Halesworth Parish Church, St Mary’s

St Mary’s is one of those beautiful parish churches that has suffered as fewer people attend for religious purposes. A lofty building built in the 15^th Century, it is well suited to music making and performance of all sorts. The church uses its facilities to raise funds for the maintenance of the fabric of the building where it can.

St. Mary's Parish Church, Halesowrth

The Red Barn Orchestra is a chamber sized ensemble assembled by Bob and Lesley Silvester. Fortunately, there is no lack of gifted amateur musicians in Norfolk and Suffolk. Many of these are amateur in name only, having either studied in their youth but chosen a non-performing career or retired to East Anglia from the professional ranks. I am lucky enough to be member of this small group on viola. It’s an excellent opportunity for me to challenge and test my stroke recovery.

This group is performing a small number of popular pieces – Symphony No. 4 (Wm Boyce), Pavane (Gabriel Faure), Brook Green Suite (Gustav Holst), 8 Russian Folk Songs (Anatoly Liadov) and the Water Music (selection) (G F Handel) – on Wednesday 13 July 2016 in St Mary’s Church. The playing starts at 12.30 and I gather that food will also be available for the audience.