Our Christmas Concert

What a concert! We were delighted to have Diane-Louise Jordan along to narrate the tale of the Snow Queen, as well as two very talented violinists from the Yehudi Menuhin School. The picture below includes the stars of the show, as well as our competition winners.


(Samuel Staples, Elaine Jones, Diane -Louise Jordan, Louisa Rose Staples, Emma Hammond-Walker , Darrell Davison)

Congratulations to our winners

We would like to congratulate the two winners of the prize for endeavour from last season. Every family concert programme contains competitions for children to enter, with a prize of £100 for the most correct entries over the season. This year we are delighted to announce that there was a tie, between Adam James aged nine from Epsom, and Hannah Cheek also aged nine from Reigate.

Here they are pictured with the two soloists from the concert, along with Darrell Davison our conductor.
(l-r Adam James, Hannah Kirk, Hannah Cheek, Madalina Rusu, Darrell Davison)

Classical Buskers - taster of the concerts

We have had the Classical Buskers join us at the Arthur Davison Family Concerts on a number of occasions now, and their performances have always been particularly well received. Their involvement has included playing a pair of clogs (and many other weird and wonderful instruments), explaining how recorders work, as well as performing Wagner on an accordion. This is all done with the usual rivalry between them and a lot of humour!

Here they are in action at a concert which was first played in the Family Concert series last year; we hope you enjoy this taster of the family concerts.

Full programmes for the 43rd Season

We are pleased to be able to announce the finalised programmes for this season's family concerts. As usual we have a mix of well-known and lesser-known classical music, but all will be delivered with the same level of fun and education for both children and adults.

Saturday November 15th 11am - Mini Last Night of the Proms
Christopher Lynch – Narrator
Madalina Rusu – Piano
Hannah Kirk – Soprano
Guildford Symphony Orchestra

All the fun of the Last Night of the Proms - but in miniature - with a patriotic finale of Proms' favourites. The Man who Invented Music is a charming introduction to the instruments of the orchestra, with a programme that features Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Mussorgsky's Night on a Bare Mountain, Barber's Adagio and Rachmaninov 's dramatic 1st Piano Concerto.

Carnival Overture- Dvorak
Adagio for Strings- Barber
Jewel Song- Gounod
Night on a Bare Mountain- Mussorgsky
Piano Concerto no.1 – 1st Movement- Rachmaninov
Symphony no. 5 – 1st Movement- Beethoven
The Man Who Invented Music- Gillis
Dambusters’ March- Coates
Rule Britannia- Arne
Land of Hope and Glory- Elgar

Saturday December 6th 11am - Christmas Concert
Croydon Symphony Orchestra
Ian le Grice – Organ
Young Soloist from the Yehudi Menuhin School
Narrator to be announced

A special musical version of Hans Christian Anderson's Snow Queen is the highlight of this Christmas cracker of a concert which features seasonal favourites by Strauss, Rimsky-Korsakov and Offenbach. Besides a lively Sleigh Ride for Santa, a Christmas Feather Dance and audience carols there is also a presentation by some outstanding young prodigies from the Yehudi Menuhin School.

Christmas Eve Polonaise Rimsky-Korsakov
Introduction to the Fairfield Organ
Christmas Feather Dance- Plier
Folk Song Suite – Finale- Vaughan-Williams
Music with members of the Yehudi Menuhin School
Sleigh Ride- Prokofiev
Voices of Spring Waltzes- Strauss
The Snow Queen- Arr. Davison
Christmas Festival- Anderson
Can-Can- Offenbach

Saturday February 7th 11am - Toy Stories
Epsom Symphony Orchestra
Nerys Hughes - Narrator
Sally Pryce - Harp

Magical toys, spinning tops, beautiful dolls and a dramatic game of chess are all included in this lively concert of Toy Stories. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and Delibes Coppelia are also featured in this programme in which you can try and discover the magic of the Secret Toy Shop.

Coppelia- Delibes
Funeral Dance of a Marionette- Gounod
The Spinning Top- Bizet
Dolly Suite- Faure
Danse Profane- Debussy
Toy Symphony- Arnold
Toy Soldiers – Nutcracker- Tchaikovsky
The Secret Toy Shop- Richards
Checkmate- Bliss

Saturday March 14th 11am Magical Myths and Legends
Narrator David Leonard
Croydon Symphony Orchestra
Alex Frank-Gemmill

An exciting programme of magical myths and legends which culminates in the dramatic story of The Firebird and music from the Oscar winning film trilogy - Lord of the Rings. Other musical myths include Ravel's beautiful description of Beauty and the Beast, Wagner's overture to the Flying Dutchman and Saint-Saens riotous Bacchanale.

