What's coming up?
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CANCELLED
Nuances - Remo Vinciguerra, piano & Lisa De Simone, violin Sunday, 16 February, 5pm We are sorry to announce that - owing to illness - we have had to cancel this concert. We hope to reschedule it in the autumn. An exceptionally rare chance to hear a master musical communicator at work. Leading Italian pianist, composer and teacher, Remo Vinciguerra, is visiting Brighton briefly and St Mary's is fortunate enough to host him in recital with violinist Lisa De Simone on Sunday, 16th February. One of the most exciting and innovative of piano teachers for children, Remo infuses Classical music with the languages of Jazz and Pop to stimulate interest in his young students. His musical fairytales such as La storia delle note ('The story of the notes') and L’anatroccolo stonato ('The out-of-tune duckling') have been taught around the world. His compositions for adults are a similarly beguiling, intriguing combination of Classical infused with Jazz. This is a very special opportunity to hear and see a maestro of the keyboard. |
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Festival of Contemporary Music for All
Saturday & Sunday, 7/8 March - £5 to £25 The third Festival of ContemporaryMusic for All will take place across the UK and Europe over the weekend of 7–8 March 2020, building on the success of the 2016 and 2018 festivals. St Mary’s is proud to be one of these centres, offering a weekend of participation in new music for all ages and abilities. The weekend is open for you to participate as an instrumentalist or singer, or simply to immerse yourself in an amazing musical experience. |
Participation costs £25 (£20 CoMA ensemble members, £5 students).
Pre-register by sending an email to sussex@coma.org with your name and indicating which level of payment you are eligible for.
The public concerts are listed below, with links to buy tickets. Tickets will also be available on the door.
Hearkening to the Earth and Stars
Saturday, 7 March, 1pm - £5/£3, free for festival participants
In this short concert Brighton-based instrumental group CoMA Sussex, directed by Steve Dummer, presents a varied and stimulating contemporary programme. Included are two works celebrating the environment, written for the group by one of its members, Diego Monsalve, and pieces on cosmic themes commissioned for this year's Festival of Contemporary Music for All. Booking link: WeGotTickets.
Movements, Instruments and Voices
Saturday, 7 March, 4pm - £8/£5, free for festival participants
Drawn from Europe's top contemporary music soloists and resident at St Mary's throughout the weekend, The Riot Ensemble will perform their own pieces, including some specially commissioned for this year's Festival of Contemporary Music for All. Under the genial direction of Steve Dummer, they'll also join all-comer participants in the festival commission Three Movements by Kate Whitley and in Patrick Harrex's Instruments and Voices. Booking link: WeGotTickets.
Celebrating New Music Brighton
Sunday, 8 March, 1pm - £8/£5, free for festival participants
Continuing a collaboration that started in 2017 and has included a music video project, CoMA Sussex plays pieces by past and present members of New Music Brighton, a thriving association of Sussex-based composers. Some of these works were written specifically for CoMA Sussex and were workshopped with their composers participating in rehearsals. Booking link: WeGotTickets.
Prisoners and Conscience
Sunday, 8 March, 4pm - £8/£5, free for festival participants
This time led by Aaron Holloway-Nahum, their artistic director, The Riot Ensemble will perform alongside allcomer participants in Frederic Rzewski’s Attica, a response to the 1971 Attica State Prison uprising and in Tim Parkinson’s Second Song for Many, an atmospheric lament for recently extinct species, specially composed for this year's Festival of Contemporary Music for All. And there will be more wonderful music from The Riot Ensemble playing on their own. Booking link: WeGotTickets.
About CoMA
CoMA (Contemporary Music for All) is the UK’s leading organisation promoting contemporary music through participation. Since 1993 it has been commissioning leading UK and international composers to write music which, though sometimes aesthetically challenging, suits the technical abilities of amateur musicians. CoMA nurtures a national network of ensembles that rehearse regularly and it runs one-off events open to instrumentalists and singers of all abilities.
Pre-register by sending an email to sussex@coma.org with your name and indicating which level of payment you are eligible for.
The public concerts are listed below, with links to buy tickets. Tickets will also be available on the door.
