Now in its 15th season, Parish Music provides concerts of classical music in the five country churches of the Beckford Group: Alstone, Ashton under Hill, Beckford, Overbury and Teddington. All concerts are on Saturday evenings and start at 8pm. They conclude with an opportunity to meet the performers and enjoy a drink of wine or fruit juice in the church after the concert.

Parish Music provides some excellent concerts for the benefit of the local audience, and at the same time provides up and coming local young professional musicians with the opportunity to perform in delightful surroundings. We have, over the years, engaged many young artists who have gone on to establish distinguished careers in the world of music.

Download a copy of the 2009/2010 season brochure here

An illustrated talk by Anthony Boden
Saturday 20 March 2010
Alstone Church 8pm

Anthony Boden’s talk on the extraordinary life and work of Gloucester-born Ivor Gurney (1890-1937), will include recorded examples of Gurney’s music and readings of his verse. Gurney, who studied composition under Stanford at the Royal College of Music from 1911, was wounded and gassed during the First World War and was committed to an asylum in 1922. Following long years of neglect, he is now recognised as one of this country’s finest composers of song and a poet of striking individuality.

Anthony Boden has a particular interest in British music and literature. Following a career in the medical services of the Royal Air Force he was appointed Administrator of the Three Choirs Festival in Gloucester, a post he held from 1989 until 1999.

In 1995 he became founding Chairman of the Ivor Gurney Society and in 2001 a Trustee of the Ivor Gurney Estate. He has lived in Gloucestershire since 1975.

All of the proceeds from this evening’s event will be donated to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust

Haydn at Home
Saturday 10 April 2010
Teddington Church 8pm

The Corelli Ensemble makes a welcome return to Parish Music. Warwick Cole, square piano, Ben Sansom, violin, and David Hatcher, cello and viola da gamba, will play music from Haydn’s time in London during the 1790s, using a piano of the period. Works by Haydn (London Piano Trios in A major and G major, ‘Gypsy Rondo’), Clementi (Monferrinas), Lidl (Viola da Gamba trios), and Dussek make up their programme.

Corelli Concerts began when Warwick Cole founded the Corelli Orchestra, named in honour of Archangelo Corelli, the 17th century Italian composer and violinist. Now specialising in period-instrument performance, the Corelli Orchestra provides groups of various sizes for concerts in Cheltenham and further afield. Central to the Corelli’s ethos is a commitment to vibrant, engaging performances and a desire to explore to the full the still untapped riches of 18th century music.

Saturday 15 May 2010
Overbury Church 8pm

The eight singers of the Glevum Consort will perform an exciting programme of Spanish and Italian sacred music from the 16th and 17th centuries. Composers will include Monteverdi, Gabrielli, Palestrina (Missa Papae Marcelli), Victoria and Lobo.

The Consort is Gloucester’s new professional chamber choir, founded in 2006 with singers drawn exclusively from the local area. It is a versatile group, unique in the West Country, and performs a diverse range of music for a variety of occasions. It has collaborated very successfully with the Corelli Orchestra in concerts of Handel and Bach.

The director and founder of the consort, James Atherton, is an experienced consort singer and soloist with a passion for church music making, who joined Gloucester’s world-renowned cathedral choir in 2005. He enjoys creating carefully chosen and appealing programmes which draw on his many musical skills.

Organisation & Funding

Parish Music is grateful for donations from local sponsors to supplement the income from admission charges. This funding has allowed us to attract high calibre musicians who continue to provide us with superb concerts. Our main expenses are for the fees for the performers, but we also have some advertising expenses and make nominal donations to the church at each concert to help toward the cost of heating and lighting.

If you would like to join our mailing list, become a sponsor or find out more about Parish Music please contact one of the organisers. You are able to use the tax attractive Gift Aid scheme to make your donations go even further. Your comments and ideas for future events will be welcomed by the organisers.

Alastair and Gill Humphrey (01386 881479); Julian Alington (01386 882060)