Hay Music - Onwards and Upwards!

Hay Music are shortly going to be putting on their One Hundredth concert!
The idea of having affordable, good quality chamber music in Hay was started by John Stark, and supported by Elizabeth Haycox at Booth Books, where many of the concerts have been held. I don't go to many of them, but I do remember them managing to get a gorgeous harpsichord upstairs in Booths Bookshop for one concert.
They've also had concerts outside Hay - there have been several in Dorstone House, where there will be a party soon to thank John for all his hard work.

Hay Music is now a charitable trust, and they're keen to engage larger ensembles in the future, such as the Choir of Clare College Cambridge, who are already booked for December this year.
The ticket prices rarely cover the overheads, but they are helped by Friends and Patrons. They are now looking for an Independent Examiner to look at their accounts before they submit their accounts to the Charities Commission.

Hay Music has also been keen to provide outreach to local school children, with events during the Hay Chamber Music Festivals. Some of the visiting musicians have been into Hay School to work with the children.
Sadly, the Head of Hay School has recently announced that there is no funding available for staff to provide musical activities of any kind (even though they have a cupboard full of instruments!), and any musical education is dependent on visiting musicians from Hay Music and local volunteers.

This year's Chamber Music Festival will be in September, and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet will be back to play.
Hay Music is also on the programme of this year's Hay Festival, with a concert in St. Mary's Church, at 7pm on May 27th, with a world premiere of Howard Skempton's Preludes and Fugues, as well as a full programme of Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, Weir, Muhly and Novak.

The Hay Music website is at www.haymusic.org