The Flying Dutchman’s Ghost Ship- Wagner
Beauty and the Beast- Ravel
Faust and the Dance of the Sylphs- Berlioz
Samson and Delilah – The Feast of Bacchanale- Saint-Saens
Horn Concerto – Finale- Strauss
Baba Yaga and the Witch’s Cauldron- Liadov
Lord of the Rings- Shore
The Firebird- Stravinsky

Saturday April 25th 11am - Medieval Mysteries
The Little Symphony of London
Dragonsfire – Medieval Music Group
Narrator to be announced

Travel back in time to the Medieval era with the haunting story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin and the Dragonsfire Medieval Group who will be dressed in period costume. The concert also includes Handel's Water Music, Pachelbel's Canon, Warlock's Sword Dance as well as music by Mozart and Schubert.

Water Music – Overture- Handel
Canon- Pachelbel
Symphony no. 40 – Allegro- Mozart
Dragonsfire Medieval Music Feast, The Death of Falstaff- Walton
Symphony no.5 – Finale- Schubert
The Pied Piper of Hamelin- Richards
Sword Dance- Warlock

New season approaches

The first family concert in this new season is now quickly approaching, and we are very excited about the programme. We will be starting our Season with the ever-popular mini "Last night of the Proms". It will contain the patriotic classics from the Royal Albert Hall, as well as featuring excerpts from Beethoven's 5th symphony, Mussorgsky's Night on a Bare Mountain, Barber's haunting Adagio, Rachmaninov's dramatic First Piano Concerto, and the charming story of The Man who invented Music.

To attend this concert you can either purchase season tickets which will allow you to come to all five concerts in the series at a discounted price, or just buy single tickets for this concert. For season tickets please use the form found here, or to book tickets for this concert alone you can either contact the box office on 020 8688 9291 or by using this link

We look forward to seeing you on the 15th November!

Come and learn about the instruments in the orchestra

Our first family concert in the season will include The Man Who Invented Music, a piece which will take you through all the different instruments in the orchestra during the story and explain how they work. We are pleased to announce that we will have a special guest to help us in this, who will be narrating the piece and teaching us along the way.

Save more than 50% by booking early!

By popular demand we will again be selling season tickets to allow you to enjoy the full season of the family concert (five concerts) at a discounted price. Booking early will give you more than 50% off the series. Tickets are transferrable, so if you are not able to attend a concert you may give them to a different group who will be able to enjoy the music in your place.

Standard prices for season tickets are £35 Adults, £25 Children, but booking before October 30th will give you the rate of £30 Adults, and £20 Children.

When buying a for a family (more than four season tickets together) you will get all the fun of the season for only £30 Adults, and £20 Children. However, if you book before October 30th you are able to receive our best price of £25 Adults and £15 Children.

To make a booking click on the image, simply print it out and fill it in, indicating your preferences. Then post it to:

ADFC Box Office,
Fairfield,
Croydon CR9 1DG.

For more information please contact 020 8688 9291.

Nerys Hughes confirmed for February

We are delighted to announce that Nerys Hughes will again be joining us to narrate for one of our family concerts. This season she will be performing us for the Secret Toy Shop. Come along on the 7th February to discover its mysteries.

Season line-up announced

We are delighted to announce the dates and themes for the 43rd Season of the Arthur Davison Family Concerts. This year we will be travelling to visit the Snow Queen, the Pied Piper, and the Secret Toy shop, all in our usual 80 minute Saturday morning educational concerts beginning at 11am.

15 November 2008 - Mini Last Night of The Proms
6 December 2008 - Christmas Concert with The Snow Queen
7 February 2009 - Toy Stories with The Secret Toy Shop
14 March 2008 - Magical Myths and Legends with the Firebird
25 April 2009 - Medieval Mysteries with The Pied Piper

We will again be offering discounts to season ticket holders, check back on this site later on for details of how to buy these.

Directions to Venue - The Fairfield Halls

The Arthur Davison Family Concerts are held at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon. These are only a 5 minute walk from East Croydon station, which has direct links to London Victoria (18 minutes), London Bridge (15 minutes) and London St Pancras (30 minutes). There are regular bus and tram links to the venue as well.

If you wish to travel by car there is a large car park operated by NCP at the back of the Fairfield Halls, off Barclay Road.


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To plan your journey to the concert hall, please use the tfl journey planner below:

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The Arthur Davison Family Concerts

The Arthur Davison Family Concerts are an excellent introduction to the world of classical music presented in Fairfield's friendly atmosphere with five clearly themed orchestral concerts with top artists and narrators. Past narrators have included Penelope Keith, Prunella Scales and Stephen Mulhern.

The concerts have now been running for 42 years, and have introduced hundreds of children to classical music throughout this time. Still as popular as ever, the next season will be just as educational and fun for all the family.

The concerts take place on a Saturday morning at 11am in Croydon, and run for 80 minutes.