St Chads in Shrewsbury getting ready to host a concert featuring a very talented Shropshire Violinist.

Shropshire Star

The round shape of St Chads Church in Shrewsbury means the acoustics for violin and music will make an upcoming concert very special. We chat to Shropshire Violinist Conor, who is about to perform alongside the Phoenix Singers.

Transcript

00:00Ready, Conor?

00:01♪♪♪

00:15Hello, Conor.

00:16Hi, hello.

00:17That sounded absolutely gorgeous.

00:19So you're a Shropshire lad?

00:21Yes, yeah.

00:22And we're here at St Chad Church in Shrewsbury,

00:24and this is almost like a soundcheck for yourself.

00:26Just fill us in on what's coming up.

00:28Well, we have a really exciting concert

00:30on the 16th of November.

00:32It's a really exciting collaboration

00:34between my ensemble, Knoxford,

00:36and the Phoenix Singers of Shrewsbury,

00:38who have this new amazing conductor,

00:40David Thomas.

00:41Yeah.

00:42So what can people expect on the evening,

00:44and what music?

00:45Well, we have a really muscular programme

00:47comprised by David,

00:49of Handel's Dixit Dominus, Vivaldi's Gloria,

00:51Bach's Lobet den Hahn,

00:53and also a concerto for violin and oboe,

00:55also by Bach.

00:56And have you played in this church before?

00:58I've played in this church,

01:00and a few other churches in Shrewsbury,

01:02especially my youth,

01:03when I was part of the Shrewsbury Music Service.

01:05Yeah.

01:06And all the youth orchestras,

01:07which was really fun.

01:08So it's really nice to come back

01:09and perform in my hometown.

01:11And what about the acoustics?

01:13I mean, to me it's sounding amazing.

01:15As a player, what are you thinking?

01:17Is this cylindrical shape helping?

01:19Yeah, this acoustic is fantastic.

01:21I think this church is one of very few,

01:23maybe four or five Georgian churches

01:25in the UK with this circular shape,

01:27which is fantastic for acoustics.

01:29It was built so priests, vicars could all speak,

01:32and everyone in this sort of amphitheatre

01:34could hear every word.

01:35So for music, it's perfect.

01:37Fantastic.

01:38Well, wish you all the best with that concert.

01:40Thanks very much.

01:47It's a rather special violin, isn't it, this one?

01:49Just show us what's kind of cool about it.

01:52Yeah, so this is quite a lovely violin

01:54made by Alessandro Galliano

01:56in about 1695 in Naples,

01:59who we believe is probably a student

02:01of both the Amati family and Stradivarius.

02:04Yeah.

02:05And this particular violin

02:06has this beautiful, ornate purfling on the back.

02:11And we're not sure why it's there,

02:12but it's there.

02:14He was quite an interesting maker,

02:15and he didn't have standardised instruments,

02:17so it's quite special to have.

02:19Now, I didn't realise when I first saw that,

02:21but that's actually inlaid, wasn't it?

02:23The work and the craftsmanship.

02:25Yeah, it's quite impressive,

02:27especially for the 17th century.

02:29It's three pieces of wood, ebony, maple, ebony,

02:32or other tropical woods.

02:34And, you know, it would have had to have been steamed

02:37and then carved in and placed in and glued in.

02:39So even this part alone would have taken a long time.

02:42Are there still people making violins in the world today

02:46that could replicate that kind of quality, do you think?

02:49I think, well, one of the special things

02:51about violins and string instruments

02:53is that they are never two the same.

02:55So even from the same maker,

02:56they will never sound or feel the same,

02:58which is quite special.

02:59And I do believe that we have really good makers today.

03:01I think we're in a particularly special period of new makers,

03:04so it's quite exciting.

03:05Is there any makers or many makers in Shropshire at all?

03:08We actually have a really lovely violin shop in Shrewsbury,

03:12which is Julian Beatty's Violin Shop.

03:14And we have another maker who I am yet to meet

03:18somewhere else in Shropshire,

03:19I think towards Bridge North.

03:21And there used to be a violin shop in Frankwell,

03:24which I did my work experience at, called Forte Strings,

03:27which is now a tattoo parlour.

03:28Yeah.

03:29Yeah, it's a good place for strings.

03:31Great stuff. Thank you, Carter.

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