ANOTHER HIT YEAR FOR
FESTIVAL
(26/06/06)
Concertgoers from Knowsley and beyond are all festivaled out
after a breathtaking weekend of events at the Prescot
Festival.
The four-day event saw
audiences dancing to the Big Band tunes of Glenn Miller,
splitting their sides laughing to the comedy of the Two
Ronnies and singing along with patriotic fervour to Land of
Hope and Glory.
Twenty separate events made up
the Festival, now in its second year. An average audience of
150 attended night after night to hear such talents as the
Valley Brass Band from Haydock, the Phoenix Orchestra of
Liverpool and the Haydock Male Voice Choir. From closer to
home, the Prescot Methodist and Prescot Parish Choirs drew
enthusiastic crowds.
The late-night fringe was a
first for the festival, but went down a treat, with
Hitchcock's The 39 Steps showing on the big screen on the
first night, a comedy revue on the second, and jazz from Hot
Club of Knotty Ash on Saturday night.
Other highlights included
exhibitions of art by the Prescotia Watercolour Group and
late "fifth Beatle" Stuart Sutcliffe, an afternoon tea dance
with the All Stars Northern Dance Orchestra and a vintage
film show and exhibition celebrating the 50th anniversary of
St Paul's Church.
Festival Patron Ian Tracey, the
internationally renowned organist of Liverpool Cathedral,
drew the weekend to a close in
Last-Night-of-the-Proms-style, with supporting stars Wirral
Winds.
"It's been another
overwhelmingly successful year," said Artistic Director
Robert Howard. "We've gone even further towards our goals of
providing music and arts that are accessible and affordable
to everyone. It's been amazing."
REVIEW: FAIREY BAND
(05/06/06) After an evening in
the company of the Fairey Band, it is hard to believe this
is just what they do in their spare time. Lacking nothing in
professionalism, the 69-
year-old
brass band possesses a stunning breadth of talent and a
flair for genres as diverse as jazz, acid, classical and
military.
Friday night's concert began
with Fanfare for the Common Man, with the familiar opening
theme giving way to a spectacularly jazzed-up arrangement of
Aaron Copland's original. From there, the contrast could not
be greater. This reviewer had to hold back a tear when
cornet soloist Mike Eccles played the traditional folk song
My Love Is Like a Red, Red Rose in dulcet tones.
The band always like to throw
in a surprise or two; the novelty this evening was Albert
Elms's Battle of Trafalgar, narrated by ye olde naval
officer in full period costume, and punctuated with cymbal
crashes and gunfire.
The second half opened with
Padstow Lifeboat by Malcolm Arnold, one of a trio of
composers with important anniversaries this year. Sir
Malcolm celebrates his 85th birthday, while Mozart,
celebrating his 250th anniversary, was represented by Ave
Verum, and Shostakovich's centenary was marked with a
rousing performance of the Festive Overture.
A crowd of 200 packed out the
Parish Church for the event, an official "launch" for the
Prescot Festival. The Festival officially opens on Thursday
22nd June at 7.00pm at Prescot Parish Church with the Valley
Brass Band from Haydock.
DISASTROUS DAY OUT FOR THE GARRICK
A
team-building trip to the Lakes turns into a
nightmare when four out-of-condition businessmen
find themselves stranded on a tiny island, in the
Rainhill Garrick Society's next production.
Neville's
Island is by Tim Firth, the writer behind hit
comedy film Calendar Girls.
"It's sometimes
hilarious, and sometimes poignant and
thought-provoking," said
director Lynn Aconley, "but
always entertaining."
The
play opens on Thursday 11 May, and runs till
Saturday 13, at Rainhill Village Hall. Tickets are
£4 and £3.50, and can be booked by calling 01744 813
429.
Pictured
left: The Garrick Society's backstage crew have been
hard at work transforming the village hall stage
into the setting for Neville's Lake District
adventure.
FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES
2006 LINE-UP
Orchestras,
organists, jazz bands and jivers will all migrate to
Knowsley next month when the Prescot Festival enters its
second year.
The Second Annual Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts
will feature musicians, artists and performers from all over
the region.
Newcomers this year include the Liverpool Phoenix Orchestra,
organist Professor Ian Tracey, jazz quartet Hot Club of
Knotty Ash and the Haydock Male Voice Choir.
The 4-day extravaganza will get off to a riproaring start
with the Haydock-based Valley Brass Band on Thursday 22
June, starting at 7pm at Prescot Parish Church.
Evening concerts will be followed by a packed late-night
fringe programme to include a screening of the 1936
Hitchcock classic The 39 Steps, comedy from local performers
and toe-tapping jazz in the gypsy style made famous by
Django Reinhardt.
