For our next next free concert we present the Frome Baroque Consort on Sunday 27 February 2022, 3.00 pm in St Mary’s Church, Main Road, Westonzoyland, TA7 0EP.

Frome Baroque Consort, formed in 2016 to play the music of JS Bach and his contemporaries, has quickly established a reputation for lively and expressive performance of the Baroque repertoire on modern instruments.

Jacquelyn Bevan (on the right), the group’s founder, gives details of the programme being prepared for the concert in Westonzoyland: 

‘We shall introduce and play a varied selection of Baroque solo and trio sonatas, including works by Handel – the F major and D minor sonatas for 2 recorders, Telemann – his Oboe Sonata in A minor and an enchanting Trio Sonata in C major for 2 recorders, the movements of which are named after various female characters from Greek mythology.’

They will also perform the beautiful slow movement from Marcello’s Oboe Concerto in D minor and a little-known sonata by Corbett with suitable improvisations in the Baroque manner. 

Two fine works by J S Bach  – his Gamba Sonata no.2 in D major and Trio Sonata in C major – complete the programme. 

Frome Baroque Consort comprises James Watts (oboe & recorder), Neil Moore (recorder), Linda Stocks (cello) and Jacquelyn Bevan (harpsichord).

They are part of a larger group, Bath Baroque. They perform at an annual concert at Frome Festival and at Ilminster Arts Centre, as well as giving concerts in rural churches across the South West.

http://www.trioparadis.com  http://www.musicianssouthwest.com

In order to keep everyone as safe as possible, there will be only a 10 minute interval for the benefit of the players, to avoid too much milling about.

However, we are providing refreshments (tea, coffee, choice of cakes) at a modest charge from 2.15 pm until the start of the concert.

And as a courtesy to each other and to help us provide a comfortable and enjoyable experience for

everyone, we are encouraging the wearing of a face covering at least until seated, unless exempt for medical reasons. And there will be a QR code for checking in.

Finally, in order to help with the artists’ and other costs we are reinstating the raffle in addition to encouraging donations. It costs an average of £300 to put on a concert!

Those wishing to go to the Frome Baroque Consort concert are asked to contact Frank Challenger on 01278 699071 or email f.challenger@icloud.com  so that Music on the Levels can control numbers if necessary.

. . and a reminder of January’s concert:

David Mitchell and Graham Vincent took us on a musical journey round the British Isles.

West Country-based David Mitchell and Graham Vincent are in great demand throughout the UK and abroad, playing a lively mix of traditional tunes, arranged by them for fiddle and classical guitar, covers of popular songs and original compositions.

They have performed at a whole variety of festivals, events and concerts around the UK, and as far afield as The Netherlands, which have included supporting Tim Edey, Archie Fisher MBE and Kate Rusby along the way – and this will be the forth time they have played at a Music on the Levels concerts.

David plays guitar (one he has made himself) while Graham provides the vocal as well as playing fiddle.  In an unusual coincidence they both trained as luthiers after they left school.

‘Yep, both of us wanted to spend our time making guitars’, says Graham, ‘Life, of course, always gets in the way somewhat and by the time our paths crossed we’d both retrained. I’d been designing furniture, then houses, got qualified and started running my own architectural practice. Dave had been to University and trained as a teacher.

‘Once music has a hold of you it doesn’t let go easily and Dave and I found ourselves playing together in a ceilidh band called Fiddlestix. ‘We realised we had very similar musical tastes and both wanted to spend a lot more time playing music, so we started a duo …’

Mitchell and Vincent have been described as:

‘Musicians who tell stories with their melodies’ (Wessex Folk Festival)

’At all times, the interplay between David Mitchell’s guitar and Graham Vincent’s fiddle is quite stunning.’ (Acoustic magazine)

‘A breath of fresh air . . . . . breath-taking music and performance.’ (CIC, Taunton)

‘Bringing the crowd to tears one moment and to their feet the next.’ (Lyme Folk Weekend).

The government has changed the regulations so it is not now compulsory to wear face coverings. However, as with the last concert, in order to keep everyone as safe as possible there will be no interval to avoid too much milling about.

Again, refreshments will not be provided on this occasion.

And as a courtesy to each other and to help us provide a comfortable and enjoyable experience for everyone, we are encouraging the wearing of a face covering at least until seated, unless exempt for medical reasons. And there will be a QR code for checking in.

Finally, in order to help with the artists’ and other costs we are reinstating the raffle in addition to encouraging donations. It costs an average of £300 to put on a concert!

Importantly, if you want to come to the concert, please contact me, Frank Challenger, on 01278 699071 or email f.challenger@icloud.com  so that we can control numbers if necessary.

Our first concert since February 2020 featured Ali and the Swing Cats playing their own versions of numbers collectively known as the great American songbook. Composers such as George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and Jerome Kern often wrote these memorable tunes for the musical theatre and films.

The afternoon certainly went with a swing, garnering appreciative comments and warm applause from the socially-distanced audience.

Reformed over the Summer of 2021 in a trio line-up the band is now playing at private parties, weddings and village halls across the South West.

With Ali Foyle (jazz violin/vocals) are Al Falkingham (guitar/vocals) and Nick Strong (piano/ bass).

Someone said “if something needs to be sung about then Reg Meuross has a song for it!” And this proved to be the case on Sunday 23 February in St Mary’s Westonzoyland.

One song, entitled Tony Benn’s Tribute to Emily Davison, recounted the story of the brave suffragette, who in 1911 hid overnight in a broom cupboard in Parliament so that she could give that as her address when she appeared in court the next day.

In another, Reg Meuross took on the persona of the City of London.

Yet another, celebrated Ida Lewis who died in 1911and was at one time the best-know women in America, a lighthouse keeper famed for her heroism in rescuing people from the seas.

Then a wonderful flight of fancy with the song, Leaving Alabama, in which he imagines a meeting between Hank Williams and Dylan Thomas.

A ‘real’ encounter is described in his Phil Ochs and Elvis Eating Lunch in Morrison’s Café.

And he even had a song about Westonzoyland. Challenged by a resident in 2010 to write a song about the village, the composition became a moving tribute to the many who fought and died in the Battle of Weston in 1685, and travesty of justice that followed.

Between songs, Reg regaled the near-capacity audience of around 160, with anecdotes- amusing and informative by turns.

A memorable, moving and momentous occasion.

http://www.regmeuross.com