Lytham St Annes Music Circle

Who are we?

Lytham St Annes Music Circle is the only chamber music society in the Fylde. It has come a long way since its foundation some sixty-five years ago by Margaret Holliday and her friend Margaret Shanks, two local music teachers who organised amateur concerts with their friends and delivered publicity leaflets around the town on their bicycles. John Simpson, formerly Director of Music at the then King Edward VII School and founder of the Fylde Sinfonia Orchestra, joined their committee in the 1950s, was President for over thirty years and is now our Honorary Life President. With a like-minded committee, he was responsible for extending the range of concerts and making the Circle what it is today.

What do we do?

We promote a winter season of six high-quality professional concerts and recitals, ranging over string quartets, piano trios, piano recitals, other ensembles and singers. This diversity extends even to ‘trad. jazz’: our last season ended with another jazz event, repeating the initiative of two years previously, and attracted a record audience. The Music Circle has a policy of encouraging younger artists, often at the start of their professional careers and who have studied at the major British music colleges – the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music in London and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester – and who are frequently winners of prestigious competitions and performance diplomas. Increasingly, these talented musicians are of international standing: last season we welcomed Daniel de Borah, the Australian pianist, and the Gnesin Piano Trio from Moscow and have invited for this season pianists from Russia and France and ensembles which include violinists from China and Australia, a cellist from Korea and an oboist from Kazakhstan. Musicians from other cultures have also been invited to perform here: ethnic performers such as the blind Baluji Shrivastav and Karenpal Singh from India, the Bolivian group Rumillajta from the Andes and more recently Zi Lan Liao with the Ku-Cheng (Chinese harp). Many of the artists too have gone on to distinguished careers - string quartets such as the Brodsky, Coull, Vanbrugh, Roth and Belcea (and more recently the Stillman (now Barbirolli) and Heath Quartets) and individuals such as James Galway, Eugene Sabu, Ralph Kirschbaum, Stephen Hough, Jane Urwin and Marat Bisengaliev.

Our audiences

Musicians frequently comment how appreciative and receptive our audiences are – and, incidentally, on the particularly fine acoustic of the Hall at King Edward VII and Queen Mary School, where our concerts are held.
The Music Circle is sometimes assumed to be a private club but it is not. Concerts are open to all and tickets are available in advance from local outlets: the Tourist Information Office in St Annes, Woodlands Gallery in Ansdell, Plackitt and Booth’s bookshop in Lytham and the Violin Shop in Blackpool, and on the door. Our regulars take out annual subscriptions, which offer a reduction on normal ticket prices. We strongly believe that live music should be widely accessible to young people, particularly those who are having music lessons, and to encourage them to attend we offer free entrance to all our concerts.

Does the Music Circle receive funding?

No. We are completely dependent on the sale of door tickets, which is why we are always anxious to attract new audiences! We used to receive subsidies from North West Classical Music Tours via the Arts Council and North-West Arts but this has now ceased since the reorganisation of arts funding nationally. We find some of our artists through agencies such as Making Music, the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Young Concert Artist Trust, who aim to help talented younger artists embarking on their professional careers.

Who are the Committee?

A small group of friendly and enthusiastic volunteers, who deal with artists and agents, organise publicity, brochures, programmes, posters and tickets – and on concert evenings, sell door, raffle and refreshment tickets and programmes. We also offer accommodation to those artists who have come a long way and need to stay overnight. We are always looking for help with these activities (e.g. front of house on concert evenings; ongoing organisation and forward planning – computer skills particularly helpful; attendance at 3 or 4 committee meetings a year): anyone able to offer their services in any way will be more than welcome.

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