Past Performances

Mon, 28 Oct 2024

On 28 October, we had a very different and new experience: performing on Peterborough's Most Wanted Radio Show. This opportunity is all down to one of our member's Lesley, so a big thank to her for her star-studded connections. 

In the run up to the show, even though we'd watched several of the shows on Facebook, there was a healthy trepidation of how the evening was going to unfold. We needn't have worried as David and all the gang were a very friendly bunch, and being so experienced in running the show, they immediately put everyone at ease with the relaxed atmosphere they created. 

Amazingly, even though we were surrounded by microphones, light and cameras, it all faded into the background, so that all of the professional paddling that we're sure is going on behind the scenes, meant all we saw was the professional swan prompting us as the evening progressed. 

The two hours flew by - helped by a cake break, obviously, and having an active part in persuading a forthcoming performer to go for the wildcard piece. 

Talking amongst the ensemble at the next rehearsal, there were a lot of positive comments, so hopefully we will be invited back in the future.

• " It was much more relaxed than I anticipated,, being out of earshot except when actively participating. I forgot we were being filmed as well as recorded!"
• "Doing the show was great fun. Definitely more enjoyable that I had expected"
• "The sound when played back in the studio, was amazing, with all parts able to be clearly heard."]
• "Charlie entertained us all with the interview chat and casually admitting to her passion for Pavarotti 😂"

Mon, 14 Oct 2024

Monday 14th October saw Peterborough Flute Choir's third visit to Wisbech St Mary's church for a lovely evening of tooting and eating.

We did things ever so slightly differently this year with a couple of "feature" pieces that included our honorary flute choir member, vocalist Gemma, singing Down by the Salley Gardens and The Bird Song.

We also, for the first time in Peterborough Flute Choir history, performed an arrangement featuring a flute solo with flute choir accompaniment: Pan et les Bergers. The solo part was performed with great sensitivity and passion by one of the choir's newer members, Candice. The evening ended with a fantastic performance of The Typewriter, with Gemma doing a brilliant job typing up the final report of the gig on a good old-fashioned typewriter.

Flute playing can be hunger-inducing work but, thankfully, we were treated to a wonderful mini supper of both sweet and savoury treats, laid on by our hosts at the church, which was much appreciated by all. The church is a great venue to perform at, providing a lovely resonance which adds a little magic to our flute choir sound. We hope to return to Wisbech St Mary soon.

Sun, 14 Jul 2024

Playing outdoors can sometimes be challenging, but we had a most enjoyable afternoon, providing music for this fund-raising event in the informal setting of a spacious private garden. There was some nervousness at a gig that vied for attention with both the Wimbledon final and the anticipation of the World Cup final, however we were very pleased with the amount of people that were tempted to join us. 

This was a lovely, relaxed event. We were made to feel very welcome, with a designated parking area, and a performance area considerately positioned under a shady tree on this sunny afternoon, our audience being seated at tables nearby, in readiness for scrumptious strawberry teas. (We know this, as we were kindly served some, too!)

Sun, 16 Jun 2024

We were excited to be asked to perform a semi-formal concert in this delightful village Church, in aid of their fundraising to install toilets on the premises. (Although we found their current 'compost toilet' facilities to be surprisingly civilised!). We thoroughly enjoyed playing to a packed and responsive audience - who were interested in our lively and varied programme, showing all the different sizes of flute.

We were all grateful for the delicous refreshments in the interval which gave us a little pick-me-up in preparation for some serious chromatic scales in Me and My Baby. 

Our thank to multi-talented local vocalist, Gemma Doherty, who joined us for pieces like Chattanooga Choo Choo and Mister Sandman, but who then deservedly got the most applause for her considerable skills as a percussionist performing Leroy Anderson's "The Typewriter". 
 

Sat, 9 Dec 2023

Another return visit; this is our 3^rd year participating  in the March Christmas Tree Festival and it is definitely a choir favourite. 

This year, we were delighted to be joined by a percussionist, adding some excellent bells and drumming to a mixture of traditional hymns and popular festive music.

The church is beautifully decorated with over 30 trees decorated by a huge range of local groups. While we were mostly background music as visitors browsed, a few came and sat in the choir stalls to listen, and we were happy to oblige their requests, including a compilation of songs from the Disney film, Aladdin.

Although a lovely hours playing was had, the highlight for many were the excellent bacon butties we were treated to afterwards, thanks to our lady on the inside, Beth! This prompted an invite to the Bacon Butty Festival next Summer; we can’t wait 😊.
 

Mon, 23 Oct 2023

This was a return outing for PFC and we were thrilled to once again put on a concert, with a 13-strong choir making the trip out to Wisbech St Mary. The beautiful church has a wonderful atmosphere, and a warm welcome is always had from this lovely WI group.

