Ipswich Arts Association Lunchtime Concerts, Adult Suffolk Festival Performers, Museum Street Methodist Church, Ipswich, March 13 The Ipswich Arts Association (IAA) is now into its ninth season of monthly lectures and concerts.

Ipswich Arts Association Lunchtime Concerts, Adult Suffolk Festival Performers, Museum Street Methodist Church, Ipswich, March 13

The Ipswich Arts Association (IAA) is now into its ninth season of monthly lectures and concerts. It is a very pleasant way of spending ones lunch hour as its ever-growing audience can testify.

At the recent concert the performers had all been participants of the Suffolk Festival which takes place annually each October.

Margaret, Marianne and Julia, a violin, cello and piano trio, who have been playing together for five years, explained that they entered the Festival last year to gain “constructive criticism”. They made a good ensemble, happy in each other's company, as they played a Minuet from Miniatures by Frank Bridge and the 1st movement of Opus 35 No.2 in G by Julius Klengel - a cellist, composer and Professor at Leipzig Conservatory and a close friend of Mendelssohn.

Pianist, Alex Baker, played Dvorák's Slavonic Dance in E minor, Brahms Waltz and “The Raindrop” Prelude by Chopin. Alex came from the opposite end of the spectrum, as he has been entering the Festival for the last 60 years. He felt that he was just beginning to show some improvement! His execution of the florid decorative ornaments in all three pieces was pretty impressive.

Ralph Chapman represented Speech. He gave an evocative reading of “Felixstowe”, by John Benjamin, because of its local connections, although, in fact, this poem subtitled The Last of her Order was about a lonely nun's memories of the seaside town. “Summer” was also written by Benjamin, but when he was a 13 ½ years old. Ralph captured the schoolboy's problems, of trying to find suitable rhyming words, with great humour.

Three unaccompanied folk songs sung by Yvonne Hicks completed the programme. Yvonne has a beautiful, pure, sonorous voice. Her interpretation of the Hebridean folk song of the mermaid's “Song to the Seals” was particularly enchanting.

A concert given by some of the younger members of the Festival will be at the same venue at 7pm on Friday April 18 and the next Lunchtime gathering is on Thursday April 10 at 1pm when Dr. Nick Sign will talk about Suffolk Yeomanry in the Second World War.

Judith Newman