Spokeswoman Jill Elsworthy: “The Horsham Music Circle’s 82nd season brought music making of the highest quality to last long in our memories. We now move on to the 83rd season. The three autumn concerts start with a dazzling global music programme, introduce a brilliant young bassoonist and welcome back a British pianist praised for his unfailingly communicative playing. We hope to see you there!”
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MusicTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely this
00:06afternoon to speak to Gell Ellsworthy about the Horsham Music Circle. Now the circle goes
00:12back a long way, doesn't it, and is still very much a key part of the town of Horsham.
00:17Tell me about the origins, how did it begin, do you know?
00:22It started in 1942, and it was the vision of local professional pianist Grace Humphrey,
00:30and she had tremendous drive and enthusiasm and brought many of the top performers of
00:35her era to Horsham. And when you think that it was in wartime, it's particularly marvellous
00:41that she was able to do that. And she brought eventually people like the composer York Bowen,
00:47Colin Davies, when he was actually still a student at Christ Hospital, a young Jacqueline
00:52Dupre, and the pianist Maura Limpany, amongst many others. She had a composer as the first
01:00president, Sir Arnold Bax, and that went on to Sir Edmund Rubbera and Andre Previn. And
01:07then it continued till she retired, and then after that it was taken over by her successors,
01:13her son Brian Harmsworth, with Betty Gripper as an admin secretary. There was Louise DeWaard,
01:20who did the concert planning for a year. And then in 1978, I took over as admin secretary.
01:27And then when Brian retired in 1982, I started doing the concert organising as well.
01:33So you both know fewer than 42 years of doing so. That's quite impressive, isn't it?
01:41And why do you do it? What's the pleasure for you in being part of this?
01:45Well, being a musician myself, I suppose, it's a thing that one does, one can't help
01:51oneself doing. But it is essential to have live music performance. Nothing quite recreates the
02:00feeling of the whole being in the ambience of a concert venue. And essentially, we are
02:08a chamber music and solo recital concert promoting society. But also, we add other
02:14musical forms. So we have occasional jazz elements, vocal groups, more diverse and
02:20innovative presentations, in an effort to bring variety and also introduce something from every
02:26solo instrument, so that we can keep live performance going in the town. There are
02:33masses of voluntary run organisations like this around the country. So it's not just us,
02:39there's many all over the country exist. And there have been for many years.
02:43You've managed to keep going. And I can think of plenty of organisations in recent years
02:48across Sussex that have sadly stopped, that just haven't been able to keep going. Yet you have.
02:55How do you explain that longevity and success?
02:58There have been problems up and down. Yes, I think that does happen. Times change, people's
03:06going to events change. Particularly recently, we managed to keep the traditional concert
03:15music society format of an annual series of concerts, which were subscription events going.
03:23But in 2018 and 19, we were facing major changes because our then chairman, Dr. John Studdart,
03:32through illness had to step down from the post. And the treasurer also was unable to continue.
03:39So we then changed status and we became a not-for-profit group. We moved away from the
03:45traditional subscription season, which went from September through to May, because people could not
03:51commit that far ahead anymore. And we started a new idea of having it in two halves, an autumn
03:58series and a spring series. And that proved successful. So it's a question of adapting for
04:03the times then, isn't it? But it seems to me that anything that survived the pandemic has done
04:08incredibly well, hasn't it? Well, then, of course, we had the pandemic just as we started on this new
04:14idea. So things halted. We did maintain one year where we were allowed to have concerts,
04:21and we had some organ recitals under protocols that tidied us over. And then we went back,
04:32and again, with COVID protocols, with masks and the usual things. And then eventually,
04:38now we're back to normal. And clearly in a good place, doing well.
04:44Well, hope so. I think the thing is that we've been really encouraged. We've continued having
04:51the well-known musicians like Julian Lloyd Webber and Emma Johnson, Evelyn Glennie,
04:57Peter Donahoe, the King Singers and the Allegory Quartet. And now we've brought in some of today's
05:03superstars, so Jess Gilliman, her ensemble, and the Canna-Mason family. So we've had wonderful
05:10evenings of music making from them. And these names naturally attract large numbers. So it
05:16was wonderful to see that. But we hope... Fantastic. And with your reputation,
05:20presumably, it's easier to attract the performers, is it? Do they enjoy coming to you?
05:25Oh, they love coming. But the thing is now is that we hope that those that were inspired by
05:31those composers come along to hear other outstanding musicians. Because some of the
05:36names that we're having perhaps this season are not so well known, but we can confidently say
05:41they are brilliant musicians, and they look forward to coming and playing for locally run
05:47music societies. I think the Canna-Masons did say how nice it was to come to what you'd call
05:54an ordinary venue as against an enormous hall. And it was lovely to have that atmosphere of
06:01meeting with all the people. And they have a closer rapport with the audience in a smaller venue,
06:07obviously, don't they? Yes, yes. So touch wood, at the moment,
06:13we are keeping going. We've benefited from some former members who have given us some financial
06:20support. So that always is helpful. And all of those sorts of music clubs depend on having
06:27donations coming in to support the work. Fantastic. Well, as I say, the wider context
06:33I see is that a number of societies and circles have disappeared, yet you've managed to keep on
06:38going, which longevity in any circumstances is a fabulous thing. So congratulations and
06:45all good wishes for the latest season, Jo. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much.