Hearkening to the Earth and Stars
Saturday, 7 March, 1pm - £5/£3, free for festival participants
In this short concert Brighton-based instrumental group CoMA Sussex, directed by Steve Dummer, presents a varied and stimulating contemporary programme. Included are two works celebrating the environment, written for the group by one of its members, Diego Monsalve, and pieces on cosmic themes commissioned for this year's Festival of Contemporary Music for All. Booking link: WeGotTickets.
Movements, Instruments and Voices
Saturday, 7 March, 4pm - £8/£5, free for festival participants
Drawn from Europe's top contemporary music soloists and resident at St Mary's throughout the weekend, The Riot Ensemble will perform their own pieces, including some specially commissioned for this year's Festival of Contemporary Music for All. Under the genial direction of Steve Dummer, they'll also join all-comer participants in the festival commission Three Movements by Kate Whitley and in Patrick Harrex's Instruments and Voices. Booking link: WeGotTickets.
Celebrating New Music Brighton
Sunday, 8 March, 1pm - £8/£5, free for festival participants
Continuing a collaboration that started in 2017 and has included a music video project, CoMA Sussex plays pieces by past and present members of New Music Brighton, a thriving association of Sussex-based composers. Some of these works were written specifically for CoMA Sussex and were workshopped with their composers participating in rehearsals. Booking link: WeGotTickets.
Prisoners and Conscience
Sunday, 8 March, 4pm - £8/£5, free for festival participants
This time led by Aaron Holloway-Nahum, their artistic director, The Riot Ensemble will perform alongside allcomer participants in Frederic Rzewski’s Attica, a response to the 1971 Attica State Prison uprising and in Tim Parkinson’s Second Song for Many, an atmospheric lament for recently extinct species, specially composed for this year's Festival of Contemporary Music for All. And there will be more wonderful music from The Riot Ensemble playing on their own. Booking link: WeGotTickets.
About CoMA
CoMA (Contemporary Music for All) is the UK’s leading organisation promoting contemporary music through participation. Since 1993 it has been commissioning leading UK and international composers to write music which, though sometimes aesthetically challenging, suits the technical abilities of amateur musicians. CoMA nurtures a national network of ensembles that rehearse regularly and it runs one-off events open to instrumentalists and singers of all abilities.
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Brighton Voices Spring Concert
Directed by Nick Andrews, with Tony Rutherford, tenor Hiawatha's Wedding Feast and a few Gilbert & Sullivan favourites Saturday, 28 March, 6pm - £5 Nick Andrews directs Brighton Voices and tenor Tony Rutherford in Hiawatha's Wedding Feast (1898) the first in Samuel Coleridge-Taylor's trilogy of cantatas based on Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha. The concert is rounded off by some Gilbert and Sullivan favourites, including the Finale from Act 1 of the Pirates of Penzance. A perfect pre-dinner Spring concert to herald longer days and lighter evenings. Tickets £5 - available on the door. The church is warm, wheelchair accessible, and music-loving dogs on a lead are welcome. |
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Fine Music for Free
Alice Farrarese, cello - with Ivana Peranic, cello Pieces by Boccherini, Bach, Popper, Brahms and Fauré Saturday, 4 April, 6pm - FREE We're thrilled to be opening this year's Fine Music for Free summer recital series with young Brighton cellist Alice Ferrarese's debut recital, featuring Fauré's dramatic and evocative Elegy. There is also the Andante from Popper's Sonata for two cellos, Op. 16, which Alice will be performing with her teacher (and St Mary's favourite) Ivana Peranic.