We were asked to play a mix of popular and classical repertoire, giving us opportunity to show the full range of what a flute choir can do. We started with the lively Beer Barrel Polka, then moved to Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins. This piece is a flute choir favourite; the tune is passed throughout the concert and alto flutes, giving many players their chance to shine. We ended the first half with Dargason from St Paul’s Suite by Gustav Holst and Tahiti Trot by Shostakovich.

As ever with the WI, the interval tea and cakes were excellent! However, the bats that appeared last year were nowhere to be seen this time.

The second half was more upbeat, opening with Entry of the Gladiators before moving through well-known favourites, Keep Young and Beautiful, Blackbird by the Beatles and Tulips from Amsterdam.
 

Sun, 16 Jul 2023

It was an absolute pleasure to provide some musical garnishing for Oundle Horticulural Society's landmark occasion.

Many of the ensemble also commented how welcomed we felt: with a nicely sectioned off area to play from (it can be a bit nerve-wracking having a forest of flutes on the floor at any one time), and the lovely refreshments at the end (hats off to the bakers - the gluten free drizzle was delicious).

It was really touching to receive thanks by email and card - read these on our testimonials page

Sun, 21 May 2023

We had a music-packed Sunday starting with a performance at the big top for Peterborough Celebrates. The gorgeous sunshine had tempted a fair few curious folk to ditch the lie-in.

If you missed us, you can catch one of the pieces we performed on the Have a Listen page.

Sun, 21 May 2023

The second performance in a day - members of the ensemble demonstrated boundless energy and concentration at our return as guest performers at Take Note Community Choir's concert. 

Together, we provided a fantastic variety of pieces themed around the elements: earth, wind, water and fire.

Visit our Facebook page to see our joint performance of Sheep May Safely Graze
 

Sat, 18 Mar 2023

It was a privilege to be asked by Fenland Music Centre to lead an afternoon workshop working towards an informal concert. 

Head to the Latest news page to read more about this event from the event's organiser and MD of Fenland Music Centre, Beth Letts.

Sat, 10 Dec 2022

Our festive endeavours started on Saturday 10 December when we made a return appearance at the Christmas Tree Festival, March. There was a fantastic turnout of visitors who came to judge the entries of decorated trees and do some present shopping at the variety of craft stalls. It was lovely to have some visitors come and sit in the choir stalls to listen to us, too.

We continued our tradition of doing some fundraising at Serpentine Green, which raised £130 for the Light Project Peterborough.

We also donated our time to Longueville Court Care Home for an afternoon of Christmas favourites.

Mon, 22 Aug 2022

We received a warm welcome from the ladies of Wisbech St Mary's Women's Institute, and on our part we made sure not just to bring the music, but also our own contributions to refreshments - hoping that they would meet their, no doubt, high standards. 

There were several magic moments - tingling quiet dynamics juxtaposed with some lovely light staccati in the Humming Chorus and we got the audience singing along several times, such as with Daisy Bell. 

One of the audience said that they enjoyed the concert so much that they could almost forget they were sitting in really uncomfortable pews! 

Wed, 13 Jul 2022

The ensemble enjoyed the relaxed setting of the Talbot Inn's courtyard where we provided a selection of our summer repertoire.  A couple of the audience helpfully obliged to have a go at percussion for our rendition of Chitty-chitty bang bang.  We are looking forward to coming back next year.

Sat, 9 Jul 2022

We were blessed with the best weather you could hope for when playing outside, and rather glad for the breeze that came off the nearby river. It was great to be part of a different fundraising effort, this time help to raise £305 for the Marafiki trust.

Sat, 4 Jun 2022

We were delighted to be invited to support the Fletton Fields project and be a part of the brilliant Jubilee celebrations in the centre of Oundle. The event was really well attended, and it was lovely to perform in such a joyful atmosphere.

Sat, 21 May 2022

It was a pleasure to share the stage with Take Note Community Choir - two years after the original concert was cancelled due to a certain event...

Several of the ensemble had audience and choir members approach them both at the interval and at the end of the concert to say how much they had enjoyed our items.  One of the choir came up to say that "you made me cry" - always a slightly worrying one, but it was certainly in a good way this time, as it was Hushabye Mountain which had pulled her heartstrings. 

Then a lady from the audience complimented our choice and playing of Shepherd's Hey, a piece which took her back to her days in school when she played it, and which she hadn't heard again until now.
 

