Concert captures spirit of the times
Music, poetry and songs will evoke 1918
All this week a Perth church has held World War I talks.
And this weekend there are acts of Remembrance plus a concert involving local schoolchildren on Tuesday.
Perth singer and actress Lesley Mackey has organised ‘Always With Us’ Armistice celebration concert at St Matthew’s.
On Tuesday she and husband Terry Wale, with Michael Ellacott on piano, will perform a tribute evening with pupils from Perth Academy performing in the first half.
Perth Academy pupils will begin the evening with music, providing instrumental soloists and the Perth Academy choir.
Then members of 7 Scots will be reading some ‘letters home’.
Lesley Mackie, Terry Wale, Michael Ellacott and Col Andy Middlemiss take over the concert’s second half with music, poetry and song to bring the 1918 era to life.
And among the sombreness of the Remembrance events this concert will encourage the audience to join in with familiar songs as a joyous celebration of the end of that war.
Lesley said: “Our programme has songs, poetry and stories. We will give everyone the words using a projector so everyone can sing too.”
Tickets cost £5, including
One of the WWI displays in St Matthew’s Church with (l-r): Janet Martin, Morag Bull, Fiona Bruce and Fiona McGinness a glass of wine and nibbles. 24 Perth Academy pupils Schoolchildren can go free. perished in WWI. Their names were
St Matthews was the Black Watch recorded in the school magazine battalion church in WWI. alsong with when they enlisted,
The church has a thoughtprovoking served, went missing and were collaboration with the announced dead. Perth Academy ‘Flowers of the Their stories and photographs Forest’ project until November 13. and those of the others are
There is a display of information explained in the display, which is about the 91 service personnel who open between 10am and 3pm daily appear on St Matthew’s four WWI up to Tuesday. memorials, many of whom were Using funding from the Armed former Perth Academy pupils. Forces Covenant Trust Fund, the church bought 10 transparent silhouettes to be displayed as part of the ‘There but not There’ national initiative.
Church volunteer Fiona Bruce: “We chose to name the silhouettes, picking the oldest and youngest from each of our four war memorials, and one is of a female who died, a nurse Mabel Milne who died in a hospital air raid.
“Bringing them out, one by one, to occupy seats in the church reminds us of the empty seats that families witnessed in the conflict.
“When I started work on researching the war memorial names I had to admit we knew very little about these actual people. They lived in the High Street, they came from Craigie, they were real people, greatly mourned.”
David Dykes from Perth Academy said the congregation of St Matthew’s is taking part in the school’s Walk of Remembrance and Gratitude today.
“Students will set out from the old Academy building in Rose Terrace,” he said. “The school was there from 1807 to 1932.
“We’ll walk up Tay Street and into the church, recharge with bacon rolls and then walk one and a bit miles up to the school.”
David added: “Czeslaw Milosz, a Polish soldier, said something I think explains it perfectly. He said ‘The living owe it to those who no longer can speak to tell their story for them.’”