Prescot's artistic legacy will be celebrated with an
exhibition dedicated to the creative talents of the late
Stuart Sutcliffe, ex-Grammar School boy, artist and one-time
bassist for The Beatles. Visitors to the festival will also
be able to view a stunning array of paintings by the
Prescotia Watercolours group.
The Prescot Festival was founded last year by local music
teacher and composer Dr Robert Howard.
"We want to bring the arts to as wide an audience as
possible," Robert said. "Prescot has such a long and
glorious artistic and cultural heritage - and it's about
time we celebrated it."
The Festival will end with a Proms-style finale by Professor
Ian Tracey of Liverpool Cathedral, who is also Patron of the
Festival.
PANTO OPENING NIGHT SENSATION
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25/01/06
Prescot and Whiston Methodists' annual pantomime got off to a
riproaring start last night.
Hansel and Gretel
had all the familiar elements we have come to expect from
the traditional panto - a busty dame (a chap in drag, of
course), the clumsy sidekick, the dashing hero and his
heroine bride, and plenty of slapstick, "It's behind you!",
saucy gags and corny punchlines.
Highlights were the
appearance of Fred the Robot (played by longtime Prescot
School teacher Roy Taylor), a suitably moving rendition of
"Where Is Love?" by the all-but-orphaned title duo, and a
deliciously amorous encounter between the panto dame (Tim
Evans on usual top form) and a gorilla.
Hansel and Gretel
runs until Saturday at the Prescot Methodist Centre,
Atherton Street, Prescot. Performances are 7:30pm each
night, plus a matinee at 2:15pm on Saturday. Tickets are
£4.50 and £4.
HUNDREDS GET INTO THE HEAVENLY SWING
27/10/05
"It was like Sister Act with 600 Prescotians," said an organiser
of last week's gospel concert at Prescot Parish Church.
Between 500 and 600 people came from all over Merseyside and
beyond to hear the Liverpool Philharmonic Gospel Choir on
Friday.
Choir
Director Tyndale Thomas was once a backing singer for Stevie
Wonder and Nina Simone. He now directs several choirs, including
his own renowned group Urban Voices.
The programme had audiences singing and clapping along to such
classics as Amazing Grace and O Happy Day. Three local choirs
also made a guest appearance, including students from St Mary
and St Paul's Primary School in Prescot and Brookside Primary
School in Stockbridge Village, which has its own gospel choir.
The Liverpool Philharmonic are committed to a Prescot concert
every year, and previous years have included the prestigious
Liverpool Philharmonic Choir as well as instrumentalists from
the world-famous Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The concerts are
funded by Knowsley Council.
"This is one of the largest events of this kind Prescot has
seen," said Dr Robert Howard of Arts in Prescot. "It was a truly
inspirational evening."
FIRST PRESCOT FESTIVAL AN UNFORESEEN TRIUMPH
.jpg)
01/07/05
In 1951 Prescotians gathered in streets, houses, pubs, halls and
churches for fun and entertainment. They called it the Prescot
Festival (left), and it was part of the nationwide Festival of
Britain, a heady celebration marking a new era of prosperity
after the hard times of the Second World War.
Over fifty years later, some might say the town has again fallen
on hard times, with the town centre standing in desperate need
of renewal. But visionary local teacher, composer and musician
Dr Robert Howard endeavoured to inspire a spirit of pride in the
town's cultural and artistic heritage once again. Last week's
First Annual Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts far exceeded
expectations, drawing in crowds of up to 250 for a four-day
programme of events.
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On Thursday evening, a packed Parish Church saw the Fairey Brass
Band open the Festival with a rousing, Proms-style programme. An
enthusiastic audience waved flags and even joined in hearty
choruses of Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory as Prescot
soprano Laura Hudson took to the platform.
Friday's programme featured the Knowsley Orchestra with the
Prescot Parish Church Choir, just one of many concerts the two
groups have held together in recent years. Orchestra director
Simon Gay said the evening -- which saw the orchestra and
choir's biggest audience so far -- went "from Russiafest to
Beatlesfest" as they joined forces to deliver an array of
favourites ranging from Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky to Paul
McCartney and John Lennon.
It was down to the Parkside Colliery Male Voice Choir (below)
and the Pilkington Choir, celebrating their 50th anniversary, to
woo concertgoers on Saturday night, and woo they did. The venue
was the historic Methodist Church on Atherton Street. Witty
repartee from the comperes and a sparkling programme of popular
choral.jpg)
pieces, both traditional and modern, made the event feel less
like a concert and more like a soiree with friends in the
comfort of a living room.
