25th January at 12 noon: Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration – Fragility of Freedom

Peterborough residents are invited to remember the suffering and sacrifice of millions of people killed in genocides across the world including the Holocaust, at a commemoration service to mark Holocaust Memorial Day.

The event will take place in St John’s on Thursday 25 January 2024 at 12 noon.
The Mayor of Peterborough, Councillor Nick Sandford will lead a civic procession from the Town Hall at around 11.40am to Cathedral Square. Here, drama students from St Fisher Catholic High School in Park Lane, Peterborough, will perform a piece on the Guildhall, based on this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day theme ‘Fragility of Freedom’.

The procession and students will then move to St John’s Church for the service at 12noon. Following the service, the Mayor will give an address before the commemoration concludes with the laying of a wreath at the Holocaust memorial in St John’s Square.
The event will be broadcast on the council’s Facebook and YouTube channels for anyone who wants to watch it live.

Holocaust Memorial Day is commemorated worldwide on January 27 to remember the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust and the millions involved in genocides across the world. January 27 marks the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp.

Peterborough, has for a number of years, held its own commemoration as a public and inter-faith act of remembrance.

Councillor Nick Sandford, said: “The events taking place in Peterborough give us all the chance to remember the victims of genocide. Holocaust Memorial Day is a significant and poignant event in the world’s calendar providing the opportunity to reflect on the atrocities of the past and share their stories with future generations.”
To find out more about Holocaust Memorial Day visit https://www.hmd.org.uk/what-is…/this-years-theme/

That’s all for 2023!

Our 2023 programme of concerts and events has now ended, and all of our regular event strands (Tuesdays Till Two, Piccolo, and Sunday Serene Sounds) will be taking a break until February.  St John’s CIC has run a record 54 events this year, and Alun Williams, our programme manager, is already busy putting together our 2024 programme. Look out for first news of that early in the New Year.

Meanwhile, some dates for your diary:

Pianist Ida Pelliccioli – who will be performing in St John’s at 3.30pm on 25th Feb 2024. Photo by Simon Petit

Piccolo will return at 10.30am on Thursday 1^st February when harpist Eleanor Turner will be performing.
Tuesdays Till Two lunchtime concerts will resume at their usual time of 1pm from Tuesday 13^th February. Our first performers of the year will be local folk duo Pennyless, who’ll be performing at Tuesdays Till Two for the first time.
Our first Sunday Serene Sounds concert of the year will take place at 3.30pm on Sunday 25^th February and will be given by Italian pianist Ida Pelliccioli.

Fans of organ music may like to know that organist Fergus Black will be playing a seasonal selection of pieces in St John’s from 10.15pm on Christmas Eve, just prior to our Midnight Mass at 11pm.

Details are also available in PDF format from the church website.

Autumn Concerts and Events Part 2

Lunchtime Jazz Cafés

We’re sorry that we’ve fallen rather behind with the publicity for the second half of our autumn season of concerts, which means that unfortunately there won’t be our usual flyer for  the next few concerts. We’re doing our best to catch up, but it may be a little while before full details are available for all of our remaining Tuesday lunchtime concerts.

Here’s a brief listing of what’s in store for you over the next few weeks:
31^st October: Andy Wild Hughes (Guitar)
7^th November: Gabriella Pineda-Rodrigues and Steve Bean Duo
14^th November: Eleanor Turner and Alan Thomas (Harp & Guitar)
21^st November: Moises Sanchez and Friends (Latin music)
28^th November: Ivan Garford and Derek Scurll Jazz Duo (Piano & Vibes)
5^th December: Sylvester Gold and Steve Hession  (Soul/Blues)

Other events

Peterborough Art Society’s Autumn Exhibition will once again be taking place in St John’s between 6^th and 11^th November. Opening hours are 10am to 4pm.

St John’s will also be hosting live movie concert “Right in the Eye” as part of the Gateway Film Festival at 7pm on 8^th November. Before that, at 5pm, there’s a fun practical “Focus on Sound” workshop suitable for ages 8+. This is a pay what you can event with a suggested donation of £3. Please see this Eventbrite page for more details.

Later in the month St John’s will be open during the city’s Christmas Lights Switch On celebration, which takes place from 5-7.30pm on Friday 24^th November, and then the next day there’ll be an Art and Craft Fair in the church, open between 10am and 4pm.

15th December at 7pm: Christmas Together

Events at St John’s is proud to present “Christmas Together”, an evening of Christmas music and readings, songs and carols featuring the Take Note Community Choir and the bold sound of the City of Peterborough Concert Band. With around ninety performers, and audience carols and songs too, not to mention unusual Christmassy interval refreshments from the Tuesdays Till Two pop-up café team, this concert in the beautiful setting of St John’s Church will be very special.

Our Christmas concert is our biggest concert of the year and we are expecting tickets for this year’s concert to sell fast. Advance tickets will be available online for only £8.50 until 1.30pm on the day of the concert. The door ticket price will be £10- if any tickets are available on the night! Tickets for children are available for £3 either online or from St John’s.

5th December: Lunchtime Jazz Café – Sylvester Gold and Steve Hession (Vocals & Piano)

Our lunchtime jazz season concludes with singer Sylvester Gold, who’ll be bringing us an eclectic mix of soul, blues and easy listening songs, with Steve Hession on piano (playing his third Tuesday Till Two date this year!).

As ever St John’s will be open for an hour before the concert begins, with volunteers from the pop-up café team offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks. All profits from the café will go towards funding our future programme of events.

The concert will start promptly at 1pm. Admission is free, but we do ask those who can afford it to make a donation to help cover our costs. The suggested donation is £5.

