Make a Joyful Noise
JOHN RYCROFT looks at Robertson Street Congregational Church, its musical heritage, and its revival as an important music venue.
Hastings Choral Union
His Place Community Church in central Hastings made a bid last year to the National Heritage Lottery Fund and won funding for historic building repairs and, with the re-opening of the Henry Ward Hall, to provide a community-based music heritage venue.
Saturday 1 July marks the formal launch of Hastings Music Heritage Hub, and among other groups invited to perform on this special evening is Hastings Philharmonic Choir. Also included will be representatives of Hastings Music Festival, and it is hoped that Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition and HPO will also be featured. The HPC will be performing excerpts from Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
His Place is a free church (no denomination) and a registered charity. It is run by Christian volunteers who welcome people of all faiths and none on their journeys of spiritual and mental well-being. It provides a friendly home and affordable café to many community groups, often working with vulnerable people.
It operates from the Grade II-listed former Robertson Street Congregational Church, which was built in 1885 and is a significant presence in the Trinity Triangle area of central Hastings. The interior retains many of its original features and the large galleried worship space, which seats up to 700 people, is a strikingly beautiful venue with a superb acoustic for unamplified music.
Along with saving the building, the project seeks to preserve and celebrate the musical heritage of the church. From the 1880s to the early 1970s, the Robertson Street Congregational Church was at the forefront of community efforts to provide free and affordable music in Hastings. It ran choirs for all age groups, nurtured many vocal and instrumental soloists, and hosted festivals, competitions and concerts.
Make a Joyful Noise, the project’s musical heritage component, will research and preserve this history through creating an online music heritage hub and a programme of heritage-themed music workshops and celebration events. Choir officials Lucy Cradduck, Lin Westcott and Elspeth Knights have started working with the Hub and have already lodged some of our archived material there.
It will be a great pleasure for the Choir to be part of this fantastic revival, and we hope to see you there.
Make A Joyful Noise, Saturday 1 July, 7.30 pm at His Place, Robertson Street. All welcome.
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