It is with great sadness that we must tell you of the passing of Dick Smith, our first Chairman and one of our most loyal supporters.

It's no exaggeration to say that without Dick, there would be no Grayshott Concerts. Dick was 'Mr Grayshott' when, over 20 years ago, his Chairmanship of the 'Buy in Grayshott' campaign (Grayshott's local Chamber of Commerce) took the village to the dizzy heights of recurring Hampshire 'Village Of The Year' Awards over the Millennium period. His drive and enthusiasm supported shops, businesses and the community, making Grayshott one of the most desirable places to live.

Among his many initiatives, he was the driving force behind the Grayshott illuminations - and, vitally for us, Grayshott Concerts.

When Vivien and I first mentioned our proposals to stage a one-off concert to raise funds for St Luke's Church in 2004, Dick was an instant Champion. His immediate support was infectious, persuading many local shops and businesses to donate funds for the event. So many contributions were received that they fully funded the cost of performers so that the entire ticket takings of £3,000 plus an additional £500 profits went to the Church.

So successful was the event that villagers asked: 'When's the next one?' - and inevitably, Grayshott Concerts was born - flourishing into the successful Charity you see today.

So 'Thank You, Dick! There would have been no Grayshott Concerts without you. We loved and respected your ability to inspire, your generosity, your positivity and sense of humour, your 'never give in' attitude - and your constant availability to take on any challenge.

We'll miss you so much.

We offer his wife, Carolyn, and his family, our deepest sympathies along with those of our many appreciative supporters.

Peter and Vivien
Co-Founders

What an Evening !

2024 is certainly a year of celebrations for Grayshott Concerts. It's their 20th anniversary, and Friday 9th February witnessed their 100th concert. Peter and Vivien Harrison certainly started something amazing all those years ago. As if this wasn't enough, their Orchestra in Residence, the London Mozart Players are also celebrating - in their case it's to mark 75 years since they were established in 1949 by conductor Harry Blech.

And what better way for the LMP to mark this remarkable achievement than with an all Mozart concert for us in Grayshott. Not for us just the standard 'overture / concerto / symphony' programme, but something much more interesting - a concert based on one that Mozart himself conducted at the Burgtheatre in Vienna in 1783.

Mozart was showing off the huge range of his talents in this concert and our Grayshott audience were the beneficiaries of the scale of his genius. The first unusual element was that the concert began with just the first three movements of his Symphony 35 - the 'Haffner'. We had to wait until the final piece of the second half of the concert to hear the last movement. They certainly did things differently in 1783!

Jonathan Bloxham, the Orchestra's Resident Conductor and Artistic Advisor conducted with the precision and attention to detail that we have already come to expect from him; tightly controlled tempi with each section of the Orchestra's players balanced to enable us to hear every strand of Mozart's wonderful orchestration. The programme also included the 3rd and 4th movements from the composer's Serenade no.9 - the 'Posthorn'.

And we had not one, but THREE tremendous soloists. Soprano Anna Prohaska was in glorious voice in three arias, the first from the opera Idomeneo and the third from Cosi fan tutte, which the pedants among you will know was not written until 1789/90 and therefore not part of the 1783 concert. However, we would not have wanted to miss the stupendous aria Come scoglio, in a performance quite the equal to that of Elisabeth Schwartzkopf in the classic Karl Böhm recording from the 1960s.

The programme was completed with two of the composer's piano concertos. Number 13 in C Major (K.415) was played in great style by Dame Imogen Cooper, bringing out the graceful legato lines of this fine work. The second, Concerto no. 5 in D major (K.175 with as its finale K.385) was performed by Martin James Bartlett, whose flashing fingerwork and effortless technique brought the great Glenn Gould to mind.

In all, a magnificent evening's music, which honoured this truly magnificent composer in a fashion that he would have truly appreciated.

Do mark your calendars for these captivating performances ! Tickets have already been selling extremely well so don't delay in securing yours.

Please note that our telephone number has changed and is now 01420 22432 - there will still be an answer machine for messages

As we embark on this musical journey together, we extend a warm welcome to all music lovers. Your presence and support make Grayshott Concerts a truly special experience.

With best wishes