28th November: Lunchtime Jazz Café – Ivan Garford and Derek Scurll Jazz Duo (Piano & Vibes)

Our lunchtime jazz season continues with two musicians who last performed for us in 2018 as part of a jazz quartet. Pianist Ivan Garford (pictured right), and percussionist Derek Scurll are both classically trained musicians with a long standing love of jazz. They’ll be performing a mix of jazz standards, their own arrangements, and Ivan’s compositions.

As ever St John’s will be open for an hour before the concert begins, with volunteers from the pop-up café team offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks. All profits from the café will go towards funding our future programme of events.

The concert will start promptly at 1pm. Admission is free, but we do ask those who can afford it to make a donation to help cover our costs. The suggested donation is £5.

About the Ivan Garford and Derek Scurll Jazz Duo:

Ivan Garford studied music at Goldsmiths and the Royal Academy of Music. He has enjoyed a varied career as a performer, teacher and musical director.

Ivan’s interest in jazz started after leaving college when he formed Fenjazz, a group that invited known jazz artists to appear in the Fens. He accompanied artists such as Peter King, Don Rendell, Harry Beckett and Alan Barnes.

Derek Scurll is an accomplished performer on the various instruments in the percussion family. He studied music at Selwyn College, Cambridge and has had a varied career in Classical and Jazz circles. He studied the vibraphone with Roger Beaujoulais.

Ivan and Derek play regularly together, as a piano and vibes duo. During the lockdowns they produced the CD “Entrance” which features original compositions by Ivan.

25th November from 10am to 4pm: Art and Craft Fair

This Saturday there’s a chance to do your Christmas shopping while contributing to a good cause. In addition to our regular Cards for Good Causes stall, there’ll be an art and craft fair with 18 stall holders selling a variety of handmade jewellery, craft items, artwork etc. The Saturday café will be open throughout. All proceeds will go to the defibrillator fund, and there will also be a raffle with some great prizes donated by local businesses and restaurants.

Peterborough is craft fair central this Saturday as just around the corner on Priestgate there’s also Peterborough Museum’s Christmas Fayre and just over the river you can also enjoy The Green Backyard’s Christmas Fair from 11am to 3pm.

21st November: Lunchtime Jazz Café – Moises Sanchez and Friends (Latin)

A jazz café season at St John’s just wouldn’t be complete without the Latin music magic of Moises Sanchez and Friends. Last time they played for us, in our final summer outdoor concert in August, they managed to get not just the vicar, but two PCC members and a churchwarden dancing in the square, so be warned, this week you may need to bring a friend to guard your cake or coffee while you dance the lunchtime away!

As ever St John’s will be open for an hour before the concert begins, with volunteers from the pop-up café team offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks. All profits from the café will go towards funding our future programme of events.

The concert will start promptly at 1pm. Admission is free, but we do ask those who can afford it to make a donation to help cover our costs. The suggested donation is £5.

About Moises Sanchez:

Moises Sanchez is a musician, artist, and music producer based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. He has been performing since he was ten years old for different bands and now with his band Latino Sounds UK. Into Latin music, electronic, acoustic, experimental and rock music Moises will be performing acoustic versions of popular Latin and Spanish music and also his own material. He will be using experimental soundscapes with lovely melodies.

14th November: Lunchtime Jazz Café – Eleanor Turner and Alan Thomas (Harp & Guitar)

Our jazz café season continues with a concert that brings together one of our most regular performers of the past few years, harpist Eleanor Turner, and superb classical guitarist Alan Thomas, who is playing his first lunchtime concert here. They’ll be playing music by Einaudi, Astor Piazzolla, Charlie Parker and Kenny Dorham.

As ever St John’s will be open for an hour before the concert begins, with volunteers from the pop-up café team offering lots of home made sweet and savoury treats as well as hot and cold drinks. All profits from the café will go towards funding our future programme of events.

The concert will start promptly at 1pm. Admission is free, but we do ask those who can afford it to make a donation to help cover our costs. The suggested donation is £5.

About Eleanor Turner and Alan Thomas

Alan Thomas is a guitarist of many styles, notably jazz, electronic and contemporary music. He has given world premières of over fifty works, including pieces by Laurence Crane, Gabriel Erkoreka, Michael Finnissy, Christopher Fox, and Bryn Harrison, and in 1997 became the only guitarist ever to win first prize in the International Gaudeamus Interpreters Competition in Holland. Alan’s partnership with Eleanor began in 2011 when she had lessons with him, in preparation for that exact same competition – Eleanor went on to win the Second Prize (the first harpist to get to the final) – an amazing achievement but not one to match Alan’s triumph! In 2012, Eleanor and Alan released an album together and toured a show, both called Elusive Symmetry. They co-wrote and produced this work, all inspired by the graphic designs of Dutch artist M.C. Escher. Since then, Eleanor and Alan have worked together often, playing classical, tango, jazz and their own original music. Alan has recently released his first vocal album of entirely original music, played by Alan on synths as well as guitar. It’s called The Wind Among The Reeds and is available to download in all the usual places.
Find them on YouTube @AlanThomasGuitar and @EleanorStrings
or there websites:
https://www.alanthomas-guitar.com and https://www.eleanorturner.biz

11th November at 7pm: Remembrance Concert – Peterborough

All are warmly invited to join us on Saturday for our Remembrance Concert at St John’s Church, Cathedral Square. Tickets can be purchased on the door for £15 or £12 for senior citizens. Free for under 16s.

The concert will feature John Rutter’s Requiem