Marchwood Movie Night - The Concert Report - All Members of Marchwood Music Society, Marchwood Prelude
| Type of post: | Orchestra news item |
| Sub-type: | No sub-type |
| Posted By: | Emma Stephenson |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Sun, 29 Jun 2025 |
Marchwood Movie Night Concert Report
by Charlie Hislop
There was no Great Escape from the Marchwood Music Society’s spring concert on Saturday 17th May at the village hall, although on the Sunday morning there were outbreaks of whistling as people waited expectantly for Steve McQueen to fly over their garden fence on a motor bike. The Prelude Orchestra took us to Hollywood with a selection of well known movie themes.
The evening began with a trip to Hogwarts and the themes from the Harry Potter films, followed by Tara’s theme from Gone with the Wind, and Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Planetarium from La La Land.
Marchwood Music Society is a lot more than the Prelude Orchestra. Mid concert, there’s a round of musical chairs and the seven piece Flutes of the Forest take the stage to conjure up Yul Brynner and the Magnificent Seven, and the evocative Carlos Gardel tango Por Una Cabeza, conjuring up Al Pacino gliding across the dancefloor in the classic scene from Scent of a Woman.
Then it’s the turn of the recently formed Strings Group, made up of the orchestra’s cello and violin sections that takes us through tunes from Love Actually, West Side Story and How Green was my Valley.
Like any good movie night, there was popcorn and drinks in the intermission, a chance to look round at the beautiful decoration in the hall created especially for the evening.
The second half began with Saxophonous, directed by John Bell, who put on the Ritz, and gave a heartfelt rendition of Stranger on the Shore which featured in There’s Something about Mary. The tune is usually associated with Acker Bilk who played it on clarinet, but it brought out the connection with Tony Carter, a friend and teacher of a number of members of the orchestra, who sadly passed away last December.
Tony Carter was a wonderful sax, clarinet and flute player who featured in a number of bands, including the legendary Chris Barber Big Band, and the Midlands Radio Orchestra, as well as playing on the cruise ships. Picking up the clarinet at 13, he spent his whole life as a professional musician and teacher, enormously respected throughout the jazz scene.
Tony’s support for the Music society was highlighted by Angela Mabey, from the sax section, who explained that the proceeds of the evening would be going to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund (PCRF). The charity funds innovative research into pancreatic cancer to improve its detection, diagnosis and treatment. The Movie Night raised £538 for PCRF.
The final scene brought the whole orchestra back together for more blockbuster themes – Live and Let Die, Moon River, Schindler’s List and the Lord of the Rings. The curtain came down with Happy from Despicable Me 2, which had the audience clapping and definitely happy, so much so that conductor Bernard Chinonso came back out for another run-through, which left the audience even happier.
