Music at Oxford’s Friday Sheldonian special

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This Friday, 28th April, book in to enjoy a world premiere from Gregory Rose in celebration of his 75th birthday with Jupiter Orchestra at the Sheldonian Theatre

From one of the oldest, and most loved, oboe concertos to one of the newest, this highlight offers a world premiere from Gregory Rose in celebration of his 75th birthday.

Both will be performed by renowned oboist George Caird, a long-standing friend of Gregory Rose, the evening will also feature two works for string orchestra. Janáček’s Idyll Suite, previously recorded for Chandos by the Jupiter Orchestra, will be performed alongside Tchaikovsky’s heartfelt Serenade for Strings.

Gregory Rose celebrated his 75th birthday on 18th April. Brought up in Bampton, he was a violin pupil of the legendary Frances Kitching and studied Music at Magdalen College Oxford in the 1960s, as an academical clerk under his father, Bernard Rose. He returned to live in Oxford several years ago.

As a conductor he is particularly noted for his performances of the romantic and contemporary repertoires, having conducted over a thousand premieres of orchestral, choral and ensemble works throughout Europe and the Far East. Orchestras include the Finnish Radio Symphony, St Petersburg, London Philharmonic, Polish National Radio Symphony and the Royal Scottish National orchestras, and the National Symphony Orchestras of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Eire, the BBC Concert Orchestra, his own Jupiter Orchestra & Singers, and the amplified vocal ensemble Singcircle. Choirs include the Groupe Vocal de France, the Nederland Kamerkoor, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Latvian Radio Choir and the BBC Singers.

Gregory has worked closely with composers such as Stockhausen, Cage, Steve Reich, Lachenmann and Birtwistle. For the Almeida Festival, he directed Cage at 70 in 1982, and Reich at 50 in 1986. He has directed more than 50 performances of Stockhausen’s Stimmung, including performing with the composer himself, as well as making an award-winning CD of the work in 1980, shortly after directing a performance at the BBC Promenade concerts.  He collaborated on the premiere recording of John Cage’s Song Books on the Sub Rosa label and has conducted orchestral arrangements for Linda Ronstadt, Diana Ross, and Madness. 

In the field of opera and music theatre he has conducted performances of operas by Bizet, Scott Joplin, Igor Stravinsky, Samuel Barber, Virgil Thomson, Berthold Goldschmidt, Nino Rota, Poulenc, Gian Carlo Menotti, Malcolm Williamson, Toshio Hosokawa and Edward Jessen, and music-theatre works by Prokofiev, Luciano Berio, Peter Maxwell Davies, Jonathan Harvey and Karlheinz Stockhausen. He has participated in festivals throughout Europe, including two BBC Proms concerts with Singcircle. He has recorded for many international television and radio stations, and has made highly acclaimed recordings for Chandos, Hyperion, Wergo, Continuum, October Music, Toccata Classics, Dacapo and Naxos. He has been a staff conductor at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance since 1996. 

Book your tickets at Albinoni, Rose and Friends | Sheldonian Theatre (ox.ac.uk).

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Ravishing rhododendrons with royal approval

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Well done to the team behind Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens, who have just won three top prizes at RHS Wisley

The famous rhododendrons of Leonardslee Lakes & Gardens are in full bloom and have recently won three top prizes at the 2023 RHS Main Camellia, Early Rhododendron and Spring Ornamental Plants Competitions at RHS Wisley, Surrey. The winning Rhododendrons were ‘Muriel’ (Class 35), ‘Argipeplum’ (Class 29), and ‘Schlippenbachii’ (first prize).

The Grade I Listed gardens on the 240-acre Leonardslee estate were established by the Loder family, Victorian-era plant collectors. The estate is home to an exceptional collection of flora and fauna, featuring wallabies and deer roaming among seven interlaced lakes. Many of the plants are now very rare and threatened in their native habitats, says estate general manager Adam Streeter.

The RHS Wisley competition was organised in conjunction with the RCM Group – RHS Rhododendron, Camellia & Magnolia Group, of which King Charles in a patron. The group has gifted rhododendrons, camellias, and magnolias to the King for a collection at Sandringham. Two plants closely associated with Leonardslee were included in the gift: Loderi King George which received the RHS Award of Merit in 1968, and Loderi Sir Joseph Hooker.

During their time cultivating the gardens at Leonardslee, the Loder family regularly competed in horticultural contests and won numerous medals and awards for their efforts. The last time this happened was under Sir Giles Loder in the 1970s. This year marks the first time the current gardening team, including Elliot Chandler and Dan Ainscough, has entered a Rhododendron competition. The current estate owners, since 2017, the Streeter family, plan to enter the Camellia categories at Wisley next year, eyeing the opportunity to win the Leonardslee Bowl, donated to the society by Sir Giles Loder.

