Thursday, 20 June 2019

Mill Hill Music Festival Day 7 - Rog's Festival Diary

Three days to go, six in the bag! Last night we had two concerts and I managed to take in both. The first was at St Pauls Church, featuring a Harp and Organ recital. The concert featured Sam Austen on Organ and Milo Harper on Harp. St Pauls is an amazing setting for such a concert, and it worked exceptionally well. Usually when we've had classical music at St Pauls, we've had an audience of 50-60. This was what we were expecting and as we we gave the audience a complimentary glass of wine or soft drink at the interval, we catered accordingly. Lasts nights audience was twice that size, with 22 people turning up on the door. As a result, Dan was dispatched to Mill Hill Wines to pick up more supplies.




The concert was organised by committee member Sarah, who did an amazing job. St Pauls were very supportive and there was not too much for us to do, other than usher people in and take tickets. Sadly one of the audience, and elderly lady, had an accident making her way to her seat. An ambulance had to be summoned as a precaution to ensure she was alright. Fortunately the paramedics arrived promptly and without fuss made sure she was alright. As a precaution she was taken to A&E, with her family. As ever, when I have to deal with the parts of the NHS I am suitably impressed. Interestingly enough, this morning as I am writing this, on BBC Radio London, the morning show was about females doing front line jobs. The ambulance crew was all female and I had absolute confidence in them. Not relevant to the festival, but I felt it is important to stress that London is a city where we passionately believe in equality and the crew made me feel proud of our city. As we were waiting for the ambulance to depart, one of the paramedics complemented the beautiful sounds coming from the Church. She said that she'd have loved to have attended.

The concert was a great success and as the audience left, they were highly complimentary. I had a chat with one lady, who told me it was the fourth event she'd attended, but she was going to Whitstable today, so that was her lot! She told me that she's a widow and since her husband passed away, she really appreciates such events, as an opportunity to get out and meet people. For me, the way the Festival brings the community together is as important as the music. At every event people have told me they've seen friends they haven't seen for ages.

After the concert finished, I made my way up to Mill Hill Golf Club. This is the home of The Mill Hill Jazz club. They organised the event and we include it as part of the festival. Again it was encouraging to see a great crowd for Jimmy Cannon and Elisabeth Tillotson.



They presented a lively Jazz show. It was great to see Stewart Curtis with his wife at the show, Stewart played on Monday with K-Groove at the Synagogue. It was a small example of how the local musical community support each other.Sadly I had to leave before the end of the show. Clare had been playing with The BBC Elstree Concert Band at The Elstree Festival at Allum Hall and had some timpani's to unload from the car.

Yesterday was a light day for me. From here on in, it is a different story. Today we have an amazing show, with Jazz Sax legend Alan Barnes at Hartley Hall. This means that a PA has to be provided, so its a load in/load out and an evening sitting by a desk. I am much looking forward to it.

There are still tickets available, so if you fancy some truly awesome music tonight, come along. Tickets can also be purchased at Mill Hill Wines. There are also tickets available for tomorrow night. Must shoot, got to walk dogs, check PA system and all sorts of other things!


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