December 22nd - MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Enjoy our little montage of happy memories from 2012 - a year which saw us playing concerts in Milford on Sea, Portsmouth, Southsea and many other local venues.
Our concerts this year bring our total raised for charity to over £58,000 and we'd like to thank everyone who came along and supported our fund-raising and helped spread the word about us!
December 19th
This morning we received a DVD from Steve Hewlett, the ventriloquist who organised and starred in the Loyal Variety Performance at The Kings Theatre Southsea.
Steve has given us permission to extract the video from our performance, and today we've uploaded our closing item, "Woman" by John Lennon, which Steve asked us to play in memory of Joyce Brown, a lovely lady and an enthusiastic fund-raiser for The Kings Restoration fund.
November 3rd - Our local newspaper is the Portsmouth News.
The News's Guide Awards are out, and if you've enjoyed us in concert, please put us down as the readers' nomination in the Classical Music section. Here's the article, and there's a link for nominations near the bottom. We appreciate your help!
November 2nd - fame (but no fortune) - we're playing the opening and closing music on this video... (well, not the very first bit, obviously!)
November 1st - we've added yet more to the foot of our 2012 gallery
October 27th - The Loyal Variety Show last night at the Kings Theatre Southsea was the most amazing night out. The evening was hosted by Steve Hewlett and an array of puppet dummies, and Karen Dalton, who appeared as Nan and quite scared the pants off some of us backstage!
Steve put together a fantastic mix of comedy, singing, dancing and magic.
It was a fantastic thrill for us to be asked to open the second act, including a tribute Steve asked us to play for fund-raiser Joyce Brown, in whose memory the entire evening was dedicated.
Over £2000 was raised, to be split between the Portsmouth Brain Tumour charity and the Kings Restoration fund.
See a couple of back stage photos at the bottom of our 2012 gallery
October 24th - from the Twittersphere - Steve Hewlett (@ventriloquist29) tweets...
Amazing Acts giving their time @KingsSouthsea Friday 7pm in Loyal Variety @karendalton @andrewvanburen @HagoGuitar @Manic_SP @glennmford...
Come along - starts 7pm at The Kings Southsea on Friday - over 20 acts - all for charity!
October 22nd - Some late and very welcome donations bring our October 13th fund-raising total to £740.80 - a simply fantastic sum, made possible by our lovely and enthusiastic audience.
Next chance to see us is as part of the massive Loyal Variety Performance at The Kings Theatre Southsea on Friday October 26th
October 20th - We've just been featured on Angel Radio, Havant's nostalgia radio station, which you can listen to on the Internet if you're outside the Havant area.
October 15th - We've put three videos from Saturday's concert onto our Music and Video page.
They're not quite as pin-sharp as we'd like, but if you were unable to come to the concert, it will give you a taster of what went on...
October 14th - our new show "Plucked From Thin Air" took to the stage (well, the floor, actually!) in Bedhampton yesterday.
Hosted by Havant Rotary Club, the evening raised £705.80 for the charity Canine Partners - thank you to everyone who came and supported our performance. What a fantastic audience - by the end of the evening, we had people clapping with the hands above their heads! We welcomed local Artist Bethany Moore who had some dog-inspired drawings and paintings for sale.
It brings our total raised for charitable causes to over £58,000.
October 2nd - our concert in Hythe 10 days ago raised £478 for their Outreach fund - thank you to everyone who came and supported our performance!
It brings our total raised for charitable causes to over £57,300
September 23rd - what a lovely (and large) audience at our concert in Hythe yesterday.
Audience feedback included
Wonderful
Really enjoyed the concert
Highly impressed
There's a photo of our soundcheck at the bottom of our 2012 gallery
We raised £478 for their Outreach fund - thank you to everyone who came and supported our performance!
It brings the total raised for charitable causes to over £57,300
September 22nd - We're delighted to present Gill with a Bronze long service award
Well done Gill!
September 16th - our hottest YouTube video this month is our live recording of Danzon No 2
September 7th - our first get-together after the summer was partly business and partly pleasure!
There are two photos at the bottom of our 2012 gallery page.
August 24th - nothing's certain in life except death and taxes, so what we're about to say may not happen. But there's a good chance that we'll be playing a few pieces at a ventriloquist's stage show soon. Watch this space!
