Tag: Andrew Clayton
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Civic Carolling
Just a quick note to say how much I enjoyed the Civic Carols last Sunday at St Matthew’s Church. The Christmas Choir were stunning, and it was a privilege to lead them from the organ, wearing what can only be described as my new favourite jacket. Thanks to everybody in the choir. You are all…
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While Shepherds WHAT?
Annually, we have been going into pubs and singing carols. Between 2012 and 2022 there was a whole separate project and we printed up special carol sheets once we realised that everybody could then join in! With a regular (annual) event comes the traditions. Singing the wrong words (washing socks, Frank was incensed, Let us…
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Inheritance
Whose shoulders do you stand on? When I was five, my Grandad’s piano was a thing of continuing fascination. I’d been smacking the keys randomly since I could reach it, and they lived only a three minute walk from my own home. But I was beginning to experiment with pressing notes in sequence and trying…
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Community Choir
As part of my work for St Matthew’s Church, I run a community choir on Wednesday evenings at 19:30. We meet in the church centre (St Matthew’s Close, on the right as you enter the close) in the Main Hall and we share a hot drink and chocolate biscuits before spending a happy hour singing…
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DO NOT BE AFRAID
Much of the work we undertook in lockdown seems to have passed into history so quickly. Communal art, recordings, projects and initiatives to keep communities together even when we couldn’t meet in person. One such idea was DO NOT BE AFRAID, the installation of six angels in the ceiling space of St James’ Church, Hill…
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Following the Star
Well, we’ve reached Advent, and I for one am exhausted. Post-lockdown, we always knew this year would be hard but I didn’t expect so much change. If you’d like to get involved in anything going on between now and Christmas, this is a rough list of what I’m up to and where you can catch…
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Deck the Mall
If you’d like to join us for a little carolling on Saturday 10th December, please drop by the Saddler’s Centre in Walsall at 2pm. The Saddler’s Centre recently reintroduced their public piano in the central area of the shops, right by Walsall Railway Station. We’ll gather there for half an hour of singing and then…
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Glory and Grace
It’s coming up to that time of year again when we can dust off the old classics and rehearse our Advent and Christmas repertoire. It’s also time to scrabble around for new material to keep our minds busy and our voices fresh… but where to begin? I’m certainly not qualified to tell you where to…
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Stick-wiggling
I am delighted to confirm that I have taken up the baton with Great Barr Brass this month – conducting a brass band is a completely new experience to me and I’m very grateful to the band for their faith in my ability to learn and improve as we hit the busy season before Christmas.…
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Director of Music
I’m delighted to announce my appointment and commissioning as Director of Music at St Matthew’s Church, Walsall. I’m looking forward to picking up the reins and working with the music ministry team at church. If you need to get in touch with me there, all the contact details are on the church website: https://www.stmatthewswalsall.co.uk