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History A
Brief History of the High Peak Orchestra In
November 1975 Norman Chadwick (organiser for North West Co-Operative Society
Cultural Activities) placed an advert in the Buxton Advertiser, inviting local
musicians to a meeting in the Co-Operative Hall in Whaley Bridge to discuss the
formation of a new orchestra. The meeting was held on Monday 24th November 1975,
and was chaired by Mike Burton, a trombonist from Buxton.
There was sufficient support to start the North West Co-Operative
Orchestra. The
first rehearsal on 1st December 1975 was conducted by a friend of Norman, Brian
Taylor (deceased), who was conductor of the Thornsett Brass Band.
Brian was too busy to conduct regularly, but the orchestra was fortunate
to obtain the services of Fred Edwards who was the first regular conductor. The
Co-Op provided music stands. Early members included Tony Hill, Cyril Wheatcroft
(deceased) and son Neville, Bill Stansfield and the recently deceased Jim Guy.
Tea and biscuits during the break were provided by Amy Carmichael - the
start of a popular orchestra tradition. In
1978, the orchestra decided to sever links with the Co-Op.
The reason for this is not certain - it is reputed by some that several
concerts were given by the Co-Op orchestra,
although conflicting reports claim that the Co-Op's requests for the
orchestra to give a concert were the catalyst for the change.
The name New Peak Orchestra was chosen (to avoid confusion with the High
Peak Music Society), and
the Mechanics Institute in Whaley Bridge was used for rehearsals. About 2
dozen stands were donated by Buxton Rotary through Tony Hill.
A selection of music was obtained from the Education Department of the
former Manchester and Salford Co-Operative Society, and Whaley Town Council
contributed to the orchestra’s funds. After
some years, the Orchestra changed its name to High Peak Orchestra as this was
felt to be more appropriate. Fred Edwards left to concentrate on choral
conducting, and Wilfred Bennett became the new conductor.
Following
a performance of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto at St John’s Church in
Buxton, the soloist, Pan Hon Lee, leader of the Hall‚
agreed to be President.
This was despite the fact that he left after the refreshment break when
the power supply failed, thankfully to be fixed in time for the second half by a
very stressed viola player, allegedly a former electrician. During
1986, due mainly to his wife’s deteriorating health, Wilfred was unable to
give the orchestra his full support and was forced to retire. Charles Oldfield,
the conductor of Poynton Royal British Legion Band, and an experienced French
horn player agreed to be guest conductor for the December concert. In
December 1986, David Bentley was invited to become conductor.
He had much experience of orchestral conducting, including Hyde Festival
Orchestra and Liverpool University Orchestra. This was the start of
a very successful six years, and an even longer association with the
Bentley family.
His daughter Kathy played the violin and son Michael the Cello, and were
conscripted to swell the ranks.
His wife Mollie has also played the organ for us on occasions.
During David’s time with the orchestra, a more demanding
repertoire saw the orchestra’s numbers swell and standards improve. In
1992, David became ill and was unable to continue conducting. The orchestra
continued to rehearse with Alison Reade-Jahn taking the baton on a temporary
basis.
Kathy Bentley agreed to conduct the forthcoming July concert. Sadly,
David died later that year. He will be remembered for his dedication to the
orchestra and the resulting improvement in standards, and of course his ability
to improvise orchestral music on the Jodrell Arms’ piano after rehearsals.
One particular memory is David’s Memorial Concert in Marple in December
1993. The orchestra was joined by our President Pan Hon Lee in an emotional
performance of
the Bruch Violin Concerto.
Two short pieces by Elgar, David’s favourite composer were also
performed. Impressed
by her obvious talents, the orchestra elected Kathy as conductor at the 1993 AGM.
In order to perfect her conducting talent, Kathy took lessons from a
distinguished conductor at the Royal Northern College of Music, Clark Rundell.
He was obviously impressed by her talents too, and they were married in 1996.
In
June 1997, the High Peak Orchestra celebrated 21 years.
The June 1997 concert was a celebration of the orchestra’s 21 years,
and many
former members, soloists and supporters will be present.
During these years, over 60 concerts had been given in many local venues,
mainly in our ‘home’ area of Whaley Bridge, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Buxton,
but also
further afield, including Marple,
Glossop and Middlewich.
Many members had come and gone, but there were two members of the elite
‘21 club’ - Bill Stansfield (that former electrician) on viola and Jim Guy
on cello.
The occasion was celebrated with a special anniversary concert featuring
Elgar’s Enigma Variations, a particular favourite of David Bentley which he
had planned to perform with the orchestra.
Many
former members, soloists and supporters were present, and the local MP
presented medals to Bill and Jim. In
1998 Kathy decided that she was unable to continue conducting the orchestra
due to her teaching workload during the Autumn term. Gloria Bakhshayesh
was invited to conduct while a permanent appointment was sought.
In June 1999, Andrew Hodkinson was appointed as Conductor. The
Orchestra was pleased that the distinguished local Oboist, Richard Simpson
agreed to become President in 1998.
Richard takes an active interest in the orchestra, occasionally offering
advice and encouragement in wind sectional rehearsals.
His superb performance of the Mozart Oboe Concerto in March 1999 was one
of the orchestras finest moments. We are indebted to our conductors over the years, Fred Edwards, Wilf Bennett, David Bentley, Kathy Bentley and Gloria Bakhshayesh. We thank all our soloists - whether professional or amateur, they have all performed splendidly, and undoubtedly encouraged us to practice even more! Special thanks are also due to those unsung heroes, the committee members, who have given many hours of their time to guide the orchestra through good times and bad. And finally, thank you to the numerous charities who have supported us supporting them, in particular the High Peak Hospice for whom we have performed many times over the years.
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