August 7th - we've found a pirated copy of our video of Fields of Gold on YouTube - taken without our permission. Our original is at this link.
August 5th - We're on our summer break now, but it gives us the chance to catch up on some left-over jobs. Like telling you that our fund-raising total has now reached £56,824.
Like everyone else in the country, the recession has hit our concerts too. It's meant that the money we've raised for charity in this academic year is 12% down on the same period last year, but we're delighted that so many people came along and enjoyed our concerts despite the positively bleak financial situation that affects us all - thank you!
July 9th - Havant Women's Aid, who we supported at our recent 100th concert have written...
I would like to thank you for your kind generosity and wonderful financial donation. The money which you have donated has been greatly appreciated...
They've asked us to announce that on July 1st they have a new name (Southern Domestic Abuse Service) and a new website.
July 8th - our concert in Richmond yesterday was our last before the Summer. We returned to the Royal Star and Garter home to play a morning concert for some of the severely disabled residents there, presenting a programme of pieces including such familiar tunes as "A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square", the theme from "Dick Barton Special Agent" and other evocative tunes. We love playing there, it's such a moving and uplifting atmosphere and one of the most special concerts in our calendar.
June 30th - our YouTube channel has never been busier - we're serving over 100 videos a day, and our new Danzon video, which has been on YouTube in two guises, has already been viewed over 350 times in under 6 days.
June 29th - comments from our 100th concert...
"What a fantastic evening we had at HAGOs' 100th concert - in Portsmouth. Thanks to you all"
"HAGO's offering was excellent. We both thoroughly enjoyed it!"
"Very slick - superb!"
"A fabulous evening - great music & entertaining leadership"
We've added another video - see right - to celebrate our special concert. Click here to hear hago play "When the Guitar Sings", by Guy Bergeron, arranged for hago by Derek Hasted. The composer has seen the video and describes it as "wonderful".
June 28th - and why, you are probably wondering, is there a photo of a pith helmet and a joke book on a guitar orchestra website?
If you're asking, you've probably never been to a joint Hampshire and Cambridge Guitar Orchestra concert!
Visit our "hago 100th concert page" and discover a little more about what goes on behind the scenes when Hampshire Guitar Orchestra meet Cambridge Guitar Orchestra and the gloves come off...
June 27th - Our c
oncert on Saturday helped raise funds for Havant Women's
Aid. Thank you for coming along - you've helped lift our fundraising total
to a new high of £56,523
We have some rather shaky videos from our 100th concert two days ago - the picture is shaky, but the sound is solid - please have a listen...
Danzon No 2 - Marquez arr Hasted
Woman - Lennon arr Hasted
More videos here....
June 24th - we had a great time last night at our 100th concert yesterday
Audience comments included
What a fantastic evening we had at HAGOs' 100th concert - in Portsmouth. Thanks to you all
HAGO's offering was excellent. We both thoroughly enjoyed it!
June 23rd - 100th concert this evening, and my goodness the hago website is serving pages like they are going out of fashion!
June 22nd - we're sure you don't need reminding that it's our 100th concert tomorrow, but our local newspaper is firing on all cylinders at the moment, as you can see.
You'll find maps, travel information and more about the concert on our special 100th concert page which you can click through to here.
You can sit at ground level or up on the top deck!
June 20th - our local newspaper have done us proud - our 100th concert on Saturday is featured here...
June 16th - our Monday 11th June performance is featured in the Mayor of Havant's Blog...
June 14th - "Amazing virtuosity..."
From the Portsmouth News website this morning
The mayor of Havant, Councillor Gerald Shimbart, has praised Monday evening’s show which saw Hampshire clarinet and saxophone choirs perform with Hampshire Guitar Orchestra.
Cllr Shimbart said: ‘In the first half the youngsters played with energy and expression producing a vigorous and varied programme.
‘ The virtuosity of the Hampshire guitar orchestra was amazing and the patter was hilarious.’
We're reliably informed that anyone who's anyone has a twitter account. So we've got one. Now we need some followers to help us share our (occasional) tweets.
June 12th - it was a real fun concert last night thanks to the hardworking team at Waterlooville Music Festival - what a great bunch of folks!
Concert feedback includes...
"a truly enjoyable evening"
" high quality playing"
" brilliant"
June 9th - you're invited to celebrate with us at our 100th concert...
