The Elgar Festival held its first event at Elgar's Birthplace today with Performers April Fredrick, soprano ; Eric McElroy, piano ; Grace Shepherd, violin & Joseph Campbell Powell, narrator. A rich tapestry of longing and loss, it features poems and letters by Gurney and others that emerged from their time in the trenches and the collective grief, processing and change that followed it.
April Fredrick , soprano and Eric McElroy , piano played to an audience in the Huntigton Hall. The programme consisted of : Elgar: Speak, Music, from Op. 41 Elgar: Rondel, from Op. 16 Elgar: Pleading, from Op. 48 Lennox Berkeley: Counting the Beats Ian Venables: Love’s Voice, Op. 22 Arthur Bliss: The Hare Arthur Bliss: This Night Arthur Bliss: The Fallow Deer at the Lonely House Eric McElroy: A Dead Man’s Embers
At The Firs (Elgars Birthplace) the Elgar Festival ran a workshop for talented singers run by Ian Venables and April Fredricks. Five singers were out through their paces with constructive help along the way
