Past Events

We take great pleasure in announcing our latest musical venture and cordially invite you to subscribe to a series of three tea-time concerts to be held in Rook Lane Chapel later this year. 'We' are the same group of friends that initiated the Rook Lane Chapel Sunday Morning Coffee Concerts five years ago and have presented you with the opportunity to enjoy a succession of wonderful musicians of the highest calibre. Our record will, we hope, persuade you to support this new departure.

Featured in this series:

Sunday 13th April : Ben Creighton Griffiths (Harpist)
Sunday 11th May : Circle of Fifths (Flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon)
Sunday 8th June : José Zalba and Ruth Slatter (Flute and percussion)

The Tea-time concerts are on a subscription basis – to book for the series telephone 01373 472709.

Tea-time series £18 (under 18s £9)

The concept is simple. At our morning concerts we give you coffee and music, so, of course, in the afternoon we will offer tea and music. What could be more logical? The coffee concert model has worked so well that we are simply mirroring it later in the year and later in the day. There will be one concert in April, May and June on the second Sunday of each month, with doors opening at 4.15pm for tea, biscuits and conversation, followed by a continuous one hour programme of music from 5pm to 6pm.

We all enjoy hearing talented young musicians and our main focus will be on those making the difficult transition to a professional career, having graduated from one of the top music colleges. We are also open to extraordinarily gifted younger performers and believe that, in this regard, our first concert is going to be quite remarkable: Benjamin Creighton Griffiths is eleven! He has been playing the harp since he was five and has shown rare ability, winning a number of harp competitions. Ben will be accompanied by Angharad Evans, also on the harp, who won first prize at the Welsh National Eisteddfod at the age of 12, in 1990. Ben and Angharad's performance will encompass a lively and mixed programme including pieces by Handel and is sure to be a memorable event.

In order to identify young musicians of the highest calibre, we sent out feelers far and wide, consulting teachers and asking established musicians for recommendations. This is how we came across Sarah Bennington's wind quintet Circle of Fifths (flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon), recommended to us by Phiippa Davies, flautist with Arpège who featured in our final Coffee Concert of 2007. Having heard a CD of a performance by Circle of Fifths, which included a superb transcription of Janacek's "Mladi", we were in no doubt that we should book them post haste. Formed in 2007 at the Guildhall School of Music, Circle of Fifths has been building a solid reputation and a distinctive repertoire. They will perform a predominantly English programme.

To complete the trio of concerts, we present the unusual combination of flute and percussion in the persons of José Zalba and Ruth Slatter. José met Ruth at the Guildhall School of Music when he left his native Cuba to extend his studies in Britain. Ruth came to serious music via pop and rock, and is now developing a strong interest in composition. The melodic side of the 20th century is strongly represented in Ruth and José's programme with Ravel's "Habanera for flute and marimba", an arrangement of Britten's "Blue Guitar" and Piazzolla's "Histoire de Tango".

We trust you will agree that we've put together an engaging programme in what we hope will prove to be the first of many series of tea-time concerts. Please help us to encourage and support these talented youngsters by subscribing and persuading your friends to do likewise. As usual there is no funding or sponsorship safety net, so we're depending on your appetite to see an on-going programme of high quality musical events at Rook Lane Chapel and greatly look forward to welcoming you to this exciting new venture.

See the stars of tomorrow, today!