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Fine Music for Free
Rose Berelowitz, soprano and Nick Andrews, piano Arias from operas by Dvorak, Handel & Mozart Saturday, 18 April, 6pm - FREE It's a delight to welcome another young performer to St Mary's for the second of our 2020 Fine Music for Free series. Soprano Rose Berelowitz sings a selection of gorgeous opera arias, including music by Dvorak, Handel and Mozart. Accompanied by Nick Andrews, the songs will be interspersed with a suite of piano pieces by Francois Couperin. As with all our recitals in this series, it's free and includes complimentary refreshments. But please put something in the retiring collection if you can, as it all goes towards creating more free and affordable music performances at St Mary's for everyone to enjoy. We're wheelchair accessible and dog friendly. For other concerts in the series, please see our Fine Music for Free page. |
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Brighton College Choral Society's Spring Concert
Brahms' Requiem Thursday, 30 April, 7pm Tickets: £10/£8 concession - available on the door Brighton College Choral Society and Orchestra return to St Mary's with their big sound to sing Johannes Brahms' magnificent German Requiem. A superb evening of fine choral music - not to be missed. Tickets at £10 each or £8 for concession will be available from the College closer to the date, and will also be sold on the door. |
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Fine Music for Free
Anna Kolesnik-Neal, piano Preludes & Etudes by Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninov and Scriabin Saturday, 9 May, 6pm - FREE A favourite at St Mary's, pianist Anna Kolesnik-Neal returns for the first of two performances this series, with a delightful programme of Preludes and Etudes by Chopin, Debussy, Rachmaninov and Scriabin. As with all our recitals in this series, it's free and includes complimentary refreshments. But please put something in the retiring collection if you can, as it all goes towards creating more free and affordable music performances at St Mary's for everyone to enjoy. We're wheelchair accessible and dog-friendly. |
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The Great Escape
The Festival for New Music At St Mary's on Thursday & Friday, 14 - 15 May 2020 Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, The Great Escape is the festival for new music, showcasing 500 emerging artists from all over the world in 30+ walkable venues across Brighton, including two fabulous evenings at St Mary's Church! It’s the first place to discover your new favourite artist and see them in an intimate setting before they go on to headline major festival stages. TGE is also attended by the music industry who are on the hunt for the next big thing. Book advance tickets now to save on the May price, and watch this space for a link to the St Mary's line-up when it's announced. |
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Fine Music for Free
Piers Maxim, organ Saturday, 23 May, 6pm - FREE Piers Maxim, Director of Music and Organist at Great Malvern Priory, returns to his hometown with a fine organ recital. The programme includes Mendelssohn's Sonata in F minor Opus 65 No.1, written in response to the request from an English publisher, published in 1845, and very much suited to the Victorian Bevington organ in St Mary's. Mendelssohn had a great love for Bach, and the programme will begin with J.S.Bach's toccata-like Pièce d'Orgue BWV 572. As with all our recitals in this series, it's free and includes complimentary refreshments. But please put something in the retiring collection if you can, as it all goes towards creating more free and affordable music performances at St Mary's for everyone to enjoy. We're wheelchair accessible and dog-friendly. |
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Fine Music for Free
Brighton Chamber Ensemble Mozart's Kegelstatt Trio & pieces by Barry Mills and Rebecca Clarke Saturday, 13 June, 6pm - FREE Members of the Brighton Chamber Ensemble, Steve Carroll-Turner (piano), Zoe Davies (clarinet) and Ros Hanson-Laurent (viola) return to St Mary's to play Mozart's Trio in E-flat major, K.498, the Kegelstatt. The programme also features a new piece by Brighton-based composer Barry Mills for the same combination of piano, viola and clarinet, along with duo for viola and clarinet by English composer Rebecca Clarke. As with all our recitals in this series, it's free and includes complimentary refreshments. But please put something in the retiring collection if you can, as it all goes towards creating more free and affordable music performances at St Mary's for everyone to enjoy. We're wheelchair accessible and dog-friendly. |
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The Anöna Trio
Friday, 19 June, 7pm Tickets tbc Jazz singer Imogen Ryall brings the Anöna Trio to St Mary's, with Mark Edwards on piano and Julian Nicholas on saxophone. This is a rare chance to hear their very special sound in the lush acoustic of St Mary's. But don't take our word for it; this is what one of Jazz's finest vocalists, Claire Martin, had to say about them: Imogen Ryall is without doubt a hidden gem on the UK jazz scene. With her lush palette of vocal textures, her delivery is always tender, authentic and from the heart. The exceptional pairing of pianist Mark Edwards and saxophonist Julian Nicholas make up the Anona Trio and they dance beautifully around her voice to take us on a sonic journey of venturesome arrangements of much loved standards alongside well crafted originals which give Ryall’s distinctive gift of lyric writing the perfect platform. |
