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CHALTON

RON WHITLOCK AND HIS RECORDER MUSIC

Ron Whitlock has played the recorder for many years. His first instrument was a pink plastic descant recorder which came in his Christmas stocking. He played that till he was about seven. He then had a few years’ break and resumed playing when he started secondary school, taking part in a very embarrassingly bad school concert when he was 15 years old.

After leaving school he, like many young people of his time, gave up playing music altogether except for a short spell in London in the 1960s when he played the clarinet for a while.

Ron came to live in Moggerhanger in August 2006, and he regards it as the best move he’s ever made. He soon joined the Peregrine Recorder Orchestra's training group (sadly, no longer operational), and was flattered to be promoted soon after.

The Peregrine Recorder Orchestra is a registered charity based in Ickwell, home of the founder, and rehearses in the village hall there on alternate Thursdays from 8.00 until 10.00 in the evening. Although there is no longer an active training group, aspiring players interested in joining are always welcome.

The orchestra performs two or three full concerts each year, often in a church setting, to raise funds for charity. A recent concert, given at St John's Hospice in Moggerhanger, raised £500 for charity. The latest concert took place on Saturday 17th November at the Baptist Church in Biggleswade in aid of - and promoting - Operation Christmas Child (the Shoebox Appeal). The Peregrine Recorder Orchestra offers its services to local primary schools.

Lately, the orchestra have been playing some challenging material adapted from Sullivan, Grieg, Dvorak, Elgar. Elgar’s Serenade No. 20 is a wonderful piece and was featured in their Diamond Rings concert.

Below is a video of the opening piece at last year's Operation Christmas Child concert, which was held at Simply Oak near Biggleswade, taken from Gilbert & Sullivan’s Trial By Jury.

Hear Ron practising

Ron in 2012