A feast of music in Lechlade (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

A feast of music in Lechlade

LECHLADE'S second Music Festival runs from October 1-4 and offers a feast of music to entertain music lovers of all ages and tastes.

The Festival kicks off on Wednesday, October 1 with a concert by the Aylesbury Music Centre Big Band, conducted by Nick Care.

This is a group of talented young musicians from Buckinghamshire who have played at such prestigious venues as Buckingham Palace, the London Palladium and the Albert Hall, as well as on radio and television.

They play big band music as if they lived in that era and are the only band ever to win the Daily Telegraph Young Jazz Competition twice.

They are followed on Thursday, October 2 by the Kentwood Choir which is very well known in the area where it performs for a week each year at the Wyvern Theatre, Swindon. Conducted by Sheila Harrod, herself a very talented musician, the choir has around 50 members and a vast repertoire, ranging from classics, through Big Band material to modern ballads and show songs.

On Friday, October 3 the Oxford Millennium Orchestra with prizewinning pianist Jonathan Darnborough and professional mezzo soprano Claire Lucas, present an evening devoted to the music of Mozart.

The Orchestra, founded by Benjamin Wolf in 1999 and directed by Nick Mumby, is on a par with the university orchestras in both standard and size. It has toured France and Switzerland and performed all over Britain.

The talented Cotswold Children's Choir, conducted by Hilary Tadman-Robins, gives the final concert of the 2003 Festival on Saturday, October 4. They sing together with Brian Etheridge and Penelope Martin-Smith who took part in the first Festival and were so well received that they are making a return visit.

All concerts take place in the Memorial Hall and begin at 7.30pm. Tickets by telephone from either 01367 253738 or 252926 or by post from Lechlade Music Festival, Leyacre, Lodersfield, Lechlade-on-Thames, GL7 3DJ, enclosing payment and sae.