CHARLTON FINE ARTS   

THE 2nd SEASON BEGINS!

Kindly sponsored by Cloke Scaffolding, FF Harvey, Dover Priory Dental Clinic, Rebecca Jackson, Citronex

   

1 September 3pm	MUZIKA LYRA violin, voice, guitar, piano	A SLAVIC FEAST Ukrainian and other Slavic music
6 October 3pm	ALAN EWING & HELEN CRAYFORD bass voice, piano	IN THE LOWEST DEEP Beautiful songs for the bass voice
17 November 3pm	RICHARD DAVIES organ	MAINLY BACH FOR CHRISTMAS
2March 3pm	KOKILA GILLETT-KHAN and friends	Dvorak & Brahms
13 April 3pm	BUTTERFLY PATERSON & HELEN CRAYFORD cello, piano	Programme tba
18 May 3pm	GREG TASSELL tenor	Programme tba
Saturday 21 June 7pm Note different day and start time	HELEN VINCENT & RICHARD DAVIES soprano, organ	Programme tba

We are delighted to announce that Charlton Fine Arts No. 2 began on September 1^st with the marvellous Muzika Lyra performing Ukrainian music and other music from across the Slavic world. The ensemble was led by the superb Philharmonia Orchestra violinist and composer, Julian Milone, with fabulous pianist and composer Nadia Giliova and gifted singer and songwriter Lila Milone. An audience of 60 was transfixed by the intense, entertaining and virtuosic performances given by these engaging artists. What a privilege to have musicians of this calibre at Charlton!
 
October 6^th, we’ll welcome international operatic bass Alan Ewing and virtuosic pianist Helen Crayford, for In The Lowest Deep, a concert of beautiful songs for bass. The programme includes works of Handel, Brahms, Ireland and Tchaikovsky.
 
The last Fine Arts recital of 2024 will be a wonderful concert of Christmas music by the brilliant local organist Richard Davies on 17^th November. Richard will perform on Charlton’s prize-winning Bevington organ, which was transferred from the old Charlton Church when the present one was built in the 1890s. Proceeds from this concert will support the maintenance of this historic instrument.
 
Charlton Fine Arts will then resume on March 9th 2025 with superb violinist Kokila Gillett-Khan and friends.

It's not too late to buy a SEASON TICKET! If you attended Muzika Lyra, a
Charlton Fine Arts season ticket (£40 for you) gives you all 7 recitals for the
price of 6.

To get a Season Ticket:

By cheque / cash
• make a cheque payable to Charlton Church
• address to Churchwarden and post to c/o Churchwarden, Charlton
Church, St Alphege Road, Dover. CT16 2PU
• or deliver cheque / cash in an envelope to the office at the church
hall (red door at the end of the alley between church and hall).
• Provide your name, address, phone number, email address.

By bank transfer
* Parish of Charlton no. 1 account
01592846
Sort code 30 93 34
Reference - Season Ticket + your name

Collect your Season Ticket at the next concert.


You can now book your tickets for Charlton Fine Arts via this link! https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/st-peter-and-st-pauls-charlton-church-dover

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THE FIRST SEASON...
On Sunday 5^th May, an audience of about 60 was treated to a performance that would have earned accolades in the West End or Broadway.  The superb duo performed music of Kurt Weill and his contemporaries (1920s -1950s) with enormous skill and panache. Crayford’s technical virtuosity and Turner’s compelling voice and dramatic skill made this a thrilling show that commanded one’s attention from start to finish.

Cheers rang out after their first number, Cabaret, and often thereafter. Mack the Knife, September and Youkali were perhaps the most familiar to the audience, but less known numbers  - for example, Tell me the Truth about Love (Auden/Britten) and Hotel (Apollinaire/Poulenc) were greeted enthusiastically.  Crayford’s spectacular solo items, The Man I Love, I Got Rhythm and Tango Ballade, gave us the chance to enjoy the piano at its best, with lid raised, and to appreciate her astonishing skill as a performer. It was hard to believe that the duo had rehearsed for the first time only the day before.

 

The audience were welcomed with a drink to take to their tables (Charlton Church was temporarily transformed into a Continental cafe or nightclub, with red and white check table cloths, fresh flowers on the tables and atmospheric lighting). The era was set by a few well-chosen props: a Tiffany lamp and a fern on an elegant stand. Into this convivial atmosphere, the two glamorous performers, suitably attired for the 1920s, sequins and feathers included, brought an air of sophistication that transported us to a different time and place.  Refreshments followed the performance and people stayed for at least another hour to enjoy each other’s company.
 
Enormous thanks to Penelope and Helen for coming to perform in the Charlton Fine Arts Series, to Penelope’s husband James, to Chris and Maggie Tyler and to Shane and Vicki, for their stalwart support. Thanks also to Jonathan Eddolls from St Mary’s Church for taking photographs and to Simon Partridge of Dover Community Radio for attending and interviewing Penelope.

 

CHARLTON FINE ARTS SERIES

Superb young countertenor, Richard Decker, accompanied at the piano by Charles Spanner, gave a wonderful recital on Sunday, March 3^rd.  The varied programme showed off the wide range of expression of which this young artist is capable. We are most grateful to the performers for this excellent concert and wish Richard the very best of luck in his future career.

RECITAL FOR CELLO AND PIANO by ERIC BOSSHARD AND CHARLES SPANNER
Charlton Church was delighted to welcome about 50 people on Sunday 28^th January for a beautiful recital of music for cello and piano. The duo played Elegie by Gabriel Faure, Sonata no. 2 by Ludwig van Beethoven and Variations Concertantes by Felix Mendelssohn. Their encore was The Swan by Saint-Saens. The discriminating audience, including all generations, from babes in arms to the elderly, listened attentively as the music resounded in the fabulous acoustic of the church. It seems that the building is particularly suited to the sound of the cello. We are very grateful to the artists for donating a proportion of the proceeds to the church. Mr Bosshard accepted no fee. Most of the audience stayed afterwards for refreshments and there was a pleasant, convivial atmosphere.

On 29th October, Oliver Poole, virtuoso international pianist, gave the second recital in the Charlton Fine Arts series with the following programme, dazzling the audience with his technique and panache.
 
Scenes from the Ring Cycle     (including the Ride of the Valkyries)
                                                Richard Wagner (arr. Louis Brassin)
 
Celestial                               Yerkesh Shakeyev (arr. John Lenehan)
 
Improvisation on themes suggested by the audience 
 
Rhapsody in Blue              George Gershwin  

FINE ARTS SERIES LAUNCHED! September 2023

For the inaugural recital of our new Fine Arts Series, the duo Charlie Brookes (violin) and Charles Spanner (piano) gave a delightful and absorbing programme of Mozart, Beethoven and Elgar. The duo played these demanding and beautiful works with great skill and feeling, and the concert was altogether a most enjoyable occasion. Charlie Brookes freelances as a professional orchestral player here and abroad, and is the founder of the Elgar Ensemble.