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What's new? Our latest site additions & updates...

July 2010

July 9th - Our charity fund-raising total crashes through the £50,000 mark - as of today it's £50,161

July 1st - Every month in the last 12 months, our YouTube videos have attracted more viewers than the month before, and views are now running at more than three times the number a year ago.

June 2010

June 30th - Our Musical Director's arrangements are being played in quite a few places recently - there are 3 videos on YouTube of some spirited performances...
One composition - Tutu Tango - played in Hungary by the wonderfully named Ensemble of Göd, and two arrangements played at The European Guitar Teachers' Association Ensemble event - Hornpipe and Mermaid

June 27th - Our concert last night at St George's Portsea nearly didn't happen! A fire at an electricity substation the previous night blacked out 47,000 homes, but fortunately power was restored to virtually all properties (except the Gunwharf Quays Shopping Complex and Car Park). A great time was had by all, and you can see some photos in our Gallery...

June 24th - today, our YouTube channel reported that our videos have now been watched 20,000 times. Paysage Ibérique is the most popular right now.

June 20th - we've added a new photo at the foot of our 2010 Gallery

June 18th - what a great audience at last night's concert at Waterlooville Music Festival - it was a pleasure to share a concert with Phil Jones and Douce Ambiance. We've had the following comments!

Absolutely magnificent
Enjoyed every minute
Fantastic - never heard anything like it

June 1st - Any discerning motorist would carry a spare tyre in case of emergencies, and we now have a spare alto - there's a photo at the foot of our gallery....Looking back over the last month we can again see some visitors who came to our site from Google who clearly shouldn't have bothered! People searching for...

May 2010

May 28th - It's not the end of the month yet, but already the number of views of our videos on YouTube in May has beaten April's figure, and Eternal Flame has become the hago video that's most popular at the moment - and it does fit guitar really well.

May 27th - Our May 22nd concert raised £529 for Friends of Sheet School - a wonderful total - thank you all for coming.
It brings our fund-raising total to £49546 - our next concert is on June 17th at Waterlooville Music Festival.

May 20th - Our new bass guitar had a mouse in it! What? Yes - check out the photo at the foot of our gallery page.

May 20th - We're really looking forward to our next concert in 2 days time at Bedales, near Petersfield. Come if you can - details here...

May 16th - We've just purchased a second-hand b-bass guitar to make our orchestration even more "not-mainstream". You can see a photo in our gallery (scroll right down) where it's cuddling up to our MD's alto - there's a link to a page all about the Tornavoz we've just fitted to improve the sound.

May 16th - We're delighted to tell you that we've uploaded another video to YouTube - pictures of the wonderful Exbury Gardens here in Hampshire, taken just yesterday and set to a live recording of hago playing "Song from a Secret Garden"

May 7th - We rehearsed as usual last night in the Small Hall at Lovedean, but the Large Hall was a Polling Station and we had a lot of kids' noses pressed against the window! Who knows - if we inspired them, then in a few years time we might be auditioning them!

May 5th - Tickets for our Portsmouth Festivities Concert on June 26th are already selling well. Seating is unreserved, so come early for a good seat!

May 4th - We've just heard that our April 17th concert raised £400 for the Emsworth Baptist Church Building Fund. It brings our fund-raising total to £49,017 - thank you all!

May 4th - Guitarists fancying a weekend of ensemble music-making might like to enrol in the BMG Summer School - details here...

May 3rd - Under three weeks now till our next concert, in the fabulous Olivier Theatre at Bedales, near Petersfield.
We're adding yet more music to our repertoire, some of which we expect to premier at our biennial concert with Cambridge Guitar Orchestra, a concert which has traditionally seen lots of local guitarists attending - a unique chance to hear a massive range of styles.

May 1st - There was a significant rise in the number of views of our Eternal Flame video after our April 17th concert (we'll post the fund-raising total as soon as we have it). At our April concert we changed our orchestration and it's really come alive now - you can hear the new version in our future concerts!

April 2010

April 25th - The Portsmouth Festivities 2010 is now launched, and we're delighted to be part of it again, with our concert featuring Cambridge Guitar Orchestra on Saturday June 26.

April 18th - Our concert last night at Emsworth took place on the first really lovely warm evening of the year. There's a photo of our soundcheck in our 2010 gallery.
We'll post the fundraising total here as soon as we have it.
The organiser writes "Many people have spoken of the very considerable enjoyment that the Concert gave them"

April 16th - Our rehearsal last night was special in so many ways - the new team playing together for the first time and a cracking new piece that we'll be performing later this season, but the icing on the cake (oh yes, we had cakes too - very important to mention that!) was the presentation of our first Silver Long Service Awards. These are presented to those who've attended 200 rehearsals. There's a photo here.

April 1st - April Fool's Day has passed without our Musical Director inflicting yet another one on the unsuspecting folk who inhabit the cloistered world of classical guitar. But like Arnie Schwarzenegger or a cold sore, he'll be back when least expected.
But people are still finding our website with Google searches that defy description. Last month's searches included "Big hugs" and "Why does my E string sound flat?" (because it is!)

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