Rachmaninov to Les Mis: soprano's fundraiser celebrates 150 years of Highclere church
Renowned soprano Janet Coxwell and her musician husband Andy Smets, who live in Highclere, are spreading the word about a charity concert they have organised to celebrate 150 years of the village's St Michael's and All Angels Church.
The event at Thorngrove School has been a long time coming. "It’s been postponed for two years because of Covid and is now happening at last on October 23 (7pm)," said Janet.
The Grand Concert with the Heritage Light Orchestra will be conducted by Neil Streeter, with guest performances by Janet and Jason Palmer.
The programme will be lively and varied, from Rachmaninov to Les Misérables.
Tickets, priced £15, are available from Jo Walsh
email: Joannawalsh@btconnect.com or phone: (01635) 255013 or (07774) 919443
All proceeds will go to St Michael & All Angels’ Church. Today's church is Victorian, built for the then Earl of Carnarvon by Sir George Gilbert Scott, but has memorials from Tudor times - there has been Christian worship there since before the Norman conquest.
Since graduating from London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Janet has worked professionally as a solo artist and consort singer. While specialising in Early Music and performing with many of the UK’s leading ensembles, her musical versatility boasts many other genres and musical styles and she has worked closely with Norfolk-based composer Patrick Hawes on many of his original works. Their first album Blue In Blue drew critical acclaim with Janet’s voice being described as ‘melting honey on freshly buttered toast’ (BBC Radio 3). Her ‘bell-like tones’ (Financial Times) are often heard on TV, film and radio as well as on numerous classical and pop CDs. Janet enjoyed 23 wonderful years with the Tallis Scholars and performed in more than 900 concerts world-wide with this world-renowned ensemble.
She has enjoyed a long and fruitful association with several Newbury based choirs including Newbury Choral Society and the Cecilia Consort.
Having grown up in the Newbury area, Jason Palmer was involved with most of the local performance groups as a child, including Newbury Operatic Society, Nomads and KATS, as well as attending the Christine Lucas School of dance every day after school. Although his 33-year career has been in hairdressing, he has always been involved with theatre in his spare time.
"I was one of Neil's students at secondary school and met Janet in recent years which is how I became involved with this concert. My love of musical theatre has been life long, which lead to me presenting my Sunday Curtain Up show which was broadcast for a couple of years on Kennet Radio."
