About the Proms
It all seemed such a good idea as a small group of people sat in the pub after a choir rehearsal one night in the Autumn of 2007 blissfully unaware of the hard work it would entail. From that small seed, Barlow Annual Proms, like Topsy, just “growed.”
The first concert was performed on 7th June 2008 when a very mixed programme was presented with orchestral arrangements ranging from The William Tell Overture and Ravel’s Bolero to Choral singing of Somewhere over the Rainbow and Tears in Heaven. As has become a tradition, the evening ended in true Last Night of the Proms style with Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Land of Hope and Glory accompanied by a firework spectacle.
Building upon the success of the first concert, the second year was a much more structured affair when the “Proms went to War.” It would have been easy to concern ourselves with only 1914 -18 and 1939-45 type music but there have been a lot of wars over the years with good music connected with them. The evening opened with ‘O Fortuna’ a prayer to the Gods of fate and war, and moved on to include music depicting the Boar War, the War of the Worlds and concluded with the 1812 Overture written to commemorate the defeat of Napoleon in Russia.
The 2010 Proms was a much more light-hearted affair featuring music from well loved films ranging from Disney's "Hunchback of Notre Dame" and "The Lion King" through to the Hollywood epics "Highlander" and "Armageddon" when we presented "The Magic of the Silver Screen."
In 2011, we invited you to "Join us after the Break" to hear music featured in popular adverts. This was another fantastic event which everyone throroguhly enjoyed!
Andy Booth
Andy is a professional musician from Chesterfield who is the founder of FONO Productions, an entertainments management company with in-house orchestra and bands. As a pianist, he has worked with the English Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Festival Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in their “The Rightful Owners of the Song” project.
Besides orchestral piano, Andy has performed across Europe with a wide variety of jazz singers and bands. He works nationwide as a conductor with companies including Sing Live, Croft House Operatic Society and Ripley & Alfreton Musical Theatre Company. He is rehearsal pianist for “Inspiration” the superb Leeds/Newcastle choir and for the English contesting teams at the Waterford International Light Opera Festival.
Most recently he has worked with Evolution Pantomimes at Sheffield’s Lyceum theatre and for Sheffield Theatres Crucible re-opening night.
Currently he can be found working on Strictly Come Dancing for Warner Leisure Hotel Breaks. In his spare time, Andy continues the family tradition as Musical Director of the Chesterfield based Carolare Choir.
