It is no secret that we are massive music lovers at Heather & Lay and so we were very excited to interview David from Carrick Concerts to find out all about what Carrick Concerts is all about.
Hi David, tell us all about Carrick Concerts and how it got started?
10 years ago or so Flushing Arts asked if I would like to bring music into the village. That worked for about 3 years, but the music began to get more encompassing and it didn’t sit so well with the arts and crafts on the bowling green. Then one of our performers (the former principal chorist of the BBC) suggested that we create a dedicated musical event. In 2017 Carrick Concerts was created and a group of 6 or so met and discussed how we could bring the very best of classical music from all over the world.
We knew from the outset we wanted the very best. So that’s what we set out to do. We had an advisory board put together with the cellist Nigel Blomiley We had brilliant contacts thanks to my daughter who has the MBE for Services for Music, and the former director of music strategy for the UK.
We didn’t want to knock down the fees because we want to ensure we pay our performers properly and recently we have formed a committee who have met a couple times here. Once we got started covid hit. During that time, we put together some online concerts featuring some of the best Cornish talent performing in their own homes. Fees for this went towards the Cornish Music Trust – supporting the teaching in Cornwall. Some people living locally think it’s such a good venture they are happy to support us financialy as we often make a loss on ticket sales.
What sets Carrick Concerts apart?
Well, not only do we ensure the finest calibre of classical musicians from around the world, but we also keep the ticket prices low compared to other professional music events so it can be accessible to everyone and not just the middle class. Our aim is to bring the best music to the local community. Alongside this, we ensure the finest musicians in Cornwall are given the chance to have a platform in front of a good knowledgeable audience. We recently had a surprise performance of a young grade 8 musician from Cornwall which was very special.
We are passionate about supporting up and coming young musicians hoping to make a professional career in performance – this is the second part of our mission. We are non-profit making, it’s all comes from pure passion and all money is given back to the community. Concerts are almost always in Mylor but we will go to Truro, Falmouth, Penryn and surrounding areas.
And are you heading it up still David?
Well, my role is reducing now. I started the whole thing, but we now have a secretary and an advisory board (half working in London as full time and half director of The Cornish Music Trust (Gareth Churcher) Clive Ellison – a well-known organist who tunes all the big pianos in cornwall. The team behind Carrick Concerts are all complete amateurs who love music. I used to conduct The Cornwall Male Choir in Cornwall. We aren’t a committee – we don’t vote, and I don’t micromanage. We have a treasurer (a former accountant) to look after the books, a venues person to arrange the venues, someone in charge of refreshments and running the bar and my wife tries to coordinate us all. We do a pretty good job of managing it all and we work closely with The Roseland Music Society and Truro 3 Arts.
What sort of artists do you have?
The best ever attended show we had was the Fibonacci quartet who played for us recently, then there was an interesting couple from Oxfordshire who did a program about Cornish tin around the world, and they interwove a narrative about Cornish tin with folk music from all around the world. We’ve had a famous guitarist from Ireland – a top classical guitarist – Pat Coldrick who will be visiting us again in May 2025. This year Heather & Lay have sponsored an incredible duo, the BenOla Duo featuring local guitarist Ben Salfield playing a 10-string renaissance guitar and Aleksandra Sapok from Poland who will be playing Latin guitar.
Aleksandra Sapok is the dynamic young Polish classical guitarist who has twice won her country's Young Guitarist of the Year competition. She studied at the Conservatorio Superior Musica Manuel Castillo in Spain, and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, from where she graduated. Honoured with awards from the Polish Ministry of Culture and numerous other bodies, she has won over twenty international prizes, and performed across Europe.
Veteran performer, concert promoter and teacher Ben Salfield was first acclaimed in the international media as one of the world's leading lutenists as far back as the early 1990s. Admirers of his work have included the late Julian Bream. He has performed in most of Europe's capital cities, broadcast widely on radio and television, and had over a dozen music editions published. Until he retired from solo performances, he toured in up to ten countries per year - and from 2025 will take music on the road once again. We are really excited to have this duo playing in September and sponsored by Heather & Lay.
Nigel Blomiley played for us this year with the Anern Trio, an international trio, he is English, former British cellist of the BBC orchestra and Chetham and Purcell. We are very traditional and for us, being professionally trained is important. All performers are classically trained, and Laura has been named by classic FM as one of the top 10 up and coming classical musicians in Europe.
Almost all performers are classical but not all - the folk concert wasn’t classical. We would be happy to have a top quality jazz concert but we don’t have contacts in that field.
And how about local musicians?