Sun, 15 May 2022

It was a privilege to be a part of this free, three-day festival held at Ferry Meadows.  As well as having the aim of bringing together communities and celebrating all that Peterborough has to offer, this year's festival also acted an opportunity to thank the many people who helped us get through the last couple of extremely challenging years.

It was a new experience for many of the ensemble to play mic'd up on a stage, but we stepped up to the challenge and did ourselves proud.  

We received positive feedback from the organisers who felt we provided a good contrast to the other acts.

Wed, 1 Dec 2021

We had a busy festive season in 2021. 

It kicked off with supporting March's Christmas Tree Festival on the 11th December. The following week we had our annual festive fundraise at Serpentine Green when we raised £62 for Light Project Peterborough. Then the weekend before Christmas we played for the patients of Sue Ryder's Thorpe Hall Hospice and finished the year with a spot of busking in Peterborough city centre, raising a further £28.

Sat, 26 Jun 2021

We started to see the twinklings of life returning to normal in 2021 and had the pleasure of performing twice at Longuevillle Court Care Home (June and September). We made sure to bring a few numbers that residents could join in with (such as Daisy Bell) and can confirm that they were in fine voice on both occasions. We were also spoiled with delicious cakes!

Sat, 19 Dec 2020

The pandemic put paid to nearly all of the events we had lined up for 2020, but we were determined to still bring some Christmas cheer to the residents of our local care home.

Sat, 19 Sep 2020

We were really looking forward to playing for a friend of the flute choir, but due to restrictions we weren't able to attend in person. Instead, we put together a recording (which we dressed up for, even though it was only going to played over the PA system!) and video (just in case!), so that we could still be there in some shape or form.

Thu, 13 Feb 2020

Four of our members spent an afternoon with the pupils from Years 5 and 6 to introduce them to the flute family and explore a little bit about what making music on the flute involves, and a smattering of science thrown in for good measure.  The final part of the workshop gave every child a chance to have a go at playing a Nuvo Toot, and we look forward to many new members joining us soon(!)

Sun, 15 Dec 2019

Ten of us braved a rather nippy December morning in Ferry Meadows to play a series of carols and Christmassy tunes. We were happy to be so close to the café, which made emergency hot chocolate dashes much quicker.

Sat, 14 Dec 2019

Following the success of our first performance to shoppers, we were invited to add to the festive ambience in store.  We definitely heard some humming along, and even got some young members to help out with some sleigh bells...

Sun, 1 Dec 2019 to Sat, 21 Dec 2019

On 1 and 21 December at Serpentine Green, and 8 December at Van Hage, we played a festive marathon 10 hours to raise just over £220 for the Light Project Peterborough.
 

Fri, 8 Nov 2019

Due to positive feedback from partners and shoppers alike, we were pleased to be invited to support John Lewis' fundraising event in aid of the Alzheimer's Society. 

The feedback we received meant we were able to incorporate some of the partners' favourite pieces (Pachelbel's Canon being one of them). 

In the spirit of the event - we donated £50 of our fee to the cause. 

Sun, 4 Aug 2019

Ferry Meadows is a wonderful location to play in, particularly when the sunshine is blazing!

We were grateful for the rangers putting together a gazebo for us to play under and were pleased to see many visitors stopping to listen, and some staying to share the whole afternoon with us. 

Sun, 28 Jul 2019

For this event we were ideally located just inside the entrance to the womenswear section, which meant shoppers inside John Lewis and passing by could hear us. 

This performance made us realise the potential opportunities to provide live music to members of the community who wouldn't necessarily come to a concert, but who appreciate it when it's available in circumstances that fits in with their routine.

Sun, 23 Jun 2019

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon to play in equally gorgeous surroundings for the open gardens. 

Visitors came up to us to say how the sound travelled around the garden as they soaked up the sunshine and admired the hours of work that go into such a beautifully maintained garden. People commented on how they could hear the flutes even as they walked down the road.  The organisers reported that everyone they spoke to who heard the choir were very impressed and complementary on the choice of music especially ‘English country garden’ and the technical skill of the ensemble, andn that it really added something special to the atmosphere.
 
We learned that this open gardens event had record numbers attend the day overall, around 600, which was twice as many as last year, and that they raised an amazing £5,029.25 for Alzheimer’s Society which over doubled the previous year's efforts, thereby setting a record for this Open Gardens.

People travelled from as far as Cambridge especially for the day, Bourne, Lincolnshire, Norfolk. The oldest visitor that we know of was 97 years old travelled from Uxbridge – Greater London (visiting local relatives) and the youngest just 3 months old from Oakham.

 

Sat, 18 May 2019

This was one of Peterborough Flute Choir's first official engagements. We donned our best frocks and dinner jackets and enjoyed contributing to the celebrations during the drinks reception.