The next concert
will be a Piano Recital by Ben Norris on Saturday 18th July at 4.00pm (please note date has been changed from 11th July).
Ben will be playing pieces by Mozart, Schubert and Debussy.
will be a Piano Recital by Ben Norris on Saturday 18th July at 4.00pm (please note date has been changed from 11th July).
Ben will be playing pieces by Mozart, Schubert and Debussy.
History
There have been concerts of (mainly) classical music for many years at St Jude’s, though we don’t have a full record. We do know that an organ recital was given to mark the installation of our current organ in 1936, by the St Jude’s organist at the time, Arthur Selfe Fowles (1871-1947), well-known in his day, who was the man responsible for the acquisition of the instrument. It was advertised in the Musical Times, as something of more than purely local importance.
To mark the 150th anniversary of the church itself, a series of monthly concerts was planned in 2009. A pattern of Saturday afternoon concerts was set up and the time seems a popular one. Mrs Valerie Ward, a well-known local music teacher, gave her enthusiastic support to the venture, and used part of her father’s legacy to buy a Bluethner grand piano and present it to the church. (I remember an exciting episode where she and I went to the London piano auctions in Holborn and found the instrument.) It has served the church well for the years since 2009, and after Val’s death, too young, it has been joined in church by a second Bluethner – Val’s teaching piano – owing to the generosity of David Ward, her husband. This makes St Jude’s the only local venue at which two-piano music can be heard live.
Since the concerts have been so successful, attracting a loyal audience over the years, we have continued the series in subsequent years, even though there was a gap during the COVID lockdown, and they still continue, roughly monthly. The concerts since 2009 now form a numbered series, with the May 2026 concert being no. 186. They feature local artists, and each year give music performance students at Royal Holloway opportunities to present recitals in a pleasant venue with an appreciative and friendly audience, as well as other solo performers, choral group and so on.
The concerts continue to keep alive the memory of Val Ward and her commitment to music at St Jude’s, as does the recent (2025) establishment of a named Valerie Ward Organ Scholarship to support a talented young organist as well as the music at the services of the church.
If you would like to be kept informed about the forthcoming concert schedule, do let us know, and we’ll email you with the details. If you would like to contribute financially to the Organ Scholarship, that can be arranged too!
Geoff Chew, May 2026
To mark the 150th anniversary of the church itself, a series of monthly concerts was planned in 2009. A pattern of Saturday afternoon concerts was set up and the time seems a popular one. Mrs Valerie Ward, a well-known local music teacher, gave her enthusiastic support to the venture, and used part of her father’s legacy to buy a Bluethner grand piano and present it to the church. (I remember an exciting episode where she and I went to the London piano auctions in Holborn and found the instrument.) It has served the church well for the years since 2009, and after Val’s death, too young, it has been joined in church by a second Bluethner – Val’s teaching piano – owing to the generosity of David Ward, her husband. This makes St Jude’s the only local venue at which two-piano music can be heard live.
Since the concerts have been so successful, attracting a loyal audience over the years, we have continued the series in subsequent years, even though there was a gap during the COVID lockdown, and they still continue, roughly monthly. The concerts since 2009 now form a numbered series, with the May 2026 concert being no. 186. They feature local artists, and each year give music performance students at Royal Holloway opportunities to present recitals in a pleasant venue with an appreciative and friendly audience, as well as other solo performers, choral group and so on.
The concerts continue to keep alive the memory of Val Ward and her commitment to music at St Jude’s, as does the recent (2025) establishment of a named Valerie Ward Organ Scholarship to support a talented young organist as well as the music at the services of the church.
If you would like to be kept informed about the forthcoming concert schedule, do let us know, and we’ll email you with the details. If you would like to contribute financially to the Organ Scholarship, that can be arranged too!
Geoff Chew, May 2026
2026 Programme
Saturday 21st February - Members of the Royal Holloway Symphony Orchestra
Saturday 14th March - Royal Holloway students
Saturday 25th April - Royal Holloway students
Saturday 16th May - James Kirby's piano students
Saturday 6th June - Vox Mundi Ladies' Choir
Saturday 18th July - Ben Norris (piano)
Saturday 25th July - Julian Hellaby and Peter Noke (two pianos)
Saturday 19th September - Matthew Stanley (piano)
Saturday 3rd October - Julie Aherne and friends (chamber music)
Saturday 7th November - Valerie Fry and Dimitri Kennaway (words and music of World War I)
Saturday 21st November -James Kirby (piano)
Saturday 14th March - Royal Holloway students
Saturday 25th April - Royal Holloway students
Saturday 16th May - James Kirby's piano students
Saturday 6th June - Vox Mundi Ladies' Choir
Saturday 18th July - Ben Norris (piano)
Saturday 25th July - Julian Hellaby and Peter Noke (two pianos)
Saturday 19th September - Matthew Stanley (piano)
Saturday 3rd October - Julie Aherne and friends (chamber music)
Saturday 7th November - Valerie Fry and Dimitri Kennaway (words and music of World War I)
Saturday 21st November -James Kirby (piano)