The Kirckman concept

by BILL NEWMAN

The 2004/5 season of the Kirckman Concert Society, Musical Director Neil Black, OBE, with the backing of Sarah Gordon Concert Management, continues to be a major focal point of live musical interest in London. A charitable instititution, with The Chase Charity being their main funder since 1963, the society provides full coverage and promotion of young singers, instrumentalists and chamber groups of considerable talent and virtuosity.

It has a convivial 'family type' atmosphere which pervades all events, whereby audiences can share and increase their own mutual interests, personal knowledge with forthcoming news concerning the movements of all featured performers. This factor I have endeavoured to express to the best of my own knowledge and personal enthusiasm in several concerts already with reviews for M&V. Neil, Sarah, together with distinguished older personalities like that wonderful singer, Thomas Hemsley are generally on hand to share views and overall impressions. Gone are those days when music making used to be a stiff-shirted form of entertainment. Nowadays, a free mailing list is available from sarah DOT gordon AT easynet DOT co DOT uk or +44 (0)20 7483 2681 -- so, if you are not yet a partaker of some of the best that music can offer, make it a New Year resolution to start now!

Spreading one's choice, and the need for other locations to enable commuters to 'at all costs get to all concerts on time' -- 7.30pm is the deadline -- is all-important. Then, there is always a desire to gradually establish wider coverage by including other venues more amenable to those who live or work say, in different parts of Greater London. This has included the addition of St John's, Smith Square to the current season. Please make sure that you leave home good and early whatever your destination, ie Westminster, Waterloo or Bond Street Tube Station. The London Underground System, with its generally hazardous signal failures, essential engineering works and the like, always causes frustrations and just plain anger with those hardly ever warned in advance. I just made St Johns, tearing up escalators (when they were working to plan), across dense traffic, the green areas surrounding the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey and so on, down the various side streets, by the skin of my teeth!

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