats are available on a first come, first served basis. From time to time, you may need to ‘budge-up’!

Further information: Frank Challenger on 01278 699071 or email f.challenger@icloud.com

The Ciderhouse Rebellion’s performance is described as ‘uniquely magical, whether springing from a single unplanned note or a traditional tune.’

The duo is fiddle player Adam Summerhayes and master accordionist Murray Grainger.

Profound and eloquent, epic, haunting and dramatic, The Ciderhouse Rebellion produce incredible tapestries of sound.

‘The pair specialise in creating music in the moment’, says promoter Katie Whitehouse, ‘often springing from a single note, key, time signature or emotion. It’s this unusually improvisatory focus that is uniquely magical.’

She goes on to explain that they aim to create music with no conscious thought between conception and playing – always searching for the unexpected.

Both Adam and Murray are recognised virtuoso musicians in their own right, touring the world as professional artists. Although the pair only started working together in 2020, they have already released four celebrated albums, won Arts Council support, been featured on Folk on Foot, scored the BBC Radio 4 play Lud In The Mist and played significant festivals across the UK and Europe.

The duo have been awarded Best Instrumental Album of 2022 by FATEA for their North Yorkshire Moors-inspired Genius Loci 2: The Valley of Iron.

Gorgeous stuff. – Georgia Mann on BBC Radio 3

Compelling, exciting and utterly original. – Phil Beer (Show of Hands)

Free-flowing, ambitious and fiercely creative. – The Strad

I could almost feel a super power between the two of them. – MusoMuso

A work of startling, immediate beauty. –  Folk Radio UK 

Grainger’s accordion with Summerhayes’s fiddle is especially beautiful. – Songlines 

I became utterly bewitched by the beauty of what Summerhayes and Grainger had created. It could justifiably be described as a folk symphony, possessing cyclical completeness yet creating a form that is, at once, both elemental and pastoral. – Fatea Magazine

Arrangements for this concert

Refreshments (tea, coffee, choice of cakes) are available at a modest charge from 2.15 pm until the start of the concert.

Due to current circumstances there is no need to book anymore. Up to now we’ve never exceeded the church’s capacity and never had to turn anyone away but please note, seats are available on a ‘first come, first served’ basis and from time to time, you may need to budge-up!

In order to help with the artists’ and other costs a raffle is held. In addition donations are encouraged. It costs around £400 to put on a concert.

Further information: Frank Challenger on 01278 699071 or email f.challenger@icloud.com  .

https://youtu.be/q7v9_-fVV7g ; https://youtu.be/HtNW0Le6gUc 

Trio Paradis performing a musical menagerie on Sunday 26 March to rapt audience.

‘It was absolutely delightful and reminded me of all that is good about Sunday afternoon music.’ JM