Steve Dummer, Conductor of Stane Street Sinfonietta, at St Mary’s Church (©AAH/Toby Phillips)
SINFONI STANE STREET
N J Simpkins
Plumbing and Heating. Est: 1992
Fully Qualified Plumbing & Heating Engineer with 25+ years’ experience. Newly relocated to this area, I serve customers throughout Sussex & Surrey For all aspects of plumbing & heating Home: 01403 250175 Mobile: 07721 378298 Email: njsimpkins@hotmail.com Visit: www.njsimpkins.com
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t’s Saturday afternoon and a stream of people trickle through the doors of St Mary’s Church in the Causeway. Their name must be on the list, as numbers are strictly limited. After a squirt of hand sanitiser, each individual or small group finds an unoccupied pew, takes a seat and remove their face masks. Eventually, the audience of about 70 people spreads to the back of the hall, dotted around like players at a football match. They have come to see the Stane Street Sinfonietta perform music for strings, including famous pieces by Mozart and Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings. This is the first of three performances held during the day. Only an hour long, the short concert mean that more people can enjoy live music, whilst allowing the musicians to make a small amount of money.
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For the performers, playing to even a modest audience is a step in the right direction after a challenging year.
Steve Dummer, conductor of the Sinfonietta and of Horsham Symphony Orchestra, said: “For professional musicians, these are difficult times. To go from performing live every day to being unable to perform for months has been tough. It's been a dreadful time, as they have financial commitments and families, and suddenly they have no income. This series of concerts is a drop in the ocean in terms of providing musicians with work, yet I've been amazed by how much it has meant to those involved. I was quite choked up after the first concert!” “Just to be able to come together and meet with friends has been hugely important, and we’re grateful to those who have supported the concerts and made donations so there is enough money to pay the musicians.”
