The 80th birthday celebration of composer Edward Gregson will be heard around the brass banding world this year, although there will also be anniversary feature close to his home too.

A special concert is being held on Saturday 14th June, at St. Elizabeth's Church, Ashley Road, Ashley, Cheshire, WA12 3QE at 2.00pm and will feature a wide ranging selection of his output covering all musical genres and composers who left a lasting impression him.

Quality

Speaking about the concert, his friend Paul Hindmarsh said: "The quality of Eddie's music resonates most strongly across over 60 years of active composition in its directness.

Moments of high drama, emotional disquiet or acerbic dissonance are offset by an innate melodicism drawn from his love of English modality.

The music selected is full of melody, from the elegant early Romance, composed during his first year as an undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music in the early 1960s to the mature concision and emotional range of String Quartet no. 2 (2017) — arguably his finest chamber work."

Linked items

He added: "Eddie has also requested items linked with his early musical experiences.

To that end we have just the second performance since its 1954 premiere of 'Three Pieces for piano' by Wilfred Heaton, who Eddie has described as "a composer's composer", and a selection of some favourite English songs from the 20th century.

Programme

The first half of the concert will see his early 'Romance for recorder and string quartet' (1964/ 2004) will sit alongside, 'Six Little Pieces for piano (1982) and his 'Five Songs of Innocence and Experience' (1980) as well as Wilfred Heaton's 'Three Piano Pieces' (1954) and the first performance of Simon Parkin's 'S8G80 for string quartet'.

The second half will also see works by composers Gary Carpenter, Helen Leach and Adam Gorb, as well as from Vaughan Williams, John Ireland and Roger Quilter that will sit with Gregson's own, 'Friday am (1981), Serenata Notturna for violin and piano (1998) and 'String Quartet No. 2' (2017)

The quality of Eddie's music resonates most strongly across over 60 years of active composition in its directnessPaul Hindmarsh

Featured artists

The featured artists include Rebecca Afonwy-Jones (mezzo-soprano); Benedict Holland (violin); John Turner (recorder); Murray McLachlan (piano); Simon Parkin (piano) and the
Victoria String Quartet

Thanks to the support of the Ida Carroll Trust there is no admission charge. Refreshments will be available after the concert.