Berkhamsted organ concert is family affair

A RECITAL of Baroque music for voice, organ and virginals is the next concert to be put on by the New School of Organ Studies.

Father and son duo David and Simon Ponsford will be performing a programme of works by J. S. Bach, Handel and English composers including Purcell, Byrd and Dowland at the new-Gothic Chapel at Ashridge near Berkhamsted on Sunday afternoon.

David is a scholar, professional musician and authority on keyboard music of the 17th and 18th Centuries. An organ scholar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he studied organ with Peter Hurford, Lionel Rogg and Piet Kee and harpsichord with Kenneth Gilbert and Gustav Leonhardt.

He is now associate lecturer at Cardiff University where he conducts the University Choir and the University Chamber Orchestra.

Counter tenor Simon is currently a lay clerk in the choir of St George’s Chapel, Windsor, alongside which he regularly appears as a recitalist and soloist. He also sings with professional choirs such as the Monteverdi Choir, Polyphony, Ex Cathedra and Tenebrae.

Recent solo engagements include Bach’s St Matthew Passion, Vivaldi’s Gloria and Handel’s Dixit Dominus and he has recently given recitals of early music to critical acclaim.

Admission to the concert at 3pm at the chapel is free with a retiring collection in aid of the New School of Organ Studies which aims to provide organ tuition to anyone with enthusiasm to learn the instrument.

Refreshments will be available after the recital and further details can be obtained by calling 01442 843491.