Farley Music was established nineteen years ago by Richard Godfrey, a distinguished doctor of medicine, his wife Jane, and the Salisbury-based pianist Nicholas Walker, (pictured) who also teaches at the Royal Academy of Music.

Richard Godfrey was the Warden of Farley Hospital and is an accomplished organist. Richard has now retired and moved away from Farley but both he and his wife remain supporters of Farley Music in their capacity as Founding Patrons. Initially conceived to give concert experience to young musicians, over recent years the musical scope of the Farley Festival of Music has been widened, while still remaining true to the original aims. The current objectives are:

♪        To give concert experience and some financial assistance, especially but not exclusively,
to promising young musicians

♪        Through the use of All Saints’ Church as a concert venue, to generate income to assist with the maintenance and day-to-day functioning of the church

♪        To be a vehicle to reinforce village and local pride, community spirit and wide enjoyment

Farley Musical Director-  Nicholas Walker (Piano)

Hailed by the London Evening Standard as a ‘prodigy, of awesome technical fluency backed by exceptional artistry’, Nicholas Walker possesses a rare combination of talents combining sensitivity with ‘the flair of a full scale virtuoso and a sparkling intelligence’ (BBC Music Magazine). He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where he won all the major awards for both piano and composition, and subsequently at the Moscow Conservatoire.
While still a student in Moscow, he won the First Newport International Piano Competition and has since played with major British Orchestras, given recitals worldwide, and recorded for the BBC, BMG, ASV, Chandos, Danacord, Toccata Classics and Naxos. Equally at home in chamber music, he is sought after as an imaginative and sensitive accompanist, and his CD with Lydia Mordkovitch of Russian music was Daily Telegraph CD of the week.
Although Walker’s performances of Beethoven have brought him special notice, and his performances of the lyrical and late romantic piano music have also been singled out for the highest praise, it is for his championing of the cause of the neglected leader of ‘The Mighty Handful’, Mili Alexei Balakirev, that he is best known. Described by the Financial Times as ‘the nearest thing to a natural Balakirev performer’, Walker’s two discs of Balakirev piano music for ASV (CD DCA 940 & 1048) received great critical acclaim, but his new series for Naxos Grand Piano is unique, in that it introduces music that has never before been performed or published, including a substantial sonata and works that Nicholas has completed himself. According to American Record Guide it promises to be the “reference set” and the CDs have so far garnered enthusiastic reviews; CD3 was CD of the week on Musiq3. He has also received high praise for his performances of other Russian composers, including his live recording of the Liapunov Sonata on Danacord (DACOCD 539), described by Jeremy Nicholas as ‘thrilling… a tour de force’, who also in The Gramophone described his most recent Balakirev CD as “‘bravura with integrity”.
www.nicholaswalkerpiano.com

 

OUR INTERVAL WINES

This year Farley Music Festival is generously supported by Bluestone Vineyards of Cholderton, Salisbury.

Bluestone is a family owned and family run business located outside of Salisbury directly off the A303. With easy access and so much to see and do it is the perfect place to spend half a day, a whole day or even a few hours. Located adjacent to a family petting farm, which is perfect for entertaining the kids. It even has a great little cafe serving all kinds of delicious hot meals, cold snacks and drinks galore! The coffee is amazing and is roasted and blended locally in Andover.

The vineyard is beautiful and on our good days in England when the sun is shining and there are no clouds to be seen, you could mistake yourself for being on a vineyard in the Mediterranean. The vineyard is immaculately kept and the focus of the vineyard management is on the quality of the fruit, so aesthetics don’t necessarily come first. It’s all about balance. It just so happens balance looks great and tastes so good.

We currently provide vineyard walks and wine tastings bookable via our website. These take a few hours and are a great way to discover a very high standard of English grape growing and English sparkling wine. It is taken by one of the owners, Toby or Nat, who manages the vineyards by themselves (with some much needed volunteer help at harvest). You will get a very intimate and informal tour where you can touch upon anything wine related and ask anything. It’s a safe place.

We can offer a number of wine related activities for one and all from comparison tastings to food pairings. If it involves food and wine, we’ve got you covered. Just get in touch and we can create a wine experience that fits your needs.

The vineyards & brand were named as such as a nod to the local and World renowned heritage site, Stonehenge. This part of Wiltshire has a long established history of great importance and continues to be very important to the local and national economy. We hope to encapsulate the longevity of this iconic monument and build that into our brand, our wines and what we hope to offer the surrounding community for years to come.

Bluestone Vineyards consists of 3 distinctly different sites totalling 10 acres planted with the recognisable chardonnay, pinot noir and the lesser known, pinot meunier. Each site has specific blocks expertly located and playing to the individual strengths and characteristics of each grape variety. In the winery this enables us a greater ‘palette with which to paint our masterpieces’. Bluestone is wholeheartedly focussed on creating artisanal sparkling wines made from grapes grown in our vineyards in WIltshire. From the 2019 vintage onwards this will be the case.

Looking to the future we are focussing on wine tourism, adding to Wiltshire’s pull as a premium food & drink destination county. In the meantime, it is a slow and steady pace growing towards our goals. All we can do for now is to provide artisanal and high quality English sparkling wines with honesty and great passion.

Awards

Decanter World Wine Awards – Bronze Award

WineGB Wessex Regional Awards – Bronze Award & Trophy for best small producer of sparkling wine

 

Tickets and details for Farley music events are available from this website AND from the Tourist Information Office in Salisbury.

All Saints’ Church, Farley, Salisbury SP5 1AH     For further details contact friends@farleymusic.co.uk