The Sandbach Concert Series is a series of eight monthly concerts per year, that takes place in
Sandbach
Sandbach (pronounced ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East borough of Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach, Elworth, Ettiley Heath and Wheelock, Cheshire, Wheelock. At the 2021 United Kingd ...
,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
. Each event begins with a Spotlight Concert that showcases a number of young musicians from local schools, before the main concert featuring professional musicians.
[William Upton, "Sound of Sandbach", ''Cheshire Life'' magazine, August 2011]
page 161
/ref> There is also an art exhibition, and raffle raising money for charitable causes. There have been over 50 concerts to date.
History
The Concert Series was conceived by harpist Lauren Scott and co-founded in 2010 with her husband, the composer and saxophonist Andy Scott as Musical Director.["Sandbach Concert Series is a Winner", ''Local Life!'' magazine, January 2011, page 63] Following a presentation to the local Council in July 2010, funding was secured from Sandbach Town Council, Cheshire East Council
Cheshire East Council is the local authority for Cheshire East, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs th ...
, and Arts Council England
Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council o ...
with the National Lottery National Lottery may refer to:
*National Lottery (Ireland), the state lottery of Ireland
*National Lottery (United Kingdom), the lottery franchise in the United Kingdom
*South African National Lottery, established in 2000
*A number of countries con ...
, and the first concert debuted on the evening of Wednesday 29 September 2010. The concert is non-profit making, and run by volunteers. In 2016, the organisation became a registered charity.
Sandbach Young Musician of the Year
In 2015, the Concert Series launched the Sandbach Young Musician of the Year, an annual competition "open to individual performers aged 19 and under who have performed at one of the Sandbach Concert Series Spotlight concerts during the previous calendar year". The first final was held on 18 April 2015 at Sandbach Town Hall during the annual Sandbach Transport Festival. The competition was won by Alex Flanders, with prizes awarded by Sandbach Mayor Elsie Alcock.
Performers
Notable performers have included Craig Ogden
Craig Ogden is an Australian classical guitarist whose albums have topped the UK classical charts. He is Principal Lecturer in Guitar at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK.
Ogden began playing guitar at the age of seven, an ...
, Chris Stout
Chris Stout (born 1976) is a Scottish fiddle/violin player from Shetland, now based in Glasgow. Stout grew up in Fair Isle and lived there until 8 years of age before moving to Sandwick on the Shetland Mainland, then on to Glasgow in the 1990s ...
& Catriona McKay, Gwilym Simcock,Bramwell Tovey
Bramwell Tovey (11 July 1953 – 12 July 2022) was a British conductor and composer.
Life and career
Tovey was educated at Ilford County High School, the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His formal music education was as ...
, Linda Richardson, and Tina May and pianist Nikki Ile.["Friends to perform notable jazz finale", ''Chester Chronicle'', 19 June 2014, News section, Page 43]
online, $$$
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandbach Concert Series
2010 establishments in England
Classical music festivals in England
Music festivals in Cheshire
Music festivals established in 2010
Sandbach