Musical Bites

A series of coffee mornings with musical themes at St Mary & St Giles on winter Saturdays
from 9:30 am to 12:00 noon.

There will be a 2010/11 season, dates to be confirmed.

All 5 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.

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

2009/2010 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.