The Coat of Hopes is a precious patchwork garment on a long-term pilgrimage through the UK, made by, and worn and walked by, hundreds of people over a distance of over 2000 miles so far. This coat carries their hopes in the face of climate and ecological breakdown.
This month’s newsletter is the 50th issue. I would like to take this moment to thank Sarah for her patience, creativity and very high presentational standards in pulling together the newsletter each month. I know that it takes a lot of work, and I hope all our readers agree that the final product is something that repays to the full her many hours of work.
An eclectic, 4-piece, acoustically electrifying orchestra playing gypsy & folk-flavoured music from all around the world, the BCO deliver traditional Balkan, Russian, Hungarian and Romanian traditional gypsy and folk music in their own fresh and surprising way. Established by award-winning British composer, violinist and teacher Christian Garrick in 2009, BCO are specialists of the ‘distilled concerto’, e.g. the Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Greig Squeezebox Concertos, and admired for their artful re-workings of masterpieces by the greats of the Romantic era.
Please come to an open public meeting to discuss the future of St Peter’s Chapel, Redlynch.
Saturday 18 April at 10.30 am, Redlynch Chapel.
All are welcome.
How is your Lent going? Did you come to the Ash Wednesday service? Have you read the challenging book by Liz Dodd mentioned in the last newsletter or another Lent book? One of the topics we have discussed in our Lent Group is spiritual nourishment – what it is and how we do it.
On Sunday 8 March, 3pm, at St Mary’s Church, Bruton, Clare Sydenham and David Hindley return with a brand new recital programme in their popular format of piano music, poetry and prose, this time on the theme of Spring.
The main event in our Spring calendar is a performance of Vivaldi’s much-loved Gloria on Sunday 22 March in St Mary’s Church, Bruton, 5pm. This will be a joint collaboration between Bruton Choral Society, St Mary’s Church Choir and King’s Bruton Chapel Choir, led by King’s Director of Music Ashley Marshfield. Over 100 singers will be accompanied by the Stringendo Ensemble, with David Bertie (trumpet) and Oliver Higgs (oboe). This promises to be an uplifting occasion, and one not to be missed!
A flowing folk fantasia of Celtic and original tunes. Violin, flute, mandolin, bouzouki, guitar and bass weave unexpected changes and tight rhythms in virtuosic explorations of music old and new.
It’s been a remarkable few years for Irish songwriter Lisa O’Neill. Lisa O’Neill’s mesmerising voice is one of the most evocative in modern folk music. You might recognise her magnificent, deeply emotional cover of Bob Dylan’s “All The Tired Horses” from the final episode of Peaky Blinders but the Irish musician’s 2023 album, All Of This Is Chance, was inspired by the natural world and the deep, old sounds that lie within it, perfectly captured by O’Neill’s stark, redolent voice. Now she returns to the South-West for two special shows following the release of her new EP.
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