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Written 23/07/07
After weeks of rain and weather that you
could never trust, the gods shone down on
Bognor for the appropriately named Sunfest
on Sunday 22nd July.
 The WSGC gave an hour
recital at the bandstand in Hotham Park on that
day, sponsored by Bognor Regis Town Council. A
very large audience enjoyed the sun and the dulcet
tones of the guitar in a wonderful alfresco setting.
However, playing outdoors does have its drawbacks.
For example, those in the sun found that
their instruments quickly went out of tune. Gusts
of wind played havoc with the music. If it was securely
pinned down with clothes pegs then page
turning was difficult. Noisy traffic, aeroplanes and
Hotham House bell chimes can compete with the
guitars for attention. However on such a pleasant
sunny afternoon it would have been a shame to be
confined within a concert hall. The guitars
sounded wonderful thanks to the amplification
system provided and operated by Bognor Regis
Council's Town Force.
Sasha was our compere and he traced the
history of the guitar from its origins in Spain - a
cue for the Regis Guitar Ensemble to play the introductory
piece Spain. Sasha then accompanied
young Victor Smith who confidently played Valse
by Daniel Fortea and Divertimento by Bartolomeo
Calatayud - both Spanish composers of the 20th
Century, who wrote in an early romantic style. We
then enjoyed Tarrega's Caprice Arabe beautifully
executed by Vickie Walker. This was followed by
the same composer's Recuerdos de Alhambra and
Albeniz's Mallorca, both played with superb control
by Paul Thomas. The guitar then continued its
journey and followed Christopher Columbus to
Cuba where the Regis Guitars played a Habenera.
The guitar then made its way to South America
where Vickie Walker and Richard Prior played
two movements from a Maximo Diego Pujol's
suite - Tango de Abril and Milonga de Junio.
While in South America the Regis Guitars entertained
us with an Argentine piece Bailecito. The
influence of the guitar also spread to North America
and Terry Woodgate regaled us with two light
pieces from there - Errol Garner's Misty and
Isham Jones's It Had to be You. Then Terry returned
us to the Southern Continent once more for
Jobim's One Note Samba. While still in Brazil,
Paul Thomas played Villa Lobos's Gavota-Choro
from the Suite Populaire Bresilienne. The afternoon
finished still in Brazil with Regis Guitars
playing Marchinha de Carnaval in celebration of
the Rio carnival.
This must be the club's most successful concert
to the general public. The large audience were
very attentive and for once were not all guitar aficionados.
It is to be hoped that we have wooed
many of them over with our wonderful instrument.
There was certainly a lot of interest judging by the
large number of brochures taken after the concert.
Will we inundated with new members next season?
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