Musical Bites

A series of coffee mornings with musical themes at
St Mary & St Giles Church on winter Saturdays
from 10:00 am to 12:30 noon.

Delicious refreshments available:
cappuccino, filter and instant coffee, tea, juice, cakes and biscuits

Want to join in and have a go? Want to find out more?

Please complete the Contact Form

2012/13 season of Musical Bites will start in October 2012 - dates and themes to be announced

2011/12 season of Musical Bites

Musical bites in 2011/12 season already completed

October 22nd - A Gentle Walk around our Organ
(all about the Willis Pipe Organ) by Richard Salter,
with Jacob Collins

10:00 am - 12:30 pm: Richard Salter gave an illustrated talk (10:30 am) about the design of our unique 3 manual Willis organ, assisted by Jacob Collins on the recently refurbished keyboard/console. Mini recital at 12 noon with Jacob Collins and James Wharton.

Entry was free, plenty of real cappuccino, coffee, tea, cakes and juice.

November 12th - Beginner's Jazz workshop
by John Gates (The Open Band)

10:00 am - 12:30 pm: John Gates of the Open Band ran another jazz taster session, assisted by Caedmon Salter on percussion and Steve Kirk on Bass Guitar. Musicians of any ability brought their your own instruments, and had some fun.

There was a mini recital at 12 noon with John and the jazz tasters.

Entry was free, plenty of real cappuccino, coffee, tea, cakes and juice.

December 10th - Choral workshop (including Messiah) by James Wharton and Ed Tomlinson

Come and Sing choruses from Handel's 'The Messiah'. James Wharton takes us through the notes in the right order for three much loved choruses:

And the Glory

For Unto Us

Lift Up Your Heads

Music copies and fun provided. Expertly accompanied on the piano by Ed Tomlinson.

Mini recital for Stony Stratford Shoppers at 12 noon.

Entry was free, plenty of real cappuccino, coffee, tea, cakes and juice.

January 21st - Sing a long a lorra songs
with Dave King on piano

Dave King on piano and Fiona Collins on flute played favourite songs for us and the words were on the big screen for us all to sing.

Entry was free, plenty of real cappuccino, coffee, tea, cakes and juice.

February 11th - Woodwind workshop
by Cathi Smith (Milton Keynes Music Service) and Graham Smith

Milton Keynes Music Service gave a fun workshop for beginner and more experienced woodwind players of all ages with a half-hour mini recital at 12 noon.

Entry was free, plenty of coffee, tea, cakes and juice.

March 10th - Folk Singing workshop

Maurice Clark from the Song Loft gave a playshop for all musicians and singers who wanted to try folk music. Maurice described the history and styles of folk music and everyone joined in the singing. The event ended with a half-hour mini recital at 12 noon of songs looked at earlier.

Entry was free, plenty of real cappuccino, coffee, tea, cakes and juice.

2010/11 season of Musical Bites

Musical bites in 2010/11 season already completed

October 16th - Percussion taster session
led by Caedmon Salter

for people of all ages
try drum kits, African drums, tamborines, shakers, bells etc.
If you want to take part in making the music, please complete the Contact Form

Caedmon Salter has been playing the drums since the age of seven. He primarily plays the drum kit and has lots of experience playing both tuned and orchestral percussion. He studied music at the University of Chichester, and graduates this autumn with a 2:1 honours degree, specialising in music performance. His main passion is jazz and funk drumming, and he has played with brass bands, wind ensembles, jazz quartets, big bands, gospel choirs, steel bands and many more. His playing has taken him to various venues up and down the country, including Buckingham Palace, The Stables and the MK Dons stadium to name a few. At present he plays in 3 local bands and teaches drums in Milton Keynes.

November 13th - Sing-along-a-lorra-songs

A good old fashioned sing-along for people of all ages. Words provided, just bring your voice: Gershwin, Noel Coward, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Porter, music around the UK, Disney and much more. On the grand piano: Dave King and Andrew Storer

December 11th - Come and sing The Hallelujah Chorus led by James Wharton

Directed by James Wharton with Andrew Storer (piano/organ).

Handel's The Hallelujah Chorus (in aid of Friends of Willen Hospice)

I look from afar (arr Rutter/Willcocks Carols for Choirs 2)

Palestrina's Magnificat (was the basis for 'I look from afar')

There was a collection for “The Friends of Willen Hospice” in addition to the Piano Key Raffle and delicious refreshments in aid of the Grand Piano fund.

Singing started at 10:00 am, 'performance' at 12 noon

January 8th - Ring in the New Year on Handbells

Lesley and Kieran Salter offered you the chance to try Handbell ringing.

February 19th - Apprentice to the Band

Participants brought their instruments and joined in with
St Mary & St Giles Church Band, easy tunes, no pressure.

