Local music aficionado Ian Codd brings you the best of classical song and dance that you won't want to miss in Surrey Downs this May
The final concert of the season for the Dorking Concertgoers takes place this month at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Stoke d'Abernon. This has been an excellent season as usual, with three particularly outstanding concerts by the Dante string quartet. The final concert is a violin recital given by Adelia Myslov with pianist Craig White. Their programme will include Brahms’ beautiful and lyrical first violin sonata and Bach’s great chaconne for solo violin, plus music by Beethoven and Respighi. The concert will end with a brilliant Fantasia on Porgy and Bess by the virtuoso Russian violinist Igor Frolov.
May 16, 7:30pm; violin recital at Menuhin Hall, Stoke d’Abernon, £16, 01306 740619
The Dorking Chamber Orchestra’s concert has a very attractive programme. The music includes Copland’s lively and tuneful music for the ballet Appalachian Spring, celebrating the American pioneers, plus Schubert’s fifth symphony and Delius’ La Calinda, from his opera Koanga. The orchestra’s leader, Clair Kennington, will play Beethoven’s second Romance for violin and orchestra.
May 9, 7:30pm; Dorking Chamber Orchestra at St Martin’s, £7-12, 01306 877176
Several events are being held at Leith Hill Place, the childhood home of Ralph Vaughan Williams, situated high on the side of Leith Hill and now in the care of the National Trust. On May 10 there will be a fun family music session for children aged up to 5, led by Jane Newberry. No booking required, just turn up and join in the fun! Also for families and children is a performance of Prokofiev’s delightful fairy tale Peter and the Wolf, given on May 30 by the Chamberhouse Wind Quintet with narrator Jonathan Butcher. You are invited to arrive from 3pm and to bring a picnic. Finally, on May 16 there is a concert entitled Ralph Vaughan Williams as student, in which the Vasara Quartet will play two early works by the composer, introduced by Prof Colin Lawson, director of the Royal College of Music.
May 10, 2:30pm; music for young children at Leith Hill Place, free, 0844 2491895
May 16, 6:30pm, Vaughan Williams concert at Leith Hill Place, £15, 0844 2491895
May 30, 5:00pm, Peter and the Wolf at Leith Hill Place, £9.50, 0844 2491895
This month’s screenings at Dorking Halls include the ballet La Fille mal gardée, live on May 5 and repeated on May 10, Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance live from the English National Opera on May 19, and Show Boat on May 31, in a recording from the San Francisco Opera.
May 5, 7:15pm; ballet screening at Dorking Halls, £17, 01306 881717
May 10, 2:00pm; ballet screening at Dorking Halls, £17, 01306 881717
May 19, 7:30pm; opera screening at Dorking Halls, £17, 01306 881717
May 31, 4.30pm; opera screening at Dorking Halls, £14, 01306 881717
Watermill Jazz meets every Thursday evening at the Friends Life social club, with a different group of talented performers each wee