2019
Events > Reviews
What were BOA members up to in 2019?
Date | Venue | |
| 09 Dec 19 | Royal B'ham Conservatoire | RBC end-of-term event Members of BOA were again invited to join members of staff and BMus organ students at RBC for their end-of-term programme of organ music - and to hear the historic Susi Jeans instrument before its removal to a new home in 2020. |
| 18 Nov 19 | Little Blackwood, Moseley | Annual Dinner Thirty members filled the Little Blackwood Restaruant in Moseley on 18th November for BOA's annual dinner, when RBC's Head of Organ, DANIEL MOULT (left), was our guest and after-dinner speaker. |
| 19 Oct 19 | Liverpool | Visit to two cathedrals Former BOA member, now Assistant DoM of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral James Luxton, had arranged for us to have an hour playing the cathedral organ. We then transferred to the Anglican cathedral for Choral Evensong, which included the interment of the ashes of Noel Rawsthorne, after which Professor IAN TRACEY gave the annual organ recital. |
| 21 Sep 19 | St Mary's Tanworth | Annual Service Our 2019 Annual Service was a joint event with the local branch of the Royal School of Church Music. Choristers, including several BOA members, gathered at 2pm for rehearsal at the church of St Mary Magdelene in the Warwickshire village of Tanworth-in-Arden. BOA Council Member Anne Ellis conducted the choir with former BOA President Mick Perrier at the organ. More BOA members arrived at 4pm to join the congregation for this service of Choral Evensong. The anthem was "Blessed be the God and Father" by Wesley. |
| 01 Jul 19 | Edgbaston Old Church | Music for a Summer's Evening BOA members (and others) enjoyed a concert given by the Harborne Consort, directed by ALAN BROWNING with DAVID GRIFFITHS (organ). |
| 08 Jun 19 | Stoke area | Visit to Wolstanton, Victoria Hall Hanley and Stoke Minster The weather was not kind for our visit to north Staffordshire: it was dull, cool and rained all day! This obviously discouraged many members, as it was a disappointingly small group who braved the conditions. Nevertheless, those present enjoyed playing the large instruments in both St Wulstan's Wolstanton and Stoke Minister, of which the former was particularly interesting, having been recently constructed from redundant pipework rescued from other churches. A spectacular lunchtime duo recital by the Scott Brothers in the Victoria Hall added to our enjoyment. |
| 22 May 19 | St John's, Bromsgrove | Masterclass: French Romantic organ music STEVEN GRAHL, IAO President, Organist of Christ Church Cathedral Oxford and Associate Professor in the university's Music Department was our special guest at a joint meeting of the Birmingham & Worcestershire associations in Bromsgrove. He gave the second in our on-going series of joint-meeting masterclasses, this time with a focus on the French Romantic repertoire. Four volunteers played pieces by Franck, Guilmant, Vierne and Widor and received expert feedback from Steven that was appreciated by all present. |
| 29 Apr 19 | Broadway URC, Walsall | Quiz with Cheese & Wine ALAN TAYLOR was our host for a social evening that included a organ music quiz. There were excerpts from twenty pieces to identify from an audio CD. They were either Fugues or last movements (Finals) of organ symphonies or sonatas - or in three cases both! A good time was had by all present, but it was occasionally frustrating to know a piece so well but just not be able to put a name to it! |
| 30 Mar 19 | St Alban the Martyr | A G M and annual recital NIGEL MORRIS was elected President, following the retirement of Mick Perrier after six years of valued service. New Council Members ANNE ELLIS and ASHLEY WAGNER were welcomed. The meeting was followed by a recital given by new Council Member Ashley, whose programme included music by Alain, Bach, Couperin, Coleridge-Taylor, Satie, Widor and Fournier's delightful Cloches. A buffet lunch followed the recital. |
| 20 Feb 19 | St Chad's Cathedral | Fund-raising evening for our Leonard Gibbons Fund This was an evening of spectacular organ-playing, as DANIEL MOULT (Head of Organ, RBC) and four of his BMus students (JOSHUA HUGHES, OLIVER NEALE, WILLIAM PEART and ASHLEY WAGNER) delighted us with a programme ranging from Buxtehude to Duruflé. Donations were received for the Leonard Gibbons Fund. |
14 Jan 19 | Little Blackwood | Annual Dinner In a change from recent years, the association's Annual Dinner was held after rather than before Christmas - and at a restaurant in Moseley that we had exclusive use of for the evening: Little Blackwood. This proved to be a most agreeable occasion, enhanced after dinner by reminiscences from Dr SIMON LINDLEY (see photo), who has done so much for organ & choral music in Leeds over many years. |