info@cricklewoodlibrary.org.uk
020 8438 8705
It’s official! Spring has definitely sprung! By popular demand, the ice machine is leaving its winter hibernation quarters and will be back at the library as of Wednesday 3 May. We’ll have iced coffee and iced chai latte on sale to drink in or takeaway. We also have more patio tables and chairs available for you to sit in the sun and enjoy your drink.
Let us know what you think!
Our regular visitors Brent Jazz Orchestra Quartet are back again in May, this time with singer Beverley Stone. Since as long as she can remember Essex born Beverley has been immersed in popular music, starting with the Great American songbook interpreted by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Billie Holiday. Contemporary artists such as Carol King and Madonna have also had major influences. The key has always been the combination of melody, musical arrangement, emotion, and the story to be told – the more soul searching the better. Her professional adventure started after leaving her 9-5 job and taking on a singing engagement on the high seas. Her deep love of singing and performing was discovered and her future mapped out.
Since then she has travelled to many parts of the world, appeared on British television, and secured long term residencies at prestigious central London venues. More than happy working as a jazz singer with small groups or fronting a swinging big band, Beverley has performed at some of the finest venues in the land including Ronnie Scotts, the 606 Club, Pizza Express Soho, The Hideaway, Bateaux River Cruises, The Wellesley, The Hippodrome and The Forum.
Whilst cultivating her song writing career she has worked with some of the country’s foremost musicians and producers, and her debut album Butterfly Rising is available to buy on iTunes. Her passion for all things singing has in recent years been extended to the field of vocal coaching and guiding individuals who need help in exposing hidden talent.
There will be a donations bar, and pizzas, served in the interval, can be ordered in advance. If you don’t see the pizza you like on offer, requests are accepted. We order from Basilico. We have listened to your feedback and you can now order large or small pizzas. Pizza sales end the day before the concert to give us time to place the order.
A quest for secrets in the blue afternoon . . .
Los Angeles, 1936. Kay Fischer, a young and ambitious architect, is being followed by an old man. When confronted, he explains that his name is Salvador Carriscant – and that he is her father.
In a matter of weeks Kay will join Salvador on an extraordinary journey as they delve back into his past to not only learn the truth behind her own birth, but also to discover the whereabouts of a woman long thought dead – and to uncover the identity of a killer.
The Lehman Trilogy is a three-act play by Italian novelist and playwright Stefano Massini. It follows the lives of three immigrant brothers from when they arrive in America and found an investment firm through to the collapse of the company in 2008. It has been translated into 24 languages, staged by such directors as Luca Ronconi and Sam Mendes, and was later published as a novel. An English translation of the play by Mirella Cheeseman was produced in the West End in 2018 by the National Theatre. The production was directed by Sam Mendes and included the cast of Simon Russell Beale, Adam Godley and Ben Miles. It earned five Laurence Olivier Award nominations.
Join Cricklereaders on 30 April from 1030 to discuss this through-provoking work.
Trio Taliesin take their name from Celtic mythology: Taliesin was a renowned bard who entertained at the courts of the Brythonic kings. The trio formed in 2017 with the aim of engaging audiences in piano trio repertoire through collaborative performances and programming that link works with an underlying narrative. They have given concerts in London, Oxford, Sedbergh and Llanidloes, collaborated on performances with actress Holly Walters, and performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Cobweb Orchestra.
Many of you will recognise pianist Tara Clifford from her performance with cellist Clare Graham at our Winter Piano and Cello Concert in December. This time Tara is joined by cellist Alice Jones, and violinist
Alice Jones studied Music at Dartington College of Arts, graduating in 2006 with a 1st class honours degree. She went on to study at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance on Pearson and TCM scholarships, graduating with a Music Performance Masters in 2011.
Alice has played recital concerts and concerti around the UK and abroad. She has worked extensively with the Cobweb Orchestra covering repertoire such as Dvořák’s Cello Concerto (Sage, Gateshead, 2013), Haydn’s Cello Concerto in C (Tuscany 2014) and Elgar’s Cello Concerto (Alnwick 2010 & Sedbergh 2018). In 2013-14 she performed and recorded a Cello Concertino written for her by the composer, John Hawkes. In addition to her work as a soloist, Alice has performed with various ensembles including the English Fayre Quartet (around the UK, Norway and Iceland) and the Evelina De Lain Trio (UK and the Maldives).