Regular events
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The Purlers Charity Knitting Group
Monday mornings, 10am-12 noon Every Monday morning a cheerful bunch of knitters gathers in St Mary's Church to knit items for local and international charities. Since 2014 our knitters have made dozens of blankets for displaced families in northern Iraq and Syria and scores of tiny baby jackets for the Trevor Mann Baby Unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. They also make twiddle muffs, which are occupational therapy mittens for people living with advanced dementia. Please drop in if you fancy some convivial knitting and conversation time while also doing something practical to help people in need. We provide all materials, tea and biscuits, and friendly chat, while our lead knitter Jane will also teach you how to knit if it's a skill you've yet to acquire. |
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Art & Inspiration Discussion Group
Monday afternoons, 2.15pm 20 January - 2 March 2020 - FREE Our Art & Inspiration Group is back on Mondays at 2.15pm, running from 20 January through to 2 March. It's a small, friendly discussion group, open to all, which is led by a different speaker each week exploring a work or theme in art, music or literature that is close to his or her heart. We start off on 20 January with Clay and Creativity, led by Sarah Samuel. The group is free to attend and meets over coffee in the church, which is wheelchair accessible and well heated! Each session lasts about an hour and a half. Please phone 01273 698601 if you have any queries. |
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Kemptown Koalas Parent & toddler group
Tuesday afternoons, 2.30-4pm Returns 21 January 2020 St Mary's friendly and inclusive parent & toddler group runs in our church hall on Tuesday afternoons from 2.30 to 4 pm. The entrance to the hall is in St Mary's Place, immediately to the east of the church. We welcome people of all faiths and none and hope you'll feel comfortable with us whatever your beliefs. To help cover the costs of snacks for the littlies and afternoon tea for the grown-ups, we ask that parents pay £1.50 for the first child, and £1 for a second. But this isn't obligatory. Please speak in confidence with one of our volunteers if this would prevent you from bringing a child to the Koalas. To keep up-to-date with special events and holiday breaks, please see the Koalas' Facebook page. |
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Freedom Pilates for Men with Suzy Harrison
Tuesday evenings, 7-8pm New courses running from 7 January 2020 Experienced trainer Suzy Harrison is running one-hour pilates classes for men in St Mary's Church Hall on Tuesday evenings. The class is geared towards the needs of a male body with lots of stretching at the end. Increase good posture, flexibility and core strength. Suzy says: 'Come and have a free trial class and start the journey towards a more flexible, better postured you.' The drop-in price for a class is £7 or book a course of 8 for £50. For more information email Suzy here or visit her Facebook page. |
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The Young Actors Group: Drama classes for 8-15 year-olds
Thursdays, 4pm and 6pm New term begins 16 January 2020 The Kemp Town branch of Brighton's Young Actors Group is back in our church hall for a new term of classes on 16 January 2020. YAG offers superb tuition and professional tips and advice for budding actors, and the classes are also a great way of helping children improve confidence and self-esteem. The classes for younger children (aged 8 to 11) are on Thursday afternoons, 4 pm to 6 pm, while the class for the older group (aged 12 to 15) runs Thursday evenings from 6 to 8 pm. Please see the Young Actors Group website for details of the courses, and also information about tuition fees and scholarship opportunities. The congregation at St Mary's sponsors two half-fee scholarships for children from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. |
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Kemp Town Talks
Free English-conversation classes Friday mornings, 10.30am-12.30pm Returns Friday, 17 January 2020 St Mary's holds free, drop-in classes for adults who need or would like to improve their English conversation skills. We have friendly, experienced EFL teachers who will get you talking confidently and help you understand colloquial usage. The group is small, free, friendly and welcoming. No need to book. Just turn up! Tea and coffee included. |
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Art Works - Free creativity classes
Saturdays, 11am - 12.30pm Begins Saturday, 4 January 2020 Would you like to explore your artistic potential? Find out if you could actually draw a passable cat? If so, come along to our small, friendly Art Works group at St Mary's on Saturday mornings at 11am. It's free and tuition and materials are provided for you, along with tea & coffee. No artistic experience or training necessary - just a willingness to explore what you may be able to do. |
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Bike for Life - Bicycle Maintenance Course
Saturdays, 12 noon - 6pm New courses starting in 2020 Bruce, from Bike for Life, will be returning to the church hall later this year with a three-part bicycle maintenance course. Each session runs for six hours on a Saturday, from 12 noon, and provides intensive, hands-on tuition. For dates, watch this space. For details and to book, please see Bike for Life's website or email Bruce or Ronnie via this link. |
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