Review: The Denis Sharp Memorial Concert, 2019

A WELL-attended event at Craiglands on Friday was a fitting memorial to a gentleman who, in his wife’s words, “worked tirelessly on [her] behalf at the Wharfedale Festival of Performing Arts”. Denis Sharp sadly died in 2009 and Elizabeth Sharp has organised a concert in his memory each year since then. And each year the headline act has been the Clifton and Lightcliffe Brass Band, of which Mrs Sharp is Vice-President. The band was in fine form on Friday, kicking off with a spirited rendering of Bizet’s L’Arlésienne, where young trombonist Alex Smith’s expressive playing impressed. The programme was varied in theme and register, from American folk tunes arranged by Goff Richards to a North Country fantasy with memorable tuba playing, via the Hollywood staple of Singing in the Rain. There was plenty of nostalgia, including Water of Tyne, William Tell (shades of the Lone Ranger) and Vaughan Williams’ Prelude to the 49th Parallel. Outstanding was Jill Crisp’s tuneful and sensitive flugelhorn solo in Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez. The Spanish strand came alive with a dazzling performance by Samuel Moore on flamenco guitar; his solos in both halves of the concert enchanting the audience. The handsome profit of £400 will benefit the band and help to further the talents of Samuel Moore and other rising stars such as soprano Phoebe Smith. It will also fund Mrs Sharp’s “Stars” event on the morning of Wednesday, May 22, when children from Ashlands, All Saints and Burley Oaks primary schools come to Kings Hall to display their various musical or dramatic gifts to a sizeable audience. Another beneficiary will be the Regional Festivals Championship to be held in September at Leeds College of Music.

Samuel Moore and Phoebe Smith will be performing at Christchurch, Ilkley on Friday, May 3 at 7.30pm. Tickets from Ilkley Visitor Centre, 01943 436232 or 01943 602319.

by Judith Dunn