parish of killay january 2018 magazine

Music Society
Our December meeting was a festive
occasion, heartily enjoyed by all. We
were joined by our two church organists,
Lynne Novis and Chris Samuel, plus
some of their highly talented pupils and
friends. They entertained us with a
variety of instruments and even
encouraged us to join in!
Lynne introduced our first performer who
was Dafydd. He had just passed the
grade 4 examination with
Distinction on the alto saxophone.
He played the ‘Mexican Hat Dance’
and ‘Rudolph the Red Nosed
Reindeer’.
Next came Anna on the clarinet.
She had recently passed grade 5
with Distinction and entertained us
with ‘Music Hall’ and a lovely excerpt
called ‘Summer’, taken from the theme
music to the TV series ‘A Victorian Kitchen
Garden’. It was written specifically for the
clarinet.
Then, over to Chris who introduced Lucy
Li. She began learning to play the piano
at the age of 9 and is now 15. During
this short time, she has reached the high
standard of grade 7 and is waiting for the
results of her examination. Lucy played
the ‘Presto’ from a Haydn concerto.
Next came Sadie Newton on the flute.
She has reached grade 6 and Chris is
sometimes her accompanist. She played
Jerome Kern’s lovely song ‘Smoke Gets
In Your Eyes’.
Then Lynne took centre stage on an
enormous baritone saxophone. The
contra-bass is the lowest in sound and
the biggest. Young people sometimes
start on an alto saxophone
which only has half the number
of keys than is usual and is
therefore lighter. Lynne played
the ‘Londonderry Air’. This
arrangement was by Craig
Pickard and was, originally, for a
saxophone quartet but Chris, on
the piano, put in all the chords
that were missing. Chris then introduced
Julia Bytheway. Some years ago, Julia
was a concert musician on the clarinet
and piano but then gave it up for a while.
Chris met her 5 years ago and she began
again with her music. She has just
passed grade 8 on the piano. Chris and
Julia then played the first movement of
Beethoven’s 5th Symphony as a duet -
AMAZING!
Lynne then accompanied Josh on the C
melody saxophone, an instrument which
Parish of Killay 2018
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