The 4th Fressingfield Music Festival 2008

Wednesday 24 September until Saturday 27 September


For a review of the Music Festival please click here

From Bishop Nigel Stocks, Patron of the Fressingfield Music Festival

This year’s Festival has another exciting and varied programme.  Suffolk has many beautiful villages and parish churches and it is a real joy to be able to listen to music in such settings.  Fressingfield village and the church of St Peter and St Paul provide a rich experience for those who attend the Music Festival.  The Festival is in support of the work done to restore the bells in the church.  It was a pleasure to come and dedicate the restored peal in February this year and I am so glad that Reverend David Finch saw that happen before his retirement.

People were very generous in their support and I hope that that generosity continues.  Of course good music is an end in itself, and I am delighted that the live performance of music is being made accessible to the people of this part of Suffolk. The organisers are working very hard to make the fourth Festival another resounding success and to spread the word about it.  It is a privilege to be Patron of the Festival and I wish all concerned every success.

Nigel St Edmundsbury and Ipswich

Restoration of the parish church bells (Click for more info)
The Gotch (Click for more info)
Music Festival poster   pdf 287 kb

Wednesday 24 September .......... The Paul Eshelby Band

This year's jazz concert follows successful performances by Jacqui Dankworth and Claire Martin with the sound of a jazz band of exceptional individual talent, led by Paul Eshelby.
The concert will include items from the Great American Songbook that has provided the standards that have been inspiration for both jazz instrumentalists and singers since it began in the 1920s, with compositions from Broadway, Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley.  Not only do we look forward to the trumpet playing of Paul Eshelby but also his flair as a band leader and arranger.
Paul is a world-class jazz trumpeter in his own right and his recent CD Moonlight Valentine, with James Pearson on piano, has met with critical acclaim.  Paul is also an accomplished teacher at both the Royal College of Music and at Eton College as well as being director of the National Youth Jazz orchestra.  
The Paul Eshelby Band will include Paul Eshelby (trumpet and flugelhorn), Alan Barnes (saxophone), Gordon Campbell (trombone), John Pearce (keyboard), Alec Dankworth (double bass), Ralph Salmins (drums) and Lee Gibson (vocals) - all with the potential for memorable solo playing. (To hear samples of their music, google individual name and instrument).

Jazz Concert poster   pdf 27 kb

Thursday 25 September .......... Choir of Christ's College

The Choir of Christ’s College, Cambridge (click here for website and to hear their music) will perform Vivaldi's ever popular Gloria and Magnificat. The choir has established itself as one of the foremost university chapel choirs and it tours worldwide annually.  With an enviable catalogue of recordings, the choir has an excellent reputation in the choral world.  Their conductor, Director of Music at Christ's College, Professor David Rowland, is also Dean of Arts of The Open University. 

Friday 26 September .......... Siphiwo Ntshebe

The Festival has been fortunate in securing the emerging opera superstar Siphiwo Ntshebe, who will give the world premiere of the song Delicate Sparks, settings of poems by the South African poet Lindiwe Mabuza, composed by Paul Carroll.  Siphiwo's performance will include Robert Schumann's beautiful song cycle Dichterliebe and opera arias by Donnizetti and Puccini including Nessun Dorma.  South African concert pianist Tessa Uys accompanies.  (Click here for website and to hear his music)

 

Saturday 27 September .......... Badinage

The final concert is expected to close the Festival in spectacular style with a display of virtuosity by the period instrument ensemble Badinage.   The concert will include sonatas by Vivaldi, Handel, Telemann, Bach and Corelli, the highlight being an 18th century arrangement of one of Corelli's violin sonatas for the flute, formerly thought to be unplayable.  There will also be a performance of one of Bach's organ pieces on the church's historic Willis organ.  Photograph - Professor Paul Carroll

Tickets

Concerts start at 7.30pm.  Doors open at 6.30pm
Tickets, £10 in advance, £12 on the door, are available from Fressingfield Stores (click for website) and by telephone on 01379 586269 and 01379 586537.

Acknowledgements

The Festival organisers are grateful to the following for their generous financial support of the Fressingfield Music Festival 2008 and the performance of live music to a high standard in the community:

D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
Simon Gibson Charitable Trust
Suffolk County Council - Hoxne and Eye Localities Fund
Tenon Financial Services (Windsor)
The Leche Trust

School Visits

School children and music students of all ages are encouraged to attend the Festival's afternoon rehearsals with the agreement of the Festival secretary.  Jacqui Dankworth's impromptu session with children is still bearing fruit.  Paul Eshelby's 3.30pm rehearsal this year could easily turn into a tutorial by him or other members of the band or provide insight into the workings of the Great American Songbook.  Professor Paul Carroll will lead the Badinage rehearsal on Saturday afternoon.  To book, please call the festival secretary on 01379 586537.

Before the concert

The Fox and Goose Inn (click for website) offers a pre-concert dinner (2 courses for £15) from 6pm.*
Pre-orders available, booking advisable, telephone 01379 586247 for menu and details.*Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

The Swan Inn will provide a 2-course supper before the concert from 6pm.  Booking advisable.
Telephone 01379 586280 for details.

Parking

Parking in the immediate area of the church is severely restricted.

• Set-down point for the disabled is at the church gate

• The village car park near the Baptist Chapel is a three minute walk from the church

• Parking at the primary school is a short walk to the church

• There is some additional parking at the garage.

Please follow the steward’s directions.

Parking at the Swan Inn and the Fox and Goose Inn is for their customers only.