Toad Lane Concerts’ successful pilot
COMING out of the 14-month torpor of the pandemic, the Toad Lane Concerts at St Mary in the Baum reverberated again on Wednesday, May 26.
Despite the unavoidable short notice and the fact that Step 3 of government easing meant that people had made other arrangements, nearly 30 people were in attendance.
The concert series was given Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service on June 2, 2020 but was closed at the time because of the epidemic.
This will be celebrated at the earliest convenience when the concerts are allowed to resume fully.
Strict Covid-19 security prevailed – risk assessments, Track and Trace, hand sanitizer, face masks, social distancing, etc.
The wearing of masks did not diminish the appreciation of the audience.
The prize-winning graduate of the double course of RNCM and Manchester University, Jonathan Ellis played a celebratory programme of piano works including Haydn, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Liszt’s transcription of Wagner’s Tristan, topped with an encore of the monumental Hungarian Rhapsody.
Jonathan the regular favourite accompanist for singers, instrumentalists and chamber music and a soloist in his own right truly brought this triumphant event to life.