We do occasionally have locals performing – the very best of what Cornwall has to offer. With young people their target is to become a full-time professional musician. We would give them a gig to help them advance. We featured the former Head Girl chorister at the cathedral choir who went on to a career in singing – she did a recital for us, that was excellent. Of course, Ben Salfield who is performing for us in September is also local.
How many events do you hold each year?
6 concerts a year. But if something special comes up after we have our 6 we will take it. Fibonacci was a 7thopportunity, but we could not possibly turn it down and it attracted our biggest audience ever, there was standing room only in Tremayne Hall. It’s a lot of work for a volunteer team. The venues should change, move around the area but Tremayne Hall in Mylor has everything we want except a piano. We are desperate to get a proper acoustic piano. When we have a pianist – they use my piano, a Bechstein hybrid but it’s not the same so if anyone has a piano going, we would be very grateful for it.
Are you local to Flushing David?
Yes, I have lived in this house in Flushing for 70 years. My parents retired and bought this house in 1955. Before that the family home was in Surrey. I have such a musical background – an Aunt and a Great Aunt who were professionals – a pianist and a harpist. My daughter Susannah has an MBE for Services to Music. My youngest son sings divinely and is trained although both of my sons are in the navy. Prior to running Carrick Concerts I taught for 20 years, History and then Political and General Philosophy. I ran a charter business and professional yacht skippering, and then I was asked to become Chair of Examiners for the Oxford and Cambridge boards, followed by a government role to bring these boards together. I’ve also been a Chair of the International Timeshare Association, bringing peace to an industry with a bad reputation. There has been a lot of variety in my career, but music has always been the constant.
What is the aim of Carrick Concerts?
My fondest dream is that if people want to try classical music should hear the very best rather than mediocre quality because the difference is incredible.
Recently we had a local performance, I was running back and forwards from St Peters Church in Flushing and I saw a fisherman that I knew, sat with tears streaming down his face. He said “David, I’ve never heard anything like this in my life, it is magic. I was passing the church and I had to go in – how do I get tickets?” and that is the standard of performance we get. Even if you don’t think you like it or you’ve never listened to classical music, you will be blown away by it.
How do people apply to perform with Carrick Concerts?
People can apply to perform with us. We’ve established a strong reputation so people apply from all over Europe. We are always open to applications from potential performers but having the very best is important. We can always accept the youngest local musicians as well to provide a platform. We welcomed a grade 8 pianist from Truro School (a very fine pianist for that age). A young man training, going away to music college; he played some Beethoven. I dearly love to encourage aspiring musicians - if they are serious about their music and if they are good enough, we are delighted to have them.
We would love to collaborate with Falmouth University as well – something different to what we do, perhaps partly electronic. That would be very welcome.
Who is your favourite performer?
I don’t know how to begin to answer that – some concerts the quality is better than others but the atmosphere is extraordinary. I can remember in 1952 singing in St Pauls Cathedral in the choir when the Queen as she was then first visited the city of London – the choir was singing, what an exciting musical experience for me. I have conducted one or two concerts of amateur choirs where the music was atrocious but the experience was wonderful – singing Trelawney in London with a male voice choir was a particular highlight.
My favourite Carrick Concert of all the concerts we’ve had? We had a group of choral scholars last year from Oxford and Cambridge. They were terrific - choral music has always been my first love. My favourite pianist who has played twice is Antoine Preat. He will play a third time, now he has quite a following in the area. He loves coming and doing a bit of sailing while he is here. He has been described as the best young French pianist. He’s amazing and will become very famous.
And lastly, how can the public get more involved and support Carrick Concerts?
Members of the public can opt to be a Subscription Member – this works slightly differently to other societies where you get a reduced price on ticket for an annual fee. Our subscription price includes a ticket for every concert. We try to have a one price fits all on tickets so it’s £15 per concert and under 25s go free, so if families go it doesn’t cost them more, it actually costs them less. Subscription members are charged £60 for the year so they receive 6-7 concerts for £60. This is our first year of offering subscription memberships, but we believe it encourages people to come as you have prepaid for the year. It also means we are making the music available to people who have not had the opportunity to hear this sort of calibre of classical music before as it’s affordable and accessible for everyone.
We would also love more sponsorships for our programmes next year. We are not just looking for money – being a sponsor is a reciprocal relationship which we appreciate. We formally invite potential sponsors to support us by letter but I would be equally thrilled if any potential sponsors reached out and approached us.
What a wonderful opportunity to interview someone at the heart of the Cornish music scene and with such brilliant dedication to bringing top notch music to Cornwall. To find out more about Carrick Concerts, visit their website here or follow them on Instagram @carrickconcerts
Image of Laura Lootens by Frank Lübke
