Marlborough’s Mayor, Councillor Alexander Kirk Wilson with international soloist Andreas Boyde
A flurry of fund-raising events for this year’s Marlborough mayoral charities — the Wiltshire Air Ambulance and Helen and Douglas House, the children’s and young adults’ hospice –- has brought in £1,657.
Marlborough’s civic dinner last month, hosted by the Mayor, Councillor Alexander Kirk Wilson, collected £732, all the town councillors including the mayor buy their own tickets.
The weekend Christmas Craft Fair staged in the town hall by Fred Wilcox raised £512 in donations at the door. Then last Friday’s piano recital given in St Peter’s Church by international soloist Andreas Boyde raised another £413 for a charities total of £1,657.
“Andreas is more used to playing with the Berlin Philharmonic and other such world-renowned orchestras,” Councillor Kirk Wilson told Marlborough News Online. “So St Peters was a modest venue.”
“It does not even have a back-stage piano on which a pianist can warm up on. But the programme of Brahms, Haydn, Liszt and Schumann, which would challenge even to the most virtuoso pianist, was rapturously received.”
“It defied belief that Andreas’ fingers could move so fast.”
And the mayor, who was Andreas’ landlord in London when he came to study as an unknown student from his native Germany, added: “It has been a great coup for such a distinguished player to come to Marlborough, and a memorable evening for those at the recital.”
“And a privilege to help to raise money for such important charities.”