Head gardener Jamie Harris says: “Leonardslee offers a perfect setting for growing rhododendrons, with an ericaceous loam and sandstone bedrock creating acidic soil conditions that are perfect for these plants, as well as the abundant camellias, magnolias, and conifers,” explains Jamie Harris.

In celebration of King Charles III’s coronation, Leonardslee is restoring the Coronation Garden, first created for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1952. It features the famed rhododendron Loderi King George, created by Sir Edmund Loder, along with over 30 other rhododendron grafts.

To plan a visit, see Leonardslee Gardens

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May flowers are springing up

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At last spring is in the air and summer is coming. We should be mindful of climate issues but not let it put us off gardening forever

May and June are often thought of as a difficult time as often there is a lot of foliage and not many flowers. I am often asked how do I fill this gap…?

Go Shopping!

I think we all deserve a treat after the horrendous weather extremes we have been dealt. We can’t choose plants will survive every eventuality we can only do our best. If May is a time when your garden is very green there is nothing like a trip to the garden centre. If the plants are hardened off and used to the outdoors they will be on sale outdoors. If they are in flower when you buy them you would assume they will flower at the same time next year. Don’t be tempted to buy plants sold undercover and put them straight into your garden, they need to be acclimatised to the outside first. You will need to do a bit of research so it’s not totally impulsive!

Plant Choices

Most flowering plants can be describe as five minute wonders or those that reward us for a longer period of time. Irises and Aquilegias I would not be without along with many alpines but they don’t last long. Erysimum ‘Bowles Mauve’ is a perennial wallflower that flowers for the whole of the summer. It tends to only live for a few years but not expensive to replace. Hardy Fushsias and Roses are also reliable bloomers all summer long as is Geranium ‘Rozanne’. It’s important to know the proper name of the plant and ‘what it does’. It is also essential to know your soil pH and if it likes sun, shade, sandy soil, wet soil etc etc. Luckily these days there are very educational label. Bedding plants are available now but be aware there can still be frosts in May!

Jobs to do now

It’s very important to weed and mulch but not excessively, a lot of ‘weeds’ are beneficial to wildlife and don’t discount the beauty of flowers. Consider leaving red and white dead nettle and dandelions as well as nettles in some areas of your garden. Planting is great at this time of the year but remember how important it is to learn how to water properly. So many plants are lost in the first season due to lack of water.

The Chelsea chop

This is something you can do at the end of May to encourage more flowers on some perennials like Helianthis, Helenium, Lynchis and many others. It can also encourage them to become sturdier and self supporting.

Looking forward

We should probably be buying more plants in season and enjoying them for as long as we can. Learn about your soil and how to improve it. Courses and workshops can create confidence and are great fun. Learn how different plants can contribute to your outdoor space.

CGS Courses

Please ask for details as I am running pruning courses throughout spring and autumn. Each plant has a different requirement and learning about pruning techniques is addictive! I can also come and teach you in your own garden.

Website www.cathiesgardeningschool.co.uk

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No Mow May to help wildlife!

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Plantlife’s annual call to lock up your lawnmowers and not mow your green spaces during May will provide a much-needed boost for wild plants and wildlife throughout summer.

Let wildflowers and long grasses grow in your lawn to provide a feast for pollinators, tackle pollution, reduce urban heat extremes, and lock away atmospheric carbon below ground.

It couldn’t be simpler. Lock up your mower over the month of May to provide a much-needed boost for wildlife throughout summer. You can choose not to mow some or all of your green space. Just sit back and watch the flowers grow.

Smaller plants such as daises, dandelion, selfheal and clover will get a chance to flower, providing a butterfly and bee buffet. You can continue to mow less and at different lengths and frequencies throughout the summer.

If you have already left all or part of your lawn unmown from the beginning of the season, that is great! This means that you have let a mini-meadow grow and are likely to have a much higher variety of flowers in your lawn if you choose to.

Don’t worry if you’ve not left your lawn unmown at all or have recently mown it – it’s committing to leaving your lawn, whether all of it or some of it, unmown for longer which is important.

For more info, downloadable posters and more, visit Take part in No Mow May – Plantlife

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Q&A with Dr Amir Khan

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Our favourite TV (and real-life) doctor Amir Khan shares his thoughts ahead of his talking tour with FANE.

