CCS hosted a very special Concert on Wednesday 6th November 2024, as it was the first wholly sponsored event, thanks to the generosity of Mr Tony Cooper, the past Chairman of the Clitheroe Concerts Society. Tony decided to celebrate his recent 90th birthday, by requesting family and friends to simply donate to the Society in place of birthday gifts. Tony also added his own financial contribution and selected the Concert given by the Victoria String Quartet to mark this special occasion. This Manchester based group includes two Professors, along with the Deputy of Head of Strings from the Royal Northern College of Music and the Music Director of the Sinfonia of Leeds and Cleveland Philharmonic Orchestra.
The programme for the evening comprised Beethoven’s 4th String Quartet, a collection of Elgar’s Quartet sketches, a Schubert Sonata and a Verdi’s String Quartet. As an encore, Peter Maxwell Davies’s evocative Farewell to Stromness provided a fitting climax to an outstanding evening of brilliant string performances.
In his opening remarks, Tony recalled that he joined the Society in October 1969 and had been active on the Committee for 25 years and Chairman for 18 years. During the last 55 years he thought he had only missed two or three concerts.
During the evening Mrs Beverley Cooper was presented with a floral bouquet and Tony received a musically themed birthday and celebration “thank you cake”.
Tony’s daughters from the left, Stephanie and Zoe, with his wife Beverley Clitheroe Mayor, Councillor Donna O’Rourke and her daughter.
