Midsummer melodies from Rochdale Light Orchestra

Rochdale Light Orchestra will perform a programme of midsummer melodies this month in Castleton.

The orchestra, conducted by Graham Marshall, will perform at St.Martin’s Church on Sunday 21 June at 3pm.

A feature of the concert will be celebrating the 50th anniversaries of the deaths of two much loved British composers of light music Haydn Wood and Bill Mayerl.

Conductor Graham Marshall is looking forward to being able to share his delight in what he regards as some of the most attractive and enduring melodies to come from the hearts of British composers of the twentieth century.

In addition to the original programme the orchestra will be playing a hot-off-the-press composition by Graham Marshall who was recently made a grandfather for the second time by the birth of granddaughter Elisabeth. Graham has written a little novelty piece lasting about 4 minutes and featuring the sound of the vibraphone. It’s dedicated to Elisabeth and called, “Playtime with Beth”.

The day of the concert will be an unusually busy one for Mr Marshall. Being a retired Vicar, he is often called upon to deputise for clergy on holiday or off sick. In the morning of the concert he will be taking the main Parish Eucharist service at St. Martin’s at 10am. Then he will be baptising at midday, and putting the orchestral players through their final paces at 2pm.

When the concert has finished, Graham will be going hotfoot to Prescot Parish Church on Merseyside where the Fell Clarinet Quartet will be playing a piece he wrote for them last year entitled, “Squirrels run along the fence top”, in a concert as part of the Prescot Festival of Arts and Music at 6.30pm (admission £2).