Alice teaches a wide range of cello students privately and in schools around London. She is a cello and Early Years music teacher at Junior Trinity. In 2017 she qualified as a Dalcroze practitioner.
Kirsten Wilson started playing violin at the age of 7. She was a music scholar at Headington girls’ school, and attended the Royal College of Music Junior Department, before winning a scholarship to the Royal Northern College of Music, where she studied with Yossi Zivoni and Ben Holland. She then went back to the Royal College of Music for her post-graduate studies, studying with Rodney Friend. Kirsten has played in many professional orchestras including the BBC Philharmonic and orchestras for various film soundtracks. In addition to her orchestral playing she regularly performs with the Barber String Quartet. As well as her busy performing schedule she teaches at Sutton high school and Fulham Prep School. She has also taught at the Royal Academy of Music Junior Department.
To book tickets go here.
We are all absolutely delighted to announce that we’ve appointed Enda Henehan Musical Director of Cricklesingers Choir. Enda is a London-based composer, conductor, guitarist, and singer from Dublin Ireland. He
holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition & Guitar from Technological University Dublin
Conservatoire of Music & Drama and is currently studying for his master’s degree in composition at
Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music & Dance where he is the recipient of the TCL and Gareth Neame
scholarship awards.
His choral exploits have led him to appearances on national television in Ireland and the UK, touring
Andalucía in Southern Spain and participating in the model choir at the Choralp festival in Briancon,
France.
More recently, Enda has sung with the internationally renowned choir New Dublin Voices under the
direction of Bernie Sherlock with whom he was a finalist in the Choir of the World competition at the
International Eisteddfod in Llangollen, Wales in 2022.
We are all very much looking forward to working with Enda on making Cricklesingers an amazing community choir.
March’s book chosen by Cricklereaders is The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, by Sheehan Karunatilaka. Winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, Shehan Karunatilaka’s second novel is a searing, mordantly funny satire set amid the murderous mayhem of a Sri Lanka beset by civil war.
Maali Almeida, war photographer, gambler and closet gay, has woken up dead in what seems to be a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. At a time when scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long.
But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has ‘seven moons’ to try and contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to a hidden cache of photos that will rock Sri Lanka.
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida was announced as the winner of the Booker Prize 2022 on October 17 at a ceremony in London.
The book chosen for the first Cricklereaders of the year is local author Paterson Joseph’s The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho. You can hear Paterson talk about his book here.
Published by Little, Brown, The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho is a “gloriously written Regency polemic”.
Waterstones says: Meet Charles Ignatius Sancho: his extraordinary story, hidden for three hundred years, is about to be told.
I had little right to live, born on a slave ship where my parents both died. But I survived, and indeed, you might say I did more…
It’s 1746 and Georgian London is not a safe place for a young Black man, especially one who has escaped slavery. After the twinkling lights in the Fleet Street coffee shops are blown out and the great houses have closed their doors for the night, Sancho must dodge slave catchers and worse. The man he hoped would help – a kindly duke who taught him to write – is dying. Sancho is desperate and utterly alone. So how does Charles Ignatius Sancho meet the King, write and play highly acclaimed music, become the first Black person to vote in Britain and lead the fight to end slavery?
It’s time for him to tell his story, one that begins on a tempestuous Atlantic Ocean, and ends at the very centre of London life. And through it all, he must ask: born amongst death, how much can you achieve in one short life?
From one of Britain’s best-loved actors, Paterson Joseph, comes an utterly captivating and haunting historical novel, telling the true story of a Great Black Briton.If you’d like to join the group, email cricklereaders@cricklewoodlibrary.org.uk for more details.
Next meeting: Sunday 5 February, 1030-1130
From Wednesday 11 January, we’ll have the papers delivered every day we’re open. That’s Monday, Wednesday, Saturday. Come down, get comfy on the sofa, grab a cuppa, and keep up with the news!
For those who’ve missed it, you’ll be delighted to hear that Cricklesingers resumes on 19 January.
All are invited to attend this evening when we’ll be meeting two potential new Musical Directors.
The weekly rehearsals will then resume from the beginning of February.
There is an affordable membership fee for the choir. You don’t have to have sung before, or be able to read music. We sing acappella harmony and you’ll never have to sing alone, unless you want to.
This is a great way to get into choral singing in a friendly and welcoming environment.
If you have not attended before, please register your interest here.