Q. Who was your hero growing up? And now?

“Our main source of entertainment growing up was Bollywood – so I had Bollywood heroes as a child. Basically there was a template: be good looking, be the perfect son, get the girl and destroy all the villains single-handed and against all the odds. Now I feel like I still would like to be like those Bollywood heroes but it’s not going to happen and it’s too late for me. So I will go for Chris Packham – I love wildlife and protecting nature is so important and what impresses me about Chris is he isn’t afraid to say it how it is when it comes to what we need to do. I met him and he blew me away with his intricate knowledge of the natural world and his ability to describe things so colourfully.”

Q. How was your mum as a matriarch growing up?

“Mama Khan is brilliant and brutal, that’s probably the best way to describe her. She brought up seven kids – I mean who does that?! And she worked full-time as a social worker (she worked her way up from being a cleaner and going to night school) and she made sure we were all kept on the straight and narrow. She was VERY strict growing up, she needed to know where we were at all times and with whom, so nothing has changed. If she didn’t approve it didn’t happen, so no change there either. She was the ultimate feminist – she had six girls and one boy and she didn’t want her girls to think there was anything they couldn’t do. So everything got divvied out equally – vacuuming, washing, drilling, gardening. It didn’t matter if you were a girl or a boy, you mucked in. She is also the BEST cook – if you like Asian food you haven’t tried anything unless you try hers. All the Asian families would come to our house growing up because of her food.”

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Pet art wins Queen Camilla’s approval

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Self-taught artist Alison Molan was thrilled to receive a letter from Her Majesty after sending her a quirky pup portrait

A letter of appreciation for her artwork from Her Majesty Queen Camilla was not something Farnham based artist, Alison, would have believed possible when setting up her business, Pup Goes The Easel last summer.

Alison tells us: “I recently sent one of my coronation-themed, Charlie cards and tea towels to Queen Camilla because I thought it would be fun to know that something from Farnham was being used at Highgrove House, Clarence House or even Buckingham Palace! The letter of thanks and praise from Her Majesty for my work was a real surprise and such a boost for my business.”

“The letter of thanks and praise from Her Majesty for my work was a real surprise”

Alison is a self-taught artist, who, in mid-life founded an exciting new creative business. She produces distinctive greeting cards, prints, tote bags and tea towels from her fun and vibrant paintings of pups. Her business was inspired by her family pet, a rescued Lurcher called Parker. “He was the sweetest pup and brought joy to our lives” says Alison. Having previously only painted her family’s pets, her family encouraged her to take what was “just a hobby” to the next level. So, she painted more pups (family and friends’ dogs were her muses) and, with a huge leap of faith, set up her small business.

Since last summer Alison has successfully sourced UK based, suppliers who ensure her products are of the highest quality and are sustainably made. She has sold her unique images as high-quality cards, prints and gifts through local and London markets and through her Etsy store. “Meeting customers and seeing their positive reactions to my artwork has been very uplifting”. Alison has sold her products locally at the Farnham Maltings Monthly Market and Esty Guildford. In London she has had success at the Crafty Fox Market the De Beauvoir Christmas Trail and the BBH International Women’s Day Market. “I look forward to attending other events in the future including Curated at the Dorking Halls and at Denbies Wine Estate as well as more markets in Farnham, Alton and Guildford.”

Setting up a creative business in mid-life has brought many challenges but it has also been exciting and inspiring. “I have thoroughly enjoyed creating products from my images that capture the essence and personality of a pup and love seeing customers interact with them.

“You can imagine how absolutely thrilled I was to get this fabulous letter from her and chuffed to bits that she likes my artwork. It has given me a real boost and I thought it was lovely of her to take the time of respond when she must have a million and one more pressing things to deal with at the moment!”

Alison’s next step is to collaborate with retailers so that she can reach a wider audience. Watch this space – who knows, Pup Goes The Easel may soon be ‘By Royal Appointment”!

Alison’s work can be found on her Etsy store PupGoesTheEasel – Etsy UK and she can be contacted through Instagram Pup Goes The Easel 🐾🐶.

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North West Surrey Alliance community day

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Jack Wagstaff, Place Leader and Chief Officer for North West Surrey Health and Care Alliance shares how they are working together for better health, care and wellbeing for the benefit of the community

North West Surrey Health and Care Alliance recently held our first large-scale Community Day at the RHS Garden Wisley. The incredible setting intentionally set the tone for the type of environments we need around us to nurture our health and wellbeing.

More than 200 people living, working, running businesses, supporting vulnerable people and raising families in our communities joined us.

This was an opportunity to showcase everything from local recruitment opportunities to the progress we’re making joining up the delivery of health, care and wider wellbeing services. That included hearing about people like, Avis who has regained her confidence after a series of falls following support from our Urgent Community Response Team who helped her to remain independent in her own home. Watch Avis tell her story.