March 19th - Complete Beginner's Jazz

John Gates of the Open Band explained jazz and gave us a chance to try it.
Participants brought their instruments. We played 2 simple big band arrangements and developed a jazz piece from a head sheet.

John is the musical director for the Open Band who have meeting in Milton Keynes and Woburn for the last 15 years. The Open band's philosophy is to welcome anyone who is reasonably proficient on their instrument and wants to learn more about jazz and big band music. John also plays for Secklow Brass and has studied jazz for the last 3 years at the City Lit college in Holborn.

Maximum 20 places

All five 2009/10 Musical Bites raised money towards the purchase of our baby Grand Piano for fundraising purposes (for both the Organ and the Church Restoration Funds), the piano is also a backup for Church services, as the organ is increasingly unreliable. The first 3 Musical Bites of the 2010/11 season completed the piano fundraising, so Musical Bites 4, 5 and 6 of this season are devoted to the organ fund.

2009/10 season of Musical Bites

October 17th - Pull out all the Stops on our 3 manual Willis Pipe Organ

blow through a pipe, look inside the organ,
play a chord, listen to mini recitals and more

This very successful morning raised a total of £328.42 for the Grand Piano Fund. Plenty of people (from aged 3 - 90) played the organ and looked inside. The Piano Key Raffle was very popular and the refreshments went down well - see http://smsgpipeorgan.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/musical-bite-1-a-great-success/.

November 14th - Sing-along-a-Lorra-Songs

well known melodies for all to join in - lots of fun
to brighten up a shopping trip raised £326.40 for the Grand Piano fund. We had wonderful crowd of enthusiastic people who enjoyed singing along, and coming back for more refreshments. See http://smsgpipeorgan.wordpress.com/2009/11/16/somewhere-over-the-rainbow/ for a description of the event, photos and video.

December 12th - A choral workshop directed by James Wharton

At least 70 singers came along and sang from our gallery, and were joined by an audience of another 70 people.

In this year of centenaries we sang:

Haydn’s The heavens are telling (From The Creation)
Purcell’s Hear my prayer Oh Lord
Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus

Shoppers from Stony Stratford High Street and singers from local choirs were invited to participate in a highly enjoyable and very successful morning which raised £553.00 for the Grand Piano Fund.

We also had a retiring collection for the BBC Children In Need 'Sing Hallelujah' http://www.bbc.co.uk/sing/hallelujah/map.shtml which raised £100.

Mulled wine and mince pies at this event were kindly provided by Waitrose

For an account of the event, photos and video clips please see http://smsgpipeorgan.wordpress.com/2009/12/13/a-resounding-success-musical-bite-3/

January 16th - A brass ensemble workshop led by Ian Facer and Julia Benham

brass players of all ages and abilities participated in this enjoyable workshop. For an account of the event and photos, please see http://smsgpipeorgan.wordpress.com/2010/01/16/brass-and-piano-musical-bite-4/. We raised £256.00 at this musical bite.

Ian now lives and teaches in Bedfordshire and is in demand as a player and teacher. When he isn't performing solo recitals (accompanied by his wife) he plays principal trumpet with Philharmonia Britannica, the Orchestra of Great St Mary's and Invicta Orchestral Winds. He plays with other ensembles, such as London Bach Players, the Angel Orchestra, Cambridge Camerata and others on an invitational basis when possible.

Julia is an accomplished classical pianist and teaches all levels from beginners to advanced Royal Schools of Music Grade 8 in the relaxing environment of her home in Clapham, Bedfordshire. She also prepares students for the performing sections of Diplomas. She carefully structures her lessons according to the student's requirements and abilities, focusing on patient encouragement so that the pupil finds enjoyment and a sense of achievement in their music. She has a gentle approach which has been frequently commented on by pupils, particularly the younger ones.

February 20th - A percussion taster session led by
Caz Wolfson

for all ages; participants had fun getting to grips with percussion. For an account of this event see http://smsgpipeorgan.wordpress.com/2010/02/20/percussion-fun-at-musical-bite-5/. We raised £434.55 at Musical Bite 5.

A keen music educator, Caz regularly leads workshops for children and adults of all ages, ranging from samba workshops to working with amateur choral societies. Future projects involve running a series of workshops for young musicians with conductor John Gibbons leading to a performance of Malcolm Arnold’s 4th Symphony. In July 2009, she played in the premiere of a new children’s opera by Stephen Crowe at London’s Riverside Studios and the Grimeborn Opera Festival at the Arcola Theatre. Caz recently completed a Masters in percussion from the Guildhall School supported by the Leverhulme Trust and an MBF Music Education Award. She has also received Instrument Scholarship Awards from Chance for Children Trust and the Wolfson Foundation.