Westbury Festival has announced the performers for its very popular series of free concerts called “Little Lunch Music” which is now in its 5th year
Festival chair, Ian Cunningham explained the history of Little Lunch saying, “Back in 2015, my friend and festival supporter, Gareth Bennett, came to me with an idea he had trialled in a larger Wiltshire town – short concerts at lunchtime. Gareth told me that audiences of 20 or so had not been uncommon, so we decided that we would give it a try in our smaller town; our largest audience to date has been just over 300!
“Gareth moved away from Wiltshire, but his place as co-ordinator was taken by Christine Jenkins who has used her extensive range of musical friends to keep the concerts at the highest quality and of a wide variety ever since.”
Christine said, “We are delighted by the range of audience members. The concerts have also become firm favourites with local schools, for whom live music is an important part of the national curriculum. We have been delighted to see mothers with babies and toddlers who find the informal atmosphere ideal, and residents from care homes with their carers. In one concert, we found that the youngest audience member was six months and the oldest was 98 years!”
All concerts begin at 1.00pm and last 45 minutes – 1 hour.
• Monday September 24th; jazz trio – This Side of Paris.
• Tuesday September 25th; piano & clarinet – Alan Burgess & Neil Moore.
• Wednesday September 26th; a capella choir – Sounding it Out.
• Thursday September 27th; oboe & piano – Raluca Vinson & Keith Harrison-Broninski.
• Friday September 28th; to be advised.
• Monday September 30th; flute, recorder, piano & a string quarter – The Eclectic Collections.
• Tuesday October 1st; piano duet – Two in One.
• Wednesday October 2nd; choir – Songbirds.
• Thursday October 3rd; schools’ concert.
• Friday October 4th; pipes – Penny Birstingl & Brian Tilley.
Festival organisers say, “Westbury Festival is very grateful to the Reverend Caroline Husband, the wardens and the PCC of All Saints Church for giving permission to use the church and their enthusiastic support for the festival as a whole.
“Questions:
“Can I bring my lunch?: Yes as long as it’s not too noisy or messy and you don’t leave litter. A quietly-eaten sandwich should be fine. There will also be refreshments on sale though – lovely home-made cakes and teas/coffees to tempt you.
“How do I get a ticket?: The concerts are free with no need to book, just turn up. There will be a voluntary, but entirely optional collection plate if you would like to help towards the church’s costs but we are delighted for you to be our guest.
“I can’t be there for the whole concert: That’s fine – just arrive/leave quietly – the church is open all day for anyone to come and go.”
