As thoughts of the opera fade, we're focusing on the future. We hope there will be something for everyone in our programme, and look forward to your continued support for our events.

SATURDAY 3RD NOVEMBER 2007
The next concert in St Luke's Church at 7.30pm on Saturday 3rd November 2007 will be Karl Jenkins' "The Armed Man - A Mass for Peace" which, this year came 12th in ClassicFm’s Top 300 “Hall of Fame”, beating Beethoven’s 5th Symphony and Mozart’s ‘Requiem’ into 18th & 20th positions respectively! This will be performed in full by our good friends the Occam Singers, with the New London Sinfonia, under the direction of conductor David Gibson. Cello soloist in the extended and beautiful introduction to the "Benedictus" will be Guy Johnston, winner of the prestigious "BBC Young Musician of the Year" 2000. Guy was soloist on the original award-winning CD conducted by the composer. To hear this popular work, live, in St Luke's will be a very great treat indeed. He will also play the delightful Cello Concerto no 2 in D by Josef Haydn.

We are also delighted to announce the first performance of a new work "Song of Wisdom", commissioned by Grayshott Concerts and funded by a grant from Hampshire County Council. Local composer, Nicholas O'Neill, has been asked to write for chamber choir and orchestra, using selected verses from Proverbs 8. Whenever and wherever this is subsequently performed, acknowledgement will be given to the date and place of its first performance in St Luke's Church, and to Grayshott Concerts as its commissioners.

Many of our patrons have taken the opportunity to pre-reserve seats, and we now have reservations for about half of those available. We will not be providing a box office service through Grayshott Books on this occasion, so please contact us through our website, www.grayshottconcerts.co.uk, or telephone Vivien Harrison on 01428 714119 or Peter Harrison (Office 01428 606666). We would like to take this opportunity to thank Julie and Barrie at Grayshott Books for all their hard work on our behalf, taking bookings for our previous concerts.

Tickets are priced at £17.50 for the central nave, and £15.00 for side seats. Our customary pre-concert supper will be provided by "The Fox and Pelican" at £15.00, (their Opera ‘Gourmet Supper’ was a real feast!). If you have already reserved seats, please now send us your cheque together with your telephone number and SAE (address below) and we will forward your tickets direct to you. If you would like to reserve tickets, please contact us as soon as possible (see above) to avoid disappointment.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Plans are now being made well into 2008 and beyond. An orchestral concert featuring the New London Sinfonia on 12th April 2008 will feature Bruch's famous Violin Concerto No 1 in D minor, with full supporting programme - so this is a must for your diaries. More details later.

We are also very excited that we have been able to make arrangements for a series of concerts with the world famous chamber orchestra "The London Mozart Players". The first of these will take place on Saturday 1st November 2008, with international violin soloist and recording artiste Chloe Hanslip. Chloe will both perform and conduct Vivaldi's "Four Seasons". Other soloists "in the wings" to perform at Grayshott with The London Mozart Players are: pianist Howard Shelley, clarinetist Emma Johnson and violinist Tasmin Little. All are musicians with a long list of home and international engagements, and we will need to fit in with them when they are free to come to us. This is a real coup for Grayshott, helped in no small way by our status as Hampshire Village of the Year, and the quality of our excellent village website grayshott.com and, of course, our new Grayshott Concerts website www.grayshottconcerts.co.uk

GRAYSHOTT'S NEW CHAMBER CHOIR
We are now forming Grayshott's own Chamber Choir, "Excelsis" and have been very fortunate in securing the services of Rob Lewis as our new Director of Music. Rob is Head of Music at St Edmund's School, and will train the choir and present choral concerts as part of the Grayshott Concerts ongoing programme. He is now in the process of recruiting trained singers, so if you, or anyone you know, would be interested in auditioning with Rob for this small, high quality group, please contact either Peter or Vivien as above. We have earmarked two major events featuring "Excelsis" in our programme of concerts during 2008.

FRIENDS OF GRAYSHOTT CONCERTS
We believe that Grayshott, as an award-winning village, deserves the very best we can provide for residents, virtually ‘on their doorstep’. We now have the contacts and reputation to attract some of the top musicians in the country. However these soloists are not inexpensive, and their fees can range upwards of £1500 a performance. We are fortunate with awards of grants from our local authorities, and generous local sponsors. Members of the "Buy in Grayshott Campaign" have given their unstinting support both with services and funding.

In order to keep ticket prices competitive, like other similar organisations, we plan to invite interested supporters to become "Friends of Grayshott Concerts". Annual subscriptions will be set at various levels, and will give certain benefits, including early booking. We currently provide this as part of the service, but with numbers growing with every concert, it is becoming more and more difficult to be entirely fair to everyone. More news on this with our next newsletter at the end of the year.

We thank you for your continued support, and look forward to seeing you at our future events.

Vivien Harrison
Artistic Director

Grayshott Concerts • 28A Headley Road • Grayshott • GU26 6LD • 01428 606666