Live Audiences Return to St Mary's Perivale
After 18 months, concert venue opens its doors again
32 pianists to perform Beethoven's sonatas at St. Mary's
St Mary’s Perivale has been one of the very few classical music venues in the whole of the UK to have operated continuously throughout the pandemic, with live concerts broadcast from the tiny medieval church two or three times per week. There have been 154 of these, attracting audiences not just from the Ealing area but worldwide. A ’Showcase’ service from the website has also made the concerts available to view at a later date.
While the livestreaming of concerts will continue, real flesh-and-blood audiences returned to the venue this Wednesday (7 September), to hear soloists and ensembles of international stature performing classical works of the last four centuries.
Following the success of last year’s Beethoven Festival, 32 pianists will return to play his 32 piano sonatas over the weekend of 2/3 October (this festival, comprising 12 hours of music over two days, will be livestream only).
In a recent innovation, there will also be a monthly jazz event.
Dr Hugh Mather, who organises all the concerts, says, ‘It’s wonderful to be getting back to normal. People have missed experiencing live performance, and our musicians will be very glad to be playing once again for an audience they can see, and which can express its appreciation.’
Full details of the concert series including the church's Covid Risk Mitigation policy can be found by clicking here.
The Friends of St. Mary’s Perivale have held over 950 concerts since 2005, with performances by 360 pianists and 160 violinists. Until lockdown they were staging 120 concerts a year and have built up a considerable reputation as a small concert venue.
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September 9, 2021