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Recorder Playing

Status:Active, open to new members
Group leader:
When: Weekly on Thursday mornings 10:00 am-12:00 pm
Venue: St Arvans Memorial Hall

We have 20+ members and Moira Fraser-Hook, a superb musician, is our Musical Director. Everyone benefits from her encouragement, enthusiasm and infinite patience!

Our repertoire is varied, including 16th Century dances, folk tunes, Klezmer music and fun tunes like “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” and “Blue Moon”. We enjoy performing and introducing our audiences to the glorious sounds of the recorder, from the high sopranino to the deep tone of the contra-bass. There is a strong sense of camaraderie and bonhomie in the group, playing music seriously, with fun and enjoyment too!

About the group

The group was started in 2008 as a complete beginners’ recorder course. Originally there were fifteen of us – most had never played a recorder before and some couldn’t read music but with Moira’s kindness and patience the group started to improve. Gradually over the years more experienced players have joined raising the standard to excellent. The group now numbers about 20.

We meet every week during term time at St Arvan’s Memorial Hall, and aim to give a number of performances each year.  Our most recent past events are set out below.

We’re currently looking forward to our 2025 Summer Concert – details in “Forthcoming Events” below. 

If you play recorder or have played before and would like to take it up again, why not pop along to St Arvans one Thursday morning to meet us and have a go!  And come along to our Summer Concert on 17th  July.  Have a listen to the videos on this page for an idea of our standard.  

Past Events

  • 17 July 2025 – Summer Concert.  Join us for a lunchtime concert of lively music.  St Mary’s Priory Church, Chepstow at 12.30pm.  Entry is free with a retiring collection for Church funds and MAP – Medical Aid for Palestinians.

  • 7 December 2024 – A festive concert of music of song jointly  with the Chepstow Chatelaines at St Luke’s Church Tutshill at 3pm.  Funds were raised for Church funds and Chepstow Food Bank. 

  • 27 June 2024 – Summer Concert at St Mary’s Priory Church, Chepstow.  We played a lovely selection of music, with guest appearances by the Monday Consort and a trio of players from the group.  We raised £400 divided between Church funds and Medical Aid for Palestinians, providing humanitarian support in Gaza.

  • 18 May 2024 – We were delighted to take part in the Chepstow 500 Tudor day, dressing up in costume and playing music written in Tudor times.

  • December 2023 – We had a lovely afternoon of Festive Music and Song at St Luke’s Church, Tutshill, our second concert jointly with the Chepstow Chatelaines, a ladies singing ensemble.  We raised funds for the Church and Chepstow Food Bank.

  • July 2023 – Our Summer Concert was held at St Mary’s Priory Church in Chepstow. 

  • December 2022 – We joined forces with the Chepstow Chatelaines for a Christmas Concert at St Luke’s Church, Tutshill.  The church was packed with a very appreciative audience and everyone had a lovely festive afternoon, including mince pies and mulled wine!  

  • July 2022 – It was lovely to be invited to play again for the second Chepstow Festival of Arts, and based our programme on our favourite toe-tapping folk tunes.

  • July  2022 – St Mary’s Priory Church in Chepstow was the venue for our Summer Concert.  We played a variety of pieces, from Baroque tunes to folk tunes, Klezmer and some lovely pieces specially arranged for recorder.

  • March 2022 – We were keen to do something to help the people of Ukraine, and organised, jointly with Judith Bolton’s In-line dancing groups and Chepstow Singing Club, a day’s playathon, danceathon and singalong.  The day was really well supported and we are thrilled to have raised £5,755 for the DEC Ukraine Appeal.

  • Christmas 2021 – Concert in St Arvans.  We played carols, Christmas songs and the Pastorale from Handel’s Messiah – not often heard played on recorders!  Everyone had a very enjoyable festive evening, and we raised £285 divided between Alzheimer’s Society, Dementia UK and the Macular Society. 

  • August 2021 – A windy day saw us competing with the weather at Chepstow Band Stand, providing some of the entertainment for the u3a Picnic.

  • July 2021 – Our first performance since the pandemic was at the inaugural Chepstow Festival of Arts. We were pleased that we weren’t too rusty! 

Pre-pandemic – We played in local schools on a number of occasions.  The children loved to hear us play and joined in with some jolly rhythmic pieces.  

Click here to see the Video Montage: Recorder Playing 2017

Blue Moon

Down by the Sally Gardens

Fine Knacks for Ladies