Manor House String Quartet Concerts in Fakenham and Norwich – Just over a week ago, the quartet went on a mini ‘tour’ with four concerts in three days, including two on the same day in Norfolk (you can read about the other two in Cheddington and Cuddington in separate blogs). One (a matinee) was in Fakenham Methodist Church and the other was for the Norfolk and Norwich Chamber Music Club later that same evening.

The Fakenham concert was very kindly organised by Dawn Wakefield and began with an excellent spoken introduction from the minister Andrew King. An audience of some 80 people packed into the chapel for a program lasting in the region of 70 minutes. It mainly consisted of carols from our two CDs ‘I Saw Three Ships and other carols’ and ‘It Came Upon The Midnight Clear and other carols’ with Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’ from ‘The Four Seasons’ acting as a contrast at the halfway point. The audience’s response was very warm and we took the opportunity to talk to several of them after the concert.

We then made the journey down to Norwich to play in another Methodist chapel in Park Lane (this one now renovated beautifully and converted into a concert hall). The concert this time consisted of five carols, which were followed by a performance of Ferdinand Ries’s String Quartet in G (Op. 70 No. 2). Next came Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’, the concert then¬†concluding with four more carols (including a rendition of ‘Jingle Bells’ with some audience participation involved!). Again we were able to chat with audience members before the long drive home. All in all a most heartwarming and memorable day for us.