Welcome to the Chepstow Coffee Concerts, a monthly series of professional standard recitals performed by top class musicians.
The concerts take place on the third Friday of each month (except January) 11am-12 noon at St Mary’s Priory, Upper Church St, Chepstow NP16 5HA.
We are so lucky to have these superb singers and instrumentalists give of their talents and time to raise money for The Karl Daymond Bursary Fund.
Tea/Coffee/Biscuits and ‘chat’ are available before and after each concert. Entry is free, however, CASH ONLY donations are encouraged to support The Karl Daymond Bursary Fund.
If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive a monthly of reminder of who is performing, please e mail Jaynepiano@aol.com
If you would like to perform a Coffee Concert please e mail Jaynepiano@aol.com with a CV.
Chepstow Coffee Concerts
St Mary’s Priory
The third Friday of each month, 11am – 12pm
Friday 18th October
Simon Lewis, violin, and
Sharon Richards, piano
Friday 15th November
The Divertimenti Ensemble
Friday 20th December
Anne Braley, Mezzo Soprano,
and Nicola Harris, Soprano,
with Jayne Thomas, Piano
Join us for refeshments before (from 10.30am) or after the concerts
Simon Lewis
Simon’s musical curiosity began at the age of six when his grandfather bought him a record of Mozart’s Flute and Harp Concerto. From then on, he spent hours listening to classical music on the radio and on records borrowed from the local library in Woking. By 8, Simon was a highly proficient recorder player, much to the annoyance of his older sister who found the process of learning far more challenging than her irritating and considerably younger brother. Moving on to the flute and then the violin, at 11 years old Simon was offered a place at the prestigious Yehudi Menuhin School, a specialist music school for string players. Simon completed his musical education at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
Since then, Simon has enjoyed a long career playing in orchestras and chamber ensembles across the world. Soon after leaving college, he became a principal player in the English Chamber Orchestra, with a busy schedule in the recording studio and on tour and from there went on to be co-leader of both Bournemouth Sinfonietta and subsequently the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera. A freelance musician for the last 13 years, he has performed with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Simon is currently a member of the Glyndebourne on Tour Orchestra.
Simon loves chamber music and was a founder member, director and soloist with the Adderbury Ensemble, performing regularly as part of the coffee concerts series in Oxford and for a number of recordings. Nowadays, Simon enjoys a few chamber concerts each year, nearly always with friends, just like today’s concert with Sharon.
Simon lives in Tutshill with his wife Sophie and daughter Gracie who attended Wyedean School and is now studying music at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. When not practicing or performing, Simon is nearly always in the kitchen, or butchers, or farm shop, or studying the latest list from the Wine Society!
Sharon Richards
Sharon grew up in Porthcawl, South Wales and developed an early interest in music, starting piano lessons at the age of 5 and the violin at 9. As a violinist, Sharon loved playing in the Mid Glamorgan County Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Wales but it was the piano that she decided to take forward into higher education.
Sharon graduated from the University of Wales and continued her studies at the University of Keele, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Opera Studio.
Since then, Sharon’s career has been incredibly varied. As an accompanist and operatic repetiteur (that’s someone who coaches singers and accompanies them in the early rehearsals for an opera), she has developed long associations with Glyndebourne Opera, Welsh National Opera and Opera North, and worked with some of the biggest names in opera along the way including Sir Bernard Haitink, Sir Charles Mackerras and Dame Janet Baker. She certainly has some stories to tell!
As a pianist she has appeared with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia and was accompanist to the BBC National Chorus of Wales for several years.
Nowadays, Sharon devotes much of her time to coaching the next generation of singers and accompanists at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and as Head of Piano at UWC Atlantic College where she enjoys engaging with young musicians from all over the world. Somehow, she also manages to fit in being an examiner for the Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM).
Living in the Vale of Glamorgan, Sharon loves being outdoors whether that’s out walking her new border collie ‘Mud’, horse-riding (including dressage) or growing her own veg with varying success! These are all passions she shared with her great friend and local music legend, the late Karl Daymond, founder of Chepstow’s The Singing Club, who she met at Opera North in the 90s. Sharon and Simon met at Welsh National Opera and the two families have been close friends ever since.