Winter 2021Toad Lane Concerts: Music at Lunchtime

Hundreds of lunchtime concerts have been held over the last 20 years at St Mary in the Baum church.

It’s often said that music is a language understood by all, which is why the classical concerts at St Mary in the Baum on Toad Lane are open for everyone to hear stellar performances of rare quality.

You’d be forgiven if the weekly Toad Lane concerts of Wednesday afternoon have flown under your radar, as the 30-minute concerts are a hidden gem of auditory bliss – something which everyone can appreciate on their lunch break – and right on your very