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BRITISH & COMMONWEALTH
SOCIETY
Beatles 50th/BCS 70th
Anniversary Party
Excited audience: clockwise from top left: Moira
McLauchlan, Patti Campbell, Suzan Carter, Jane
Anderson
The big double anniversary has come
and gone. It certainly went off with a
bang! An overflow crowd of both BCS
members and the general public
filled the Jubilee Hall on 24th
September on a balmy night, happily
free of rain until the end. The
evening featured just over 10% of the
Fab Four’s 288 compositions, played
and sung on a wide variety of
instruments – including David Chew’s
cello – from solos to massed choir,
including The British School’s Class 6
band with a trio of girl singers.
The programme opened with Hard
Day’s Night by The Midnight Hour Band,
led by Neville Thorley, with Emerson
Ribeiro, Gustavo Camardella, Marcos
Cardoso and Rodrigo Borba, with
special guest Robin Brown on guitar
and guest singer Christine McNeal
singing Lady Madonna. It continued
with the SCM Beatles Choir, conducted
by Martin Hester, with Inês Rufino on
the piano, singing a medley with Tell Me
Why and four other songs including
an arrangement of Something by Martin.
This was followed by Rio’s own
Rice’n’Beans, Peter Napthine and
Mark Archer playing Honey Pie and I’ve
Just Seen a Face. Then The Midnight
Hour returned, with guest singer
Kevin Wick giving his rendering of
favourites Yesterday and Ticket to Ride,
and other classics.
After an interval in which the
audience was able to eat pizzas they
had ordered, or hot dogs from a stand
in the courtyard, and replenish their
drinks from the bar in the cloisters -efficiently
run by Robin and Ana Evans
and helpers – The British School Class
6 Band gave spirited renderings of Eight
Days a Week, Come Together and Let It Be.
The Midnight Hour band then played
the Beatles’ version of Happy Birthday,
with audience participation, to celebrate
the double Beatles 50th/BCS 70th
Anniversaries, followed by a few
appropriate words from our energetic
MC, Steve Rimmer. The evening wound
up with 9 Beatles classics to which
everyone danced enthusiastically. The
unforgettable evening ended with Hey
Jude, with both performers and
audience having matado saudades (an
untranslateable Portuguese expression
referring to feelings of nostalgia).
Very many thanks are due to Norma
Hester, Gaynor and Monica from the
BCS office on the gate (the office did
a lot of the arranging for tables and
setting up of the Jubilee Hall and the
bar), and Monica again for serving
salgadinhos – and, of course, to our
MC, Steve Rimmer and events chair
and one-man committee, Henry Adler.
[See a selection of photos of the occasion by
Fiona Brown on p.8 & in colour on the
BCS website]
Marilene Oliver – Artist Talk
Orixá by Marilene Oliver
Marilene Oliver is a visual artist from
the UK (currently living and working
in Rio de Janeiro) who uses digital
medical imaging as source material
for making artworks. Since 2001 she has
worked with MRI, PET and CT to create
print based sculptures and installations
that have been recognized and
exhibited internationally. In 2003 she
made a life size 'Family Portrait': a series
of four life size sculptures of her
immediate family made up of MRI
scans printed onto sheets of clear
acrylic stacked in order, resulting in a
row of ghostly floating figures. Since
working in Rio de Janeiro her work has
been heavily influenced by Brazilian
folklore and religion and she has
started to include seed beads and
ostrich feathers in her works.
Marilene Oliver will give an Artist Talk
presenting a selection of works made
since 2001. She will present the works,
explain the ideas behind them and
share the complex processes that
allow scientific data to be transformed
into thought provoking art objects.
BCS Christmas Party
“Christmas comes but once a year” –
and so does the BCS Christmas Party.
This year’s party will be similar to last
year’s – you don’t change a winning
team – you improve it!
Like last year, it will be a family event
for both adults and children. There’ll
be a special programme for the kids
so Mums, Dads and other adults can
enjoy the fun without worrying about
the kids. And the kids won’t have to
worry about their parents …
The entertainment will feature
Christmas music and, new this year,
music for Christmas! Like last year,
there’ll be carols around the piano
with Martin leading the singing.
Martin and his singers will also do
some performing of their own. New
this year will be a series of invited
guest performers including Christine,
Head of Music at the British School,