We also shared our work with borough councils, without whom it wouldn’t be possible to offer initiatives like our Step Down Service. This is supported accommodation for people who are medically fit but need additional help on discharge from hospital. For local residents Wendy and Darren this made all the difference. Hear more about Helen’s work.

As well sharing our progress, it was a chance for local people to tell us what it feels like to be on the receiving end of our work. The energy and positive feedback on the day was hugely motivating but what really struck me was just how active our residents want to be in improving their own health and wellbeing. Empowering people to take agency in this is the foundation of our work to develop neighbourhood teams. This follows recommendations from The Fuller Stocktake and our Critical 5 priorities, and means introducing multi-disciplinary teams to serve the needs of a defined footprint – with easy access to preventative support and tailored care when it’s needed.

Listening to the experiences of people from our communities and understanding their ideas for what a healthy and happy neighbourhood looks like opened up a different kind of dialogue about how we can influence the wider determinants of health. Considering transport and access, digital inequality, making it easier to navigate different services and liberating our community assets so they can take forward their own wellbeing initiatives, is all part of growing the neighbourhoods our residents want.

This is just the beginning of our work involve people in our communities, the voluntary and charity sector to build cohesive services and cultivate environments where our residents can thrive. Take a look at the highlights from the day in this short film. And if you’re interested in how we’ll be using the outputs of our discussions – keep an eye on our website or drop us a line.

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Celebrate the Coronation with MajesTEA

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Raise a glass and mark historic occasion with Hogs Back Brewery

Hogs Back Brewery, based in Tongham, is inviting beer drinkers to toast the Coronation of King Charles with a pint of MajesTEA, a premium cask ale that is definitely fit for a king.

Originally brewed for the Platinum Jubilee in 2022, MajesTEA is returning as a limited edition ale for another special royal occasion. It will be available to pubs, as well as in the Hogs Back tap room at the brewery in Tongham, in time for the Coronation celebrations in May. It will also be served at Farnham Beerex, taking place from 20-23 April at Farnham Maltings.

MajesTEA is a regal variation on Hogs Back’s award-winning flagship ale Tongham TEA, brewed with a little more fine English malt, and more Fuggles hops, grown in the hop garden less than 100 yards from the brewhouse. The full-bodied 4.5% traditional amber ale has a beautiful balance of malty, caramel notes and spicy hop flavours, while dry-hopping with Fuggles adds grassy and floral notes.

Hogs Back managing director Rupert Thompson said: “There’s a long history amongst British brewers of producing very special beers to mark Royal occasions, and we’re delighted that MajesTEA is continuing the tradition. It’s a very British beer, eminently drinkable, and certainly worth breaking out the bunting for.

“People will be gathering in pubs to celebrate the Coronation weekend, including the ceremony itself on Saturday 6th May and the extra Bank Holiday on Monday 8th May. Raising a glass of MajesTEA is a great way to toast King Charles, as well as to show support for Britain’s pubs and brewers, which are right up there alongside the Crown Jewels as an iconic and much-loved part of our national heritage.”

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Study and train with Oxford United

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Abingdon & Witney College launch new course offering the chance to gain a sport qualification as you develop your football skills

Abingdon & Witney College have launched the Oxford United Advanced Football Programme; a new course that allows students to study full-time for a sports qualification with Abingdon & Witney College whilst training with Oxford United.

The full-time programme is open to male students aged 16-18 on 31st August 2023, with a female cohort set to launch next academic year. The course provides students with the opportunity to develop their football skills whilst studying a BTEC Sports qualification.

Students will study at our Abingdon Campus, and train directly with Oxford United UEFA B qualified coaches; who alongside our academic tutors, will develop and equip them physically and mentally. Together, we will teach students the determination and resilience they need to succeed, all whilst building the strength and confidence they need to be at the top of their game.

Successful students who join the programme will have the opportunity to play regularly at the Oxford United Bangkok Glass Training Centre, part of the £4.9m sports complex near Horspath. They’ll also get the chance to train and compete in a competitive league and cup tournaments against other teams across the region. Every student will also get their own Oxford United x Abingdon & Witney College training kit and excitingly, a free Oxford United season ticket.

Through our new partnership, talented and aspiring players won’t have to pick between football and academic development; they can do both. When students are not training at the club, our specialist team will be there helping them to prepare for their future. The new study programme includes a sports-based vocational qualification, GCSE English and/or maths as required, a supportive tutorial programme, and the work experience and enrichment activities we offer all our students.

Once they’ve joined the programme, students will also have access to our full college experience. They’ll have the chance to immerse themselves in our student life, take part in our college wide trips and make the most of our pastoral care and guidance.

To find out more about the programme, how to apply and how to secure your place at our Football Trial Event on Wednesday 26th April from 4pm, please visit www.abingdon-witney.ac.uk

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