Titanic Memorial Concert

Sunday 15 April was the date of our Titanic Memorial Concert which went ahead at its new venue at the Congress Theatre and I am very pleased to announce that the event was a big success!

The free concert was organised to commemorate 100 years since the sinking of the Titanic, alongside the recent restoration of the 1914 Bandstand plaque, which honors Eastbourne bandsman John Wesley Woodward. The local musician, a regular in the Duke of Devonshire Orchestra, played cello in the ship’s orchestra, all of whom famously played on while the Titanic sunk.

Unfortunately Eastbourne Bandstand will be temporarily closed for May and June, due to essential maintenance works and it was fantastic that the concert was still able to take place for the 1,500 people who applied for free tickets earlier this year.

Halfway through the concert there was a short film presentation showing the unveiling of the newly restored plaque with the Mayor of Eastbourne and many of the donors, including local fundraiser Peter Goldsmith – who without their support, the restoration of the plaque would not have happened.

The wonderful afternoon of music was performed by The Champagne String Quartet. Their recital included a number of songs that would have been played on board ship.

Information boards were placed in the foyer of the Congress Theatre which people were able to look at to learn more about the fascinating history around the Titanic and our local hero John Wesley Woodwood. Each ticket had a name of a passenger printed on it and people were able to match their ticket up to the passenger and crew list on the information boards. They were then able to see how the passengers name, age, how much they paid for their ticket aboard the Titanic, where they stayed and whether they survived or not.

This testimonial demonstrates just how well the concert went:

“Just to say thank you all at Eastbourne Council for organising the free concert on Sunday afternoon. I attended with my family who all felt it was beautiful and poignant. The tickets with a name printed on that we could look at the passenger list was inspired and interesting. To all the staff who worked on this, and The Champagne Quartet. WELL DONE! THANK YOU.”

Thank you to all of those who attended on Sunday and to the musicians – we hope everyone enjoyed themselves watching The Champagne Quartet as much as we did.

Follow the link to take a look at the short film presentation of the rededication of the Titanic memorial plaque to John Wesley Woodward at Eastbourne Bandstand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdDY-9oTYYI&feature=player_embedded

Lily