The highlight of the evening, however, was the raffle draw. The
crowd erupted into laughter, cheers and applause as Robert
Howard announced -- the irony dawning on him as he read from his
unrehearsed list -- that the third prize was "a set of four
candles". Understandably, the few spectators unfamiliar with The
Two Ronnies' "fork 'andles" sketch looked more bemused than
amused.
Prescot Museum contributed to events with their exhibition of
"10001 Artefacts", giving visitors a chance to see several of
the thousands of rarely seen items from their extensive
archives. "Lancashire Life" artist Gordon Wilkinson had an
exhibition of his Prescot watercolours at the Prescot Library,
and local schoolchildren contributed art and crafts that were on
display all weekend.
The '51 Festival closed with an ecumenical service in the Cables
Football Ground, a tradition resurrected in glorious fashion at
the Parish Church on Sunday night. Clergy and members of all
Prescot churches were represented as locals gathered not only to
round off the Festival, but to welcome new curate Reverend
Philip Anderson to the Parish. The service opened with a
spectacular trumpet fanfare played by retired Prescot-Grammar
teacher Harvey Sprake.
Uncertainty about just how a Festival of this magnitude could
work was quickly dissipated by the overwhelming response from
local audiences. Already organisers are planning for a bigger
and better event in 2006, hoping for a crescendo as the region
leads into the 2008 Capital of Culture year.
An open meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 5, from 8 to 9pm
at the Parish Meeting Rooms (across the courtyard from St Mary's
Parish Church in Prescot). All who have an interest in the
continuing success of the Festival are welcome.
Dave Kernick
1951 photos: Prescot Museum
Choir photo: Brian Jagger
FROM RUSSIAFEST TO BEATLESFEST AT
PRESCOTFEST LAST NIGHT
25/06/05
Up to 150 concert-goers crowded into the Parish Church last
night for the second day of the First Annual Prescot Festival.
After a stirring Proms-style opening from the Fairey Brass Band
on Thursday, it was up to the Knowsley Orchestra and the Prescot
Parish Church Choir to entertain the expectant audience -- and
they did not disappoint.
In the words of conductor Simon Gay, the programme moved from "Russiafest
to Beatlesfest". Old favourites The Nutcracker Suite by
Tchaikovsky and Mussorgsky's spooky Night on Bare Mountain were
on the bill alongside Paul McCartney's Live and Let Die and a
smoothly atmospheric arrangement of John Lennon's Yesterday,
sung a capella by the choir.
The orchestra concluded with their signature piece, Elmer
Bernstein's theme from The Great Escape, in a memorable
orchestration by Knowsley old-timer Ted Kirk. Come on, was this
reviewer the only one who had to bite his lip to keep from
whistling along?
The Festival continues tonight (Saturday 25) at Prescot
Methodist Church with the Parkside Colliery Male Voice Choir and
the Pilkington Choir.
PRESCOT AUDIENCES AWAY WITH THE FAIREYS
24/06/05
Over 200 people in Prescot Parish Church waved Union Jacks and
joined in choruses of Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory
as they were treated to a Proms-style spectacular by the Fairey
(FP Music) Brass Band last night.
The 68-
year-old
band, one of the most prestigious in the UK, delivered a
toe-tapping programme of standards from George Gershwin and
Irving Berlin before being joined by local soprano Laura Hudson
for the rousing finale. There were also more traditional pieces,
including the tune Nicea, better known as the hymn Holy, Holy,
Holy, a moving performance dedicated to band member Barry Hinds,
who recently passed away.
Bernard Logan's delightfully mellow baritone solo was warmly
received, and the portly Prescotian even graced the audience
with a few dance moves. Another highlight was Neil Hewson's solo
of Love's Old Sweet Song, in which he achieved a scintillating
mandolin effect by playing into the bell of a bass tuba. Perhaps
the most curious item on the programme was Cubik, an example of
the band's pioneering fusion of styles known as 'Acid Brass'.
Yesterday's concert opened the First Annual Prescot Festival,
beginning a weekend of concerts that continues Friday night at
the Parish Church with the Knowsley Orchestra and Prescot Parish
Church Choir. Saturday night's event will be at the Methodist
Church, with the Parkside Colliery Male Voice Choir and the
Pilkington Choir, celebrating their 50th anniversary.
Dave Kernick
Photo: Brian Jagger
MERSEYSIDE TOWN TO PIONEER ARTS FESTIVAL
24/05/05 A
historic Merseyside town will come alive with the buzz of
creativity for the first time in over half a century when the
First Annual Prescot Festival of Music and the Arts takes place
there from June 23rd-26th. Artistic director Dr Robert Howard
will bring performers from all over the northwest to take part
in a three-day event on a scale not seen in Prescot since the
1951 Festival of Britain.
Howard, 28, a secondary
teacher and composer, has a passion to see the area revitalised,
and is keen to see Prescot established as a top centre for the
arts on Merseyside, especially in view of Liverpool's successful
bid as 2008 City of Culture.
