Free concert hits the right note

The Tony Farrell Big Band performing at the school. | Other 3rd Party

A Shirebrook school which has launched a series of free cultural activities to bring its local community together has hailed its first event was a success – and it is now looking forward to the next.

More than 80 people attended a performance by East Midlands’ favourites the Tony Farrell Big Band at Shirebrook Academy.

The concert, which featured the music of artists including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald, was open to anybody to attend, regardless of whether they had children at the school or not.

The school paid for the concert out of its own endowment fund, which was established when it was granted academy status in 2010 in order to pay for projects designed to benefit residents living in Shirebrook.

Among the highlights during the night was the chance for students in the audience to see the school’s music teacher, Adam Case, showing off his talents on the guitar.

The next event will be a performance by Shirebrook poet Kevin Fegan on February 13, followed by a concert by the Shirebrook Miner’s Welfare Band in March and a performance of Hamlet in April.

Andy Gilbert, vice-principal, said: “Our cultural season is a very new venture for us and is unprecedented for any school in this area, so we were a little bit nervous about how it would be received and how many people would come along on the night.

“In the end, we had plenty of people in the audience and it was a really good event.

“We had lots of lovely feedback from visitors and it’s set us up nicely for the rest of the season.”