World class musicians to perform at Biggleswade's St Andrews Church during festival

The church will welcome Simon Berridge, Tom Stewart and Wayne Martin on July 1 at 7.30pm to perform ‘Places to go: from Bach to Jazz’, followed by a performance from organist William Whitehead, entitled 'Bach and friends' on July 2, at 12.30pm.

A spokesman for St Andrew’s Church, said: “Local star Simon Berridge has more than 35 years of experience as a classical singer, choir director, vocal mentor and teacher.

"Whilst a member of the award winning ensemble ‘The Sixteen’ he toured extensively with the group throughout the world. He leads numerous workshops and singing days for choirs both for adults and children, and was a tutor and mentor for the Sixteen’s Genesis training Scheme for young professional singers.

"Meanwhile, William Whitehead will present a wide-ranging programme to include Bach, Bach arranged by Dupré, and Bach arranging Vivaldi, plus a kaleidoscope of contemporary pieces in homage to Bach drawn from the Orgelbüchlein Project.”

The fun continues on the Saturday evening (July 2), at 7.30pm, when audiences can enjoy ‘Bach and the Art of Jazz’ with Martin Feinstein and Pawel Siwczak.

The spokesman said: “Martin Feinstein played jazz piano from a young age and started playing the flute at the age of 15, inspired by hearing the works of J.S.Bach.

"He is recognised as one of the UK's leading period flute players.

"As a soloist and with his Feinstein Ensemble, he has performed, broadcast and recorded a wide range of repertoire on both modern and period instruments, performances that have met with critical praise both in the UK and abroad.

"Pawel has a passion for historical keyboards, especially harpsichord and fortepiano, which he studied extensively.

"Pawel’s performance are diverse, ranging form solo recitals to conducting from the keyboard, and collaborations with orchestras and ensembles.

"He thrives working with other art disciplines: his project with a PC Music artist, Danny Harle, was featured by BBC Radio among ‘Five of the BBC’s weirdest live session ever’; a concise summary of Pawel’s experimental spirit combined with traditional classical training.”

The finale, the ‘Alec Harper Quartet’ picnic concert, will be at 3.30pm on Sunday (July 3).

The spokesman concluded: “The Alec Harper Quartet is a four-piece jazz group consisting of four friends and titans of the UK Jazz Scene. “Alec Harper (saxophonist), Phil Horsfall (Biggleswade’s very own Trumpeter and vocalist), Will Barry (piano) and Ferg Ireland (Bass) met whist playing in popular London based outfit ‘Kansas Smitty’s’ and are all individually active on the European Jazz circuit.

"For this particular programme the group will be performing a selection of jazz compositions from their favourite artists including, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jelly Roll Morton and many more. The repertoire selected is focussed mainly on the period of jazz history spanning the 1920s-50s but some exceptions could indeed make their way into the set, after all, Jazz is full of surprises!

“So bring a rug, chairs and a picnic, and join us for the fun-filled festival conclusion.”

For more information, please visit: https://www.collectivel.org/events/