The
area has a long heritage in arts and entertainment. Actor Sue
Johnston, the put-upon mum of The Royle Family, attended
Prescot's famous Grammar School, and Sam Kelly of Porridge and
The Two Ronnies began his career on stage with the Rainhill
Garrick Society. Local lad Danny McCall recently received
critical acclaim as Billy Fury in the West-End hit The Sound of
Fury, as did singer Emma Dears in Jesus Christ Superstar.
Soprano Laura Hudson and classical musicians Tim Williams and
Paul Lewis all hail from the area. In a bygone era 18th-century
thespian John Kemble (left)was Prescot-born, and Victorian
nonsense poet Edward Lear painted pictures of animals for the
Earl of Derby, whose bestial collection eventually grew into the
present-day Knowsley Safari Park.
The town also boasts several
prime arts venues, including the towering 17th-century Parish
Church and the newer Methodist Hall, whose traditional
pantomimes have had Prescotians in stitches for twenty years.
One local celebrity who has
given his full support to the new festival is the event's
patron, Professor Ian Tracey, one-time organist of Prescot
Parish Church and now Musical Director of Liverpool Anglican
Cathedral.
'I treasure the fact that I
am often referred to as "an honorary Prescotian"', Professor
Tracey told us. 'I always enjoyed the oft-repeated phrase,
"There was a Prescot before ever there was a Liverpool!", and
have long held that Prescot had a right and a duty to celebrate
its cultural heritage proudly. I am
thrilled to know it now will, and delighted to be associated
with the festiv
al's inaugural year.'
The First Annual Festival
will include appearances from the local Prescot Parish Choir
(seen right, preparing for the Festival) and the Knowsley
Orchestra, as well as those from further afield, such as the
popular Fairey Brass Band, who promise a memorable evening of
classic Hollywood themes among other favourites. For the younger
generation, rock and pop bands will gather at Stadt-Moers Park
for Whistonbury, and art-lovers can look forward to an
exhibition by Lancashire Life artist Gordon Wilkinson.
The arts in Prescot have
experienced a steady flourish in the past few years, with
regular concerts from groups around the region, as well as a
commitment from the internationally renowned Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir to perform once a year in the
town. And the award-winning and increasingly innovative Prescot
Museum has been a boost to the town's profile. Their
contribution to the Festival will be a display selected from
10001 rarely seen local artefacts.
Organiser Robert Howard hopes
to see people of all ages and interests come together to take
advantage of a weekend of mostly free events.
'I'd like to see people
trying out new experiences,' he said, 'perhaps tasting a style
of music they haven't heard much before. There's so much going
on here, and it's time to grab the opportunity to showcase our
wealth of musical and artistic talent. We plan to make this an
annual event, embracing the whole community and bringing all
local arts together under the Festival banner. Next year we look
forward to something even bigger and better.'
David Kernick
Photo: Alan Swift
Prescot audiences wowed by
a taste of modern music
17/4/04 Concert-goers in Prescot were treated to something just a little bit
different when northwest-based chamber group
COMA
filled Prescot Parish Church
with
the sounds of clashing harmonies and eccentric rhythms on Saturday
night.
An evening of
innovative modern music showcased the works of a number of composers
from the region, including Prescotians Dave Forshaw and
Robert Howard. For those
not accustomed to the avant-garde style, however, the concert was
broken up with contributions from the ever-talented Prescot Parish
Church Choir, who delighted the audience with sacred music from Bach
and Schubert, among others.
COMA, which stands for
Contemporary Music-Making for Amateurs, is a national charity, whose
decade-old local group features a wealth of composing and performing
talent. Fifteen accomplished musicians infused the vast, gothic
interior of the Parish Church with an unusual and penetrating
ambience.
The ensemble ended
their programme in a grand and fitting manner with a piece by Dr
Robert Howard, a stirring and hypnotic march based on the
crescendoing, whirling sounds and motions of the fairground
carousel. While strikingly original, an unmistakable influence was
the British composer Malcolm Arnold, whose quirky fusion of jazz,
popular, folk and classical styles Howard grew up playing in youth
orchestras around Merseyside.
This also
marked the last concert of retiring conductor John Thornecroft, to
whom flautist Anna Claydon dedicated her performance of one of his
own pieces.
Dave Kernick
Photo: COMA
A
team-building trip to the Lakes turns into a
nightmare when four out-of-condition businessmen
find themselves stranded on a tiny island, in the
Rainhill Garrick Society's next production.
director Lynn Aconley, "but
always entertaining."