hampshire guitar orchestra newsletter

This is a web-archive of the Newsletter we emailed to our subscribers in March 2009

The passage of time may mean that some links to external sites are out of date or broken

ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER ... 100+ readers now!

This free newsletter is a small-scale production to keep you in touch with what's happening in hago - we always include links into our website where you can read more, see photos and explore still further, so do click when you see a link...
Welcome to the many people who have subscribed since last issue. We're running at well over 100 subscribers now - and you're all very welcome :-)

LATEST NEWS

Last time we wrote, we told you our MD had a broken right arm. Seven weeks down the line, and the largest number of Get Well cards he's ever seen, it's still sitting in a sling most of the time. But the one thing it does is play guitar - after all, the arm rests on the body of the guitar. So, having had to compere one concert without playing, he's back playing - and more about our next concert in a moment.

Right - violins away, let's stop all the sympathy stuff and get down to the good news.

On 25th February it was our 10th birthday, and at the rehearsal immediately afterwards, we ate ludicrous amounts of home-made cake, as you'll see from the photo on our website news page.

We were also joined by some players from West Sussex Guitar Club - what a great evening and what a lot of noise we all made - all in the best possible musical taste of course!

News of our birthday celebrations reached the BMG Federation (that's Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar), and the ISM (Incorporated Society of Musicians)

By way of celebration we've added two new videos to our collection...
The first celebrates hago's first 10 years with some music from our November 2008 concert - the one that raised nearly £1500 for The Rowans Hospice. If you have a fast link you can watch a higher quality version.
The second takes you round some of our favourite scenery, set to Elizabethan Serenade, recorded live in concert in 2007. This is our first HD video, and if you have a really fast link, you can see a massive version of it that will take up 1/2 your screen.
You'll find them on our YouTube Channel (no membership needed)

WHAT'S COMING UP?

On Saturday March 14th we're at St Leonard's, Sherfield English. This little village on the A27 near Romsey has a Church with a massive bell-tower containing a full peal of 8 bells. They hold a regular concert series to raise funds for this historic building, and we're there at their invitation. Tickets are just £6 on the door, and maps + directions are on our concerts page.

On Thursday April 2nd, we're performing at Oasis The Venue, near Portsmouth Station, in aid of Age Concern. No, it's not a concert for those of a certain age, it's a fundraiser for the whole family. Tickets are really inexpensive - a fiver - a real recession buster - details are on our concerts page.
And we have a LOT more concerts coming up after that too!

Find out more on our concerts page.

REPERTOIRE

We have 3 new pieces, and we're going to dust them down for April 25th - they will be really special. More about April 25th and what we're doing nearer the time!
Until then, we're playing many of the favourites from our 2007-8 repertoire - ones that audiences ask for again and again.

Needless to say, we're still always welcoming new players who want to be part of what we do - we can offer some unique opportunities. It's hard work, but my goodness it's fun!

WEBSITE NEWS

Check out our website - there's a whole lot of miscellaneous news there.
And you can find us on Facebook too.
If you're not a member, you can read all our latest news. Check out the Boxes and Wall tabs.
If you're a member, become a Fan - then you can get automatic reminders about our next concert, and get occasional news posted to your NewsFeed. Sounds a bit alien? Well, click the link and see!

PUBLICITY

Look out for us on local radio and in the press. And if you can get as a mention somewhere local to you, please do - word of mouth is our best advertisement!
We hope to see you at one of our concerts...