Review

Richard Pearce, the renowned organist and choral conductor, treated a packed audience to a varied programme of organ music on Wednesday 17th March in St. Peter’s Church. He book-ended the concert with two works by JS Bach whom he considers the greatest composer of all time, but the rest of the music was by mainly … Read more

The music played by Arthur ‘Art’ Blakey (1919 – 1990) and his Jazz Messengers was the focus of a fine performance from six virtuosic players who enthralled the Petersfield audience with their own interpretations of a splendid selection of numbers from this legendary band leader. Blakey was for years the seed bed for so many … Read more

The 2024 Petersfield Musical Festival opened on 15th March with a lively evening of popular music that brought the singers of Encore Choirs and Legends to the festival for the first time. In her opening remarks, Festival chair Pamela Buckley welcomed Petersfield’s Mayor, J C Crissey and all the audience and performers, and invited everyone … Read more

Philip Young, PMF musical director, enjoyed a royal celebration at this year’s Family Concert. He writes: There was a royal theme to the Family Concert presented by Basingstoke Symphony Orchestra and their conductor, Stephen Scotchmer, on Sunday 17th March. Children were invited to come dressed as their favourite king or queen, prince or princess, and … Read more

It is always a thrill to attend the Youth Concerts during the Petersfield Musical Festival and toenjoy the immense wealth of musical talent that exists in local schools. This year was no exception and the capacity audiences were royally entertained by over 300 singers and instrumentalists. The concert opened with a group of songs collectively … Read more

A capacity audience was treated to an uplifting all-Mozart programme on 16th March conducted by Festival President Jonathan Willcocks standing in for an indisposed Paul Spicer. From the revolutionary opening bar of the much-loved Symphony No.40 in G minor, Mozart’s musical ingenuity, ground-breaking orchestration and effortless gift for melody were clearly in evidence. Southern Pro … Read more

Two young musicians stole the show at the lunch-time concert in St. Peter’s Church on 19th March for recipients of grants from the Michael Hurd Fund for Young Musicians.  Rachel Newberry (voice) and Rebecca McNaught (cello) gave a stellar performance which was warmly received by the capacity audience. Rachel, a second-year student at the Trinity … Read more

21 March, Petersfield Festival Hall At the top of Wenceslas Square in Prague, the recently refurbished National Museum holds many treasured musical items. There are manuscripts by Beethoven and Mozart as well as relics of Bohemia’s most renowned and nationalistic musical sons: Bedrich Smetana (his oboe) and Antonin Dvorak (a draft of his Symphony from … Read more

When a well-filled St. Peter’s Church greeted the singers of The Gemini Consort at the start of their Petersfield Musical Festival concert on Sunday night, the spirit of Ann Pinhey was wonderfully evident. Ann contributed so much to the music of Petersfield and it was entirely appropriate that this concert, which she planned and would … Read more

Saturday March 16, 2024 Dear Petersfield Musical Festival Mozart singers, Congratulations on a really exceptional performance that you gave of the wonderful Mozart – Mass in C Minor on Saturday night. I hope that in our rehearsals together we had homed in on what are the real essentials in the best levels of choral performance … Read more