A special night for Margaret Frogson (March 24, 2007)
Award for Margaret Frogson – the Lady Hilary Groves Prize
Margaret receives her award (Photo PT Graphics)
Read what the Nottingham Evening Post say about Margaret's award
The Making Music Lady Hilary Groves prize for 2006 was awarded to Margaret Frogson of Nottingham Symphonic Winds. Margaret was presented with her award by Jon Wakefield of Making Music East Midlands on Saturday 24 March 2007 at a special gala concert staged in her honour.
The venue was the brand new Bluecoat School recital hall and a capacity audience was treated to an exciting evening of wind music from the Nottingham Symphonic Wind Orchestra (NSWO), conducted by Keiron Anderson, and the Equinox Saxophone Ensemble. Both groups have benefited directly from Margaret’s organisational skills and support and were a fine testament to her role in developing and promoting top class music making in the region.
NSWO at the new Bluecoat Recital Hall (Photo PT Graphics)
Nottingham Symphonic Winds was one of the groups founded by Margaret, her partner David Oldershaw of Windblowers and conductor Alistair Parnell in 1987. The group has gone from strength to strength, and Margaret has been a driving force behind its achievements. So, it was fitting that NSWO were on such good form to play a concert she could be extremely proud of. In the first half, a highlight was ‘Danceries’ by Kenneth Hesketh, presented with great finesse and colour and some fine individual performances. Later, in their playing of ‘Paris Sketches’ by Martin Ellerby, the group evoked the Parisian scenes with flair and commitment. Their rousing rendition of the James Bond Selection (arranged by Johann de Mei) provided a spectacular finale.
Equinox Saxophone Ensemble provided a lively contrast during the concert (Photo PT Graphics)
The Equinox Saxophone Ensemble have been sponsored by Windblowers since their formation in 2005. This group of eight players were led by Alistair Parnell, previously conductor and co-founder of Nottingham Symphonic Winds. The saxophone group provided an energetic contrast to the wind orchestra, showing the great versatility of the saxophone in works as diverse as the plate-smashing ‘Suite Hellenique’ by Pedro Iturralde to Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’ arranged for saxophone ensemble by John Halton.
Margaret was delighted to receive the award and will treasure her memories of a special night. “It has all been a big surprise. I did not know I had been nominated, so when I was told I had won, it was completely out of the blue. It’s only really sunk in this evening with everyone here. It’s been an amazing night, I will always remember it.”
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