Before the summer break, the Group met to hear the story of Susan Spain-Dunk FRAM the grandmother of a member.

She was the third of four children and studied violin and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London with Alfred Gibson and later taught composition and harmony there. She was an English composer, conductor and violinist of great repute and played violin in a private quartet of Walter Cobbett and was one of the few women to conduct at the Promenade Concerts in the Royal Albert Hall in 1924.

She also conducted at Music Festivals in Coastal Towns including the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra  and the Folkestone Symphone Orchestra.  Her music is still played regularly on Radio 3 and recordings of her choral works have been recorded by the BBC singers.

There is a modern recording of some of her work by Peter Cigleris and two of her works were premiered at a British Women’s Symphony Orchestra concert in the Queens Hall in May 1925 and repeated at the Proms in October 1925. Another work Kentish Downs was revived by the BBC in 1997 with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Barry Wordsworth. Her Cantilena for clarinet and orchestra was revived by the Folkestone Symphony Orchestra with solois Peter Cigleris in 2019, its first performance since 1931 and has since been recorded.

The first meeting of the Winchester Group after the summer break is on September 19 at the Littleton Millennium Hall at 7.15pm. Visitors will be very welcome to enjoy the talk by Sue Ellis entitled “Lost, Stolen Away or Strayed”.

 

For information on the Winchester Group please contact winchester@hgsonline.org.uk