Our annual music festival has acquired quite a following since we started it in 2009, and the 28th-30th of June saw our 5th Summer Weekend take place here at Ansells. This year we were delighted to welcome eminent actor Julian Glover, who joined Stephen Varcoe at the opening concert on Friday night – songs, poetry and readings about The Sea, with everything from dramatic shipwrecks to end-of-the-pier shows covered along the way. On Saturday night Crispian Steele-Perkins, one of the finest baroque trumpeters in the world, presented a fascinating and sometimes very amusing programme of music and stories about the trumpet and its history, demonstrating on a few of his dozens of instruments just why he has been at the top of his profession for so long. And as usual on Sunday our eight resident singing students gave an entertaining teatime recital of songs they’d prepared with Stephen during the course of the weekend sessions – a great way to round off another splendid weekend.
Next year’s festival will take place from Fri 27th-Sun 29th June – more details next spring, but put it in your diaries now!