Hello, hello!
It boggles my mind that we're already on the home stretch to the end of the year. There's still All Saints and All Souls Day, Christ the King and Advent to get through before the Christmas season comes at us. However, in the midst of all this, I still have one official recital scheduled for the year with Thomas Summerfield at St Agnes' Anglican Parish in Glen Huntly.
DATE
Saturday 18 November 2023 6:00 PM - 7:15 PM
LOCATION
Saint Agnes’ Anglican Church
114 Booran Road, Glen Huntly VIC 3163
Tickets $25/$20, under 16's free.
Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/CLXUQ
Where is Glen Huntly? It's a suburb of Melbourne about 25 minutes south of the CBD. And how on earth did I come to organise a recital here you ask? Well, the former priest at St John's Corowa, Peter Richards, (where I have run the Lessons and Carols for the past three years), relocated to this parish and he invited us. Here's the introduction message from the parish website to give you an idea of their community:
St Agnes’ Glen Huntly is a welcoming and hospitable faith community, celebrating God’s compassion and love for all. As an Anglo-Catholic church, our faith, worship and community life finds its ultimate expression in encounter with the Risen Christ in Scripture and Sacrament. Together we are committed to growing in spirituality and service as disciples of Jesus, glorifying God and serving our local community.
Interestingly enough, there isn't any information on the OHTA website about the organ so I've had the Vicar take some photos for further investigation. John Maidment, who is on the OHTA council and knows many instruments in Victoria, believes he has enough information to put together an initial page to document it. Here's some photos of the console and organ:
Clearly this is a typical extension organ found in Australia and is probably just three ranks (Principal, Flute and String). There are no couplers because everything is pretty much available on both manuals. Given that there doesn't seem to be carpet and the organ is off the ground, perhaps the acoustic will be a little favourable? The next question is...what am I going to play with just three ranks?! Well that's partly the reason that the performance will comprise of another artist, Thomas Summerfield 😅! Of course that's not the only reason...the main reason is that he's a talented musician and it will be a good opportunity to play the repertoire he's worked hard on during the academic year—to an appreciative audience.
Here's our programme which I know you've all been curious to see.
Organ - James Flores
Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 549 - Johann Sebastian Bach
Ciacona in d-moll - Johann Pachelbel
Piano - Thomas Summerfield
Impromptu in C minor (Op. 90, No. 1) - Franz Schubert
Organ - James Flores
Suite en re mineur - Denis Bédard
Prélude
Fugue
Bicinium
Soliloque
Interlude
Écho
Rigaudon
Piano Duet - Thomas and James
Berceuse, Op. 56 (Dolly Suite) - Gabriel Fauré
Waltz in A - Johannes Brahms
Erbarme dich, mein Gott (from St Matthew Passion), BWV 244 - Johann Sebastian Bach arr. Jadassohn
Piano - Thomas Summerfield
Visions Fugitives, Op. 22 - Sergei Prokofiev
1: Lentamente; 4: Animato; 5: Molto giocoso; 6: Con eleganza; 7: Pittoresco (Arpa);
8: Commodo; 10: Ridicolosamente; 11: Con vivacità; 12: Assai moderato; 15: Inquieto
16: Dolente; 20: Lento irrealmente
Polonaise in C-sharp minor (Op. 26, No. 1) - Frédéric Chopin
Organ - James Flores
Prelude on Sine Nomine - Phil Lehenbauer
Audience to join in singing:
HYMN — For all the saints (SINE NOMINE)
As always, the concert will be recorded and shared on my YouTube channel for your enjoyment. I look forward to sharing it in due course.
Finally, these events come at some considerable expense—not just financially but personal time, family time and plenty of practice/rehearsal time. If you are in a position to help my musical endeavours, please see the many options via the link here: https://linktr.ee/james_flores
Best,
James Flores