hago concerts - 2004

31 January

We met with our good friends from West Sussex Guitar Club, plus their guest Amanda Cook, to put on this joint concert, which attracted an audience of 148. See photos in our West Sussex Guitar Club Gallery.

Audience feedback included

Thank you - all very moving and encouraging

Just a quickie to say great concert!!   Well done hago

hago's obvious pleasure in performing created a wonderful atmosphere ... matched by really beautiful playing

We all enjoyed it very much

8 February

hago were delighted to be invited by Highbury Area Band to play a set in the Portsmouth Music Festival Opening Concert, in the presence of The Lord Mayor Of Portsmouth at the Church of the Resurrection, Drayton.

Highbury Area Band are principal sponsors of the Portsmouth Music Festival, and make a large donation towards the expenses of the Festival via the ticket sales at the Opening Concert. The Band, which brings together some of the finest wind band players from the area, can transform itself into the Highbury Area Big Band, and their repertoire blends some of the finest classical music with some of the most foot-tapping up-tempo standards.

The organiser wrote afterwards

Dear Derek and all members of hago,

The PMF Committee thanks you all so much for the excellent performance you gave yesterday in the Festival's Opening Concert. It was an excellent event - so much variety in style, timbre and dynamics, and so much of interest to watch.

It was lovely to have you all with us, and you all looked so happy while you played - obviously enjoying yourselves immensely!
I do hope to hear another performance soon, and look forward to seeing some of you at the Guitar Day.
With my personal thanks as well as that from all the PMF and the audience in general.

With good wishes
Margaret

Read the review from the local paper here...

6 March

We played an evening Concert at the Parish Church of St Thomas, Bedhampton, on 6th March 2004.

The 12th Century Church, bathed in warm light by uplighters and candles, was a wonderfully intimate venue for a full-length Guitar Concert by hago.

Proceeds from the Concert were given to the Parish Appeal, which is raising money to appoint a Children, Youth and Families worker. Once appointed, they will work with schools and voluntary organisations in the Parish to help those who, irrespective of their own religious beliefs, need support.

The Concert raised £275 for the appeal, which, at the time of writing this page, has accrued enough money for the first year of appointment and is on its way to a second year.

Concert-goers' comments include :

• "Another very enjoyable evening.  The church was a lovely setting."
• "Everyone in hago looks as if they love what they do."

Read a review here...

10 July

Cambridge Guitar visited us for a second concert - the first was in 2002 - and we played at the spacious All Saint's Church in Portsmouth.

See photos in our Cambridge Guitar Orchestra Gallery.

31 July

hago were invited to play at the Bath Guitar Festival by IGF as part of the 1st prize from the sixth Guitar Orchestra Competition of Great Britain.

Held at the Michael Tippett Centre, on the the Bath Spa University Campus, the concert took place on 31st July 2004, on a hot summer's day - just right for sitting in a traffic jam all around Salisbury...

2 December

We played an evening of Carols and Music for Christmas at Hale Court Sheltered Housing, in Fratton near Portsmouth.

The managers at Hale Court donated £100 to a charity of their choosing in respect of our performance there. The money has been donated to Lloyd Scott who is raising money to help research into curing childhood leukaemia.

At the time of our Concert, Lloyd had just completed a gruelling 50-day ride across Australia, perched on a penny farthing, and dressed as Sherlock Holmes.

Lloyd is made of stern stuff, and in the past has "run" the London Marathon in a deep-sea diving suit, and has also completed the world's first underwater marathon - 26 miles in Loch Ness.

You can read more of his exploits on the BBC website

 

16 December

We played at Queen Alexandra (QA) Hospital in Cosham in aid of their Rocky Appeal.

Appeals Co-ordinator Mick Lyons wrote

"Please accept my thanks, on behalf of the Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust Rocky Appeal, for entertaining patients and members of staff ... during the evening of December 16th this year. You were certainly a pleasure to listen to and this has been endorsed by others who attended. The Appeal is aiming to raise much needed money towards the setting up of a purpose built Unique Cancer Laboratory, the first of its kind in the United Kingdom ...You may be interested to know that to date we have raised £910,000 towards our target. The anticpated date for the opening of the new laboratory totally depends on how quickly the appeal can raise the outstanding £1,090,000

I would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and a healthy New Year."