CHARLTON FINE ARTS
Kindly sponsored by Cloke Scaffolding, FF Harvey, Dover Priory Dental Clinic, Rebecca Jackson, Citronex, Jasmine Colman...
CHARLTON FINE ARTS presented RICHARD DAVIES and the Charlton Church organ with a first-rate recital of music for Advent. That brave little organ filled the church and produced an amazingly wide range of beautiful effects in the hands of an expert, showing its perfect suitability to the repertoire Richard had chosen. Charlton Fine Arts thanks Richard for bringing his superb musicianship to Charlton and breathing life into our precious 1870 Bevington organ.
As promised, the candles flickered as darkness fell, and most people lingered afterwards for mulled wine and mince pies.
CHARLTON FINE ARTS will be back on March 9th, 2025, with the Orsay Ensemble, for Brahms and Dvorak! Save the date.
THE 2nd SEASON CONTINUED...
The last Fine Arts recital of 2024 will be a wonderful concert of Christmas music by the brilliant local organist Richard Davies on 17th November. Richard will perform on Charlton’s sweet-toned, 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.
Richard writes:
“It has been said that the most important stop on any organ is the acoustic of the space in which it is heard and this is certainly very true in the case of Charlton and the magnificent ambience this grand building lends to the fine tone of its 1870 Bevington instrument.
'Mainly Bach for Christmas' is a programme of seasonal organ music charting the story of Advent and the Nativity through chorale preludes based on some of the best-known Christmas hymns of the Lutheran church. The music includes works by Brahms, Daquin (variations on the Old Noel) and Buxtehude. It also features Bach’s lively Fantasia in G before closing with his majestic Fantasia and Fugue in C minor.
Performed in the twilight of a winter evening and accompanied by mulled wine and mince pies in the atmospheric setting of Charlton Church, this recital aims to usher in the spirit of Christmas, and there might even be an early flake of snow!”
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Charlton Fine Arts will then resume on March 9th 2025 with superb violinist Kokila Gillett-Khan with the Orsay Ensemble.
THE 2ND SEASON SO FAR...
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
We were delighted to announce that Charlton Fine Arts No. 2 began on September 1st 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 6th, we welcomed international operatic bass Alan Ewing and virtuosic pianist Helen Crayford, for In The Lowest Deep, a concert of beautiful songs for bass. The programme included works of Handel, Brahms, Ireland and Tchaikovsky. Alan's tremendous voice, thrilling in its size, quality and expressiveness, was perfectly matched by Helen's skilful and inituitive accompanying. Alan's informative and highly amusing introductions to the songs delighted the audience. We are immensely grateful that these astonishing musicians, who have graced concert halls and opera houses around the world, come to a (hitherto) unknown venue in Dover to give people a wonderful afternoon of music. 
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THE FIRST SEASON, SEPTEMBER '23 - MAY '24
On Sunday 5th 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 3rd. 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 28th 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.
The accomplished tenor Rob Amon, accompanied by Charles Spanner, gave a most entertaining recital of operatic arias and British songs, showing his vocal skills and versatility to the full. His performance was greeted with great enthusiasm and warmth.
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.
