Toad Lane Concerts, Rochdale
16th April 2026

Midweek Musical Delight at St Mary in the Baum!

Every Wednesday at 12:30pm, enjoy the Queen’s Award-winning Toad Lane Concerts at the stunning Grade I listed St Mary in the Baum church, Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL16 1DZ.

Admission is just £6. As a “not for profit” initiative, your entry fee and donations directly support talented musicians, the historic venue, and music resources.

For details, contact Dr. Joe Dawson: 01706 648872.

Note: There have been 1,181 concerts since taking over the council’s Music at Lunchtime in 2001. Justifying continuity in Rochdale’s year as the Greater Manchester Town of Culture.

Doors open 12noon, concert starts 12.30pm – 1.30pm.

Wednesday 22nd April 2026 – Lohanna Leung clarinet (RNCM) and ChiChi Li piano (RNCM)

Here are the next events to whet your appetite.

- Apr 29 – Sinead D’Abreu-Hayling soprano (Welsh Academy, WNO & RNCM) – Róisín Fleming piano (MTU Cork School of Music & RNCM)
- May 06 – Madeleine Brown piano (RNCM)
- May 13 – Students from Chetham’s School of Music
- May 20 – Eccles Community Choir – Director Angela Rowley (soprano and adjudicator) – Piano John Stott
- May 27 – Elliot Gresty clarinets

Previous Performance Reviews.

Wednesday 15th April 2026 -Lucy Farrimond soprano and piano (RNCM)

A rare treat to see an accomplished, self-accompanied classical singer.

Lucy Farrimond is a British lyric soprano who first appeared at St Mary in the Baum as an RNCM student in 2020 and is clearly fulfilling the considerable promise she showed then. It is great that Rochdale’s generous audiences at Toad Lane Concerts are helping such talent to hone their performing skills. What is more, her latest album was to be presented the following day in Manchester.

At just 21, Lucy made her BBC Proms solo debut with Haydn’s The Creation at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and she has featured on BBC and ITV and on BBC Radio.

It takes a special singer to dare to be self-accompanied. Issues arise: assuming you are competent in both sets of skills, (which Lucy clearly was), on the one hand you can dispense with an unsympathetic or incompetent pianist, but you could miss the shared interpretation and combined nuances of two individual musicians. You can keep control of your personal interpretation yet focus on the score could limit your rapport with the audience … and so on. Lucy coped with these issues remarkably well.

Her determination to develop this as her USP (unique selling point) is reminiscent of the late, great, twentieth century singer, pianist and composer Professor Michael Head FRAM who gave his first public recital as a self-accompanied singer at Wigmore Hall in 1929. For over fifty years he was a pillar of the profession as an examiner, festival adjudicator and recitalist.

In Lucy we had a gifted performer with a captivating manner; she introduced and delivered her varied programme with charm and panache. Twentieth century British traditional songs and settings by Britten, plus songs by Quilter, Vaughan Williams and Coates were all beautifully executed.

A well-earned breather allowed her full use of her pianistic skills with Wagner’s Album – Leaf. The high spot of her interpretation, Sure On This Shining Night by Samuel Barber was an American ‘interloper’ that required all her skill and technique in both voice and piano. She finished gently with the perennial standards, We’ll Gather Lilacs by Novello and the evergreen, I’ll Walk Beside You.

Like Head, Lucy is also a composer. having studied composition at Chetham’s and the RNCM. In 2016, she won First Prize in Chetham’s Biennial Carol Competition which was premiered at Manchester Cathedral and later broadcast on the BBC. Her works span orchestral, chamber, brass band and choral repertoire. Her choral work ‘HER VOICE’, commissioned by Voices of Women in 2023, was performed at EMPOWER (Manchester, 2024).

Originally from Standish, Wigan, Lucy is passionate about promoting and representing music in the North of England and is a proud trustee of Wigan Music Society. As with Michael Head in the last century, Lucy’s self-accompanied recitals could be an accessible way of keeping our rich heritage repertoire alive and enjoyed in this one.

With thanks to Dr. Joe Dawson for permission to publish his article.

Wednesday 8th April 2026 – Harmony Choir conductor Freda Farnworth (London Guildhall School of Music) – accompanist Graham Chamberlain.

The 1,180th lunchtime recital since taking over from the council in 2001 was ‘supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’. This key word from their Mary Poppins medley said it all.

The latest science states that singing in choirs is good for your health and wellbeing. It is also rather good for your audience. Here is a bunch of men and women who practise together for hours to bring good music to life to entertain us.

Local mixed voice choir, HARMONY was formerly known as Rochdale Retirement Choir as part of Rochdale Music Service. They have been independent for quite a few years now, meeting every week (in school term time) at St Aidan’s church on Monday between 1.00 and 3.00 pm. They welcome anyone who has an interest in singing.

Conductor Freda Farnworth is herself a distinguished soprano soloist. Educated at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester and a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, Freda is a well-established singer, teacher, producer and conductor and clearly has brought on her choristers well.

The able accompanist today was retired teacher Graham Chamberlain, who was born in Essex but has lived for many years in Rochdale. He is an active committee member of the Oldham Rochdale and Tameside Organists’ Association. Among his other interests, he enjoys singing and is a keen Rochdale Football supporter.

Their varied programme began with a set of charming light music arrangements: I Got Rhythm by Gershwin, Tea for Two by Caesar, and Let’s do it by Porter. This was an upbeat start before turning to the more serious and reflective motets by Stanford, which were very moving.

Then to the cinema and the West End for a jolly Mary Poppins Medley by Sherman & Sherman arranged by Huff. Just in case the excitement became too much Wiegenlied by Brahms and The Long Day Closes by Sullivan calmed our spirits before the hilarious Ill Wind by Flanders and Swan, which made irreverent puns to Mozart’s Horn Concerto. Finally, Prayer (Hansel and Gretel) by Humperdinck brought us calmly to a peaceful close.

The audience included Emma Wild with colleagues and members from Rochdale Carers, who all thoroughly enjoyed it.

With thanks to Dr. Joe Dawson for permission to publish his article.