HarmonicaUK Newsletter - March 2025

Hello and welcome to the HarmonicaUK March 2025 Newsletter

Good news from our team

Before I get into HarmonicaUK news, I wanted to update you on former chair and vice-chair Dave and Suzy Colclough. Suzy has returned home from the hospital after another fall and is being looked after very well. I know I speak on behalf of all our members when I wish Suzy a good rest and a speedy recovery.

We also have some good news about Pete Hewitt, another former Chairman, current Patron, and generous benefactor of HarmonicaUK. Pete also raises money for other charities, via speaking engagements. His newest engagement will be at The Royal Aeronautical Society meeting at the Holiday Inn, Southend Airport, on Tuesday, 11 March, at 8 pm. The tickets are £5.00 at the door.

Pete will speak about his life in aviation, music, theatre and overcoming personal challenges through adversity, to benefit The Billericay Men’s Group. This is particularly impressive as  Pete has had serious issues with his vocal cords in the last couple of years. You can listen here to Pete speak with Pheonix98FM’s Weekend Update host Spencer Carter about the talk he’ll be giving at The Royal Aeronautical Society (starting at 1 hr  5 min 30 secs).

Adam Glasser, one of our HarmonicaUK Patrons, has again received funding from the South African funding organisation,  Concerts SA, for a series of performances in Johannesburg and Cape Town at the end of April 2025. In addition to the concerts, there may be an opportunity for members interested in teaching or assisting, to help provide online workshops for South Africans of all ages who want to learn the harmonica. Any of our members that may be interested can contact Adam at [email protected] for guidance and to discuss their experience and suitability for this project.

The Future of HarmonicaUK and Harmonica World

As many of our members have noted, it’s been quite some time since the last issue of Harmonica World. Harmonica World is considered by many of our members as one of the most significant benefits of membership in HarmonicaUK, and rightly so. 

I would like to personally apologise for the delays as we focused on strengthening HarmonicaUK after many team changes over the last few years due to serious family illnesses and other unplanned events. My priority has first been to recruit new volunteers, get everyone access to the resources they need, document the processes, work through the backlog of things that need to be done, and build a fun and positive environment. I am happy to say those goals have now been met.

I want to thank the new team who have supported me through this challenging transition, pushing and inspiring me: Lisa Presland for her persistent enthusiasm as Communications Manager, Darren Lampon, Vice-Chair and Finance, who has been the stability behind HarmonicaUK since joining, Pippa Philips, Advertising, and Aidan Sheehan, Outreach, whose innovating thinking will help drive HarmonicaUK forward in many new ways, Lee van Crugten, Membership, who reacts quickly to membership queries, and many more including Simon Joy, Charlotte Oliver, Gary Croad, Joe French, Dave Hambley, Andrew Hardey, Jim Davis, Barbara Tate, Barry Elms, Gary Newman, Hilvert Scheper, and last but certainly not least, the Past Chairmans, Roger Trobridge, Ben Hewlett, and Pete Hewitt. 

A very delayed combined Autumn/Winter issue will be with you ASAP. Then we’ll be back to a regular publishing schedule:

Spring Issue- May
Summer Issue- July
Autumn Issue- September
Winter Issue- December

EVENTS

Saturday Sessions

We have the next two only Saturday Session workshops booked. You may recall the Saturday Sessions were introduced by Suzy and Dave Colclough, and following their tradition of bringing diverse and quality talent to the event, we bring you:

April 12- Konstantin Reinfield- is one of the world’s most sought-after harmonica virtuosos, renowned for his profound musicality and mastery transcending genre boundaries. His accolades include the prestigious Opus Klassik, Germany’s classical music Grammy, awarded in 2019, underscoring his exceptional artistry. From Bach, to Bartôk to Chick Corea, his repertoire spans classical, jazz, film, and world music.

June 14- Annie Raines- is an American blues harmonica player who is known for her down-home country blues, with duo partner and guitarist Paul Rishell. Annie also played on Susan Tedeschi's first three albums, was a member of the Tarbox Ramblers, worked with Pinetop Perkins, Louis Myers, and James Cotton, among others, and has taught at the Club Passim School of Music.

Did you catch the amazing Saturday Session we held, featuring Kellie Rucker? Catch it here.  

We’re also catching up on the backlog of videos of past sessions. We’ll upload new ones soon, so keep checking here for the latest.

HarmonicaUK October Festival – please note the change of date!

The 2025 Festival will again be held at Hillscourt in Birmingham, but this year a week earlier, on 17-19 October. We’re finalising the details of the last featured artist, so we’ll be announcing the full programme and booking details soon. Please DO NOT attempt to book directly through Hillscourt. We’re planning a fantastic event for this, or 90th Anniversary year, so please, watch this space. 

And with that, I pass you to Lisa Presland, who will be authoring the newsletter going forward......

Gene Myers, Chair

Hello from Lisa Presland

Hi. As the new Communications Manager at Harmonica UK, I’m delighted to be co-authoring this month's newsletter with our Chair, Gene Myers, as he focuses on finalising acts for our various events, recruits more volunteers, and updates the website, among many other things.

I wanted to reflect on how excited I am to have joined the team! Just by stepping up (rather nervously) at last October's HUK festival, when volunteers were asked to help, a whole new opportunity has been opened up for me on my harmonica journey. I’m in my fourth year of learning diatonic harmonica so it feels like the right time to get involved and give something back. I look forward to engaging with you all and contributing to taking HUK forward for the next generation.

How are your harmonica learning plans coming along?

As this newsletter goes out we will already be fast approaching Springtime. I wonder, how are your harmonica learning plans for the year shaping up? Its always good to have a plan for our development, and I’m starting to see how being a member of Harmonica UK can really help us feel part of this wonderful community. Membership can also help us communicate with one another via events, coffee mornings and the HarmonicaUK Facebook group. This can spark motivation for us to continue onwards and upwards with our passion.

Lisa Presland, Communications Manager