THE YORKE TRUST

Developing high quality music education in the community...

Welcome to the Yorke Trust!

Music can make an enormous contribution to a happy life. It is something which should be available to all young people, above all to those who have musical talent which might otherwise remain unfulfilled.

Our aim at the Yorke Trust is to provide opportunities for students and children from all walks of life to study and to perform in the un-pressurised atmosphere of the North Norfolk countryside, away from the competitive environment of university and school. We have been doing this to the highest possible standards since the foundation of the Trust in 1984, and we have been doing it virtually free of charge.

Our work began with the Yorke Mini-Bass Project, an innovative scheme to enable children to play the double bass, for which we received generous funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. Acquisition of premises in Norfolk enabled us to broaden our horizons and focus on singing as well as providing facilities for instrumental courses and workshops for children.
Trustees invite you to join them in planning for the future and help continue this valuable work in the years ahead. You can do this in a number of ways: by coming to events; by making a donation or by remembering us when making your will.

Thank you for your support!

- Rodney Slatford, OBE

BENEFIT CONCERT SERIES 2023-2024

How lucky we are to have a choice of venues in our part of Norfolk to enjoy live screenings of opera, ballet and theatre from all over the world! For those of us who find a trip to London or perhaps an evening in Norwich or King’s Lynn out of reach, there is plenty going on without having to stray too far from home.

Live music is also thriving with concerts offering a wide variety of choice. And for those who enjoy active music-making there are small choirs and large choral societies all around the area.

The Yorke Trust, founded forty years ago next July, is running it third series of concerts designed to support and encourage emerging young talent at a time when the nation‘s music profession faces unprecedented challenges, exacerbated by both the pandemic and financial cuts. This series has a good number of Norfolk musicians participating and further concerts will be announced in the New Year.

All concerts begin at 15:00 and are in The Old Chapel, Burnham Road, South Creake, NR21 9JF.
Tickets £12.00 from 01328 738482, Text 07899 771366 or email to carol.jennings2@btinternet.com.
Payment by BACs Sort Code: 52 41 29 A/C 44630417

Light refreshments are included at all events.

Next Concert Sunday 3rd December 2023 POSTPONED!

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO INDUTRIAL ACTION BY TRAIN WORKERS, UNFORTUNATELY, JACK HANCHER IS UNABLE TO GET TO NORFOLK SO THIS CONCERT HAS BEEN POSTPONED.

Jack Hancher (guitar) in association with the Royal Over-Seas League. www.jackhancherguitar.com

Described by Gendai Guitar Magazine as a “poet and a painter, colouring sounds out of the guitar as if his imagination and the guitar were one”, Jack Hancher is a rising star of the classical guitar. In 2022, he won the prestigious Gold Medal of the Royal Over-Seas League Competition, becoming just the third guitarist to win the award. This was preceded in 2021 by a tour of several European Guitar Festivals as a EuroStrings Artist.
In 2020, Jack won a string of awards at various guitar competitions, including First Prize at both the Zagreb Guitar Festival Competition and the Plovdiv GuitArt Festival Competition and in 2021, he was awarded Second Prize at the Altamira International Guitar Competition. In 2017, he was accepted onto the International Guitar Foundation (IGF) Young Artists Platform and performed at the IGF London Guitar Festival at Kings Place, London in October that year.
In 2018, Jack performed at Wigmore Hall, London, playing his arrangements of Albeniz’s piano music and later that year, performed at the Cheltenham Contemporary Arts Festival with music by Arnold, Britten and Dowland. He completed his Master in Performance at the Royal College of Music (RCM), London in 2018 where he studied with Gary Ryan and Chris Stell and won the RCM Guitar Award 2014 while still in his second year as an undergraduate. Jack has performed across Europe in venues such as the Großer Ehrbar Saal, Vienna and St David’s Hall, Cardiff and has performed live on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune.

Jack has also given Masterclasses at Conservatoires around Europe, including at the Royal College of Music, London and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff.

Jack is an Augustine Strings Artist.

Suggested Programme

E. Satie – Gymnopedie no.1

A. Jose – Allegro Moderato (from Sonata for Guitar)
A. Jose – Pavana Triste (from Sonata for Guitar)

M. Ravel – Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte
F. Mompou – Cancion no.6
I. Albeniz – Capricho Catalan

INTERVAL

J. Dowland – Praeludium
J. Dowland – Fantasia in G Major

J.S Bach – Sarabande/Double BWV1002
J.S. Bach – Bourree/Double BWV1002

B. Britten – Nocturnal after John Dowland

Sunday 7 January 2024
Jodie Anne Bailey (soprano) and Dan Pugh-Evean (piano) programme will probably include Strauss Four Last Songs. www.facebook.com
Sunday 21 January 2024
Rebecca Leung (piano) in association with the Worshipful Company of Musicians. https://wcom.org.uk/yeoman/rebecca-leung
Sunday 28 January 2024
Will Duerden (double bass) Winner of ROSL Yorke Trust Double Bass Award 2023. A Young Classical Artists Trust’s (YCAT) musician 2023. www.willduerden.com
Sunday 11 February 2024
Making Musicians. A programme featuring scholars from Norwich School with their coach Brenda Blewett (piano).

The Reel Fling is on the lookout for new recruits to its regular Scottish reeling evenings that are hosted by the Yorke Trust in the Old Chapel. Preceded by a good meal in the adjacent Old Norwich Arms, the dances are always clearly explained and walked through for those of us who forget the moves from one week to the next, or who have difficulty in remembering our left foot from our right! It’s all very informal and tremendous fun. For further information please contact Lois Carrick loiscarrick21@hotmail.co.uk.

Forty Years Young! In celebration of the Trust’s first forty years, our patron Lord Cholmondeley is kindly hosting an event at Houghton Hall featuring musicians who have been associated with the Trust over the years. The aim is to raise funds for the refurbishment of our South Creake premises, which after thirty years of regular use are in need of a face-lift.

All concerts begin at 15:00 and are in The Old Chapel, Burnham Road, South Creake, NR21 9JF
Tickets £12.00 from 01328 738482, Text 07899 771366 or email to carol.jennings2@btinternet.com.
Light refreshments will be available at all events.
Payment by BACs Sort Code: 52 41 29 A/C 44630417

The Yorke Trust launches a new Friends scheme!

Our aim at the Yorke Trust is to provide opportunities for students and children from all walks of life to study and to perform in the un-pressurised atmosphere of the North Norfolk countryside, away from the competitive environment of university and school. We have been doing this since 1984 and we have been doing it virtually free of charge.
Trustees invite you to join them in helping to continue this valuable work in the years ahead.

By becoming a Friend of The Yorke Trust, you join a group of supporters whose generosity provides a regular income to help us fulfil our aims.

For more information, visit our "Become a Friend" page on the website or download the Friends Application Form which has all the information you need.

The Yorke Trust | UK Charitable Incorporated Organisation No. 1158927 | Phone: +44 1328 823501