Read more and see photos from 2002 to 2011 on our Invitation page.
Put the date in your diary - June 23rd.
Come by car or train - it's a fantastically convenient and lovely venue!
June 6th - our good friends in our local Guitar Societies (visit our links page for clickable links) are being very supportive of our 100th concert! If you're new to guitar, why not check out their own events pages, where you can read about an eclectic mix of concerts from a wide range of artists, all experts on Classical Guitar....
June 2nd - we heard late yesterday that our concert in Milford On Sea on 26th May raised £678.19 for Naomi House Children's Hospice!
The organiser writes
Thank you so much for Saturday, it was absolutely brilliant, and I have only heard good things.
...
Once again thank you so much, it really was a fun night.
It brings our fundraising for charity to £56,468 - thank you for your part in reaching this fantastic total.
Check our concerts page for our future concert dates!
June 2nd - hago's YouTube channel is the busiest it's been for over a year!
You'll find a real mixture of videos, with footage of hago and footage of some of the glorious Hampshire scenery.
And you'll find a trailer for our June 23rd Concert - our 100th concert! We're playing in a delightful venue close to Portsmouth Harbour Railway station.
May 30th - we've put a trailer up on YouTube for our concert on June 23rd - it's our 100th concert, believe it or not!
More about our 100th celebrations soon, but put the date in your diary and come along - it's part of the Portsmouth Festivities!
You'll find directions to the venue on our concerts page.
Tickets are £7.50 for adults, but it's "kids a quid"!
May 27th - fantastic audience last night - it was great to meet so many new faces.
As always, we will post the fundraising total on this page as soon as we're told how much we raised for Naomi House Children's Hospice.
Here's a thumbnail preview of a new photo in our 2012 gallery, taken last night.
May 26th - concert tonight! Is the heat getting to you - come along tonight to the New Forest - we have a cool spacious venue at Milford on Sea. You can come early and picnic in the Forest, or go for paddle in the sea. Then come to our concert at 7:30 in All Saints Church Milford, and enjoy gentle music, a cool environment and refreshments at half time. Tickets on the door are £10, and it's all in aid of Naomi House, the Hampshire Children's Hospice. Come early for the best seats! Maps here...
May 13th - what's happened to all the news? You're probably wondering why there's been so little hago news of late, but it's quite simple...
We've been in a quiet spell because of Easter, but in that time lots of things have happened behind the scenes and it's time to reveal some of them...
Derek, our Musical Director, has set up a YouTube channel to support his one-to-one guitar lessons - the aim of the channel is to demonstrate the sort of music that his students will be able to manage. Curious? Visit Derek Hasted's Guitar Channel on YouTube
March 29th - it's taken a while to learn of the fundraising total for our concert on March 15th, but today we heard that we raised £648 for the Rowans Hospice. If you came along, a big "Thank You" for helping raise that amazing total.
March 5th - yesterday was the Portsmouth Music Festival Guitar day and four of the hago team competed in a total of three sections - two duet classes and a quartet class.
We're delighted to show you the attached photo - three cups, including one for the best performance of the entire day.
The adjudicator was very complimentary on the quality of the phrasing and togetherness, and that musicality is one of hago's fundamental tenets; we hope you'll come to our concert on March 15th and enjoy an entire evening devoted to ensemble music in a great variety of styles.
March 3rd - hope you can come to our concert on March 15th - here's a preview...
March 3rd - Come and meet the new team - new photos here...
February 25th - hago is 13 today!
Yes, hago is now a teenager, and rebelling against strait-laced concerts!
Come along to our next concert, on Thursday March 15th and hear a compelling mix of musical styles.
Dvorak meets Elton John and our music extends from the UK to Europe and the Americas.
February 19th - we have another new player and another new piece! Our next concert is on March 15th - do come if you can.
January 6th - our first rehearsal of 2012 last night saw us dusting down another piece from a very long time ago - we look forward to playing you our much revised concert programme soon!
January 5th - our local newspaper has once again told its readership that we play ukuleles. We had kind of hoped that our name was a clue to what we play!
January 2nd - another month, another set of visitors who came to our site from Google who clearly shouldn't have bothered! People searching for...
January 1st - Happy New Year from all of us in hago - may 2012 be a peaceful and (as far as it's possible!) a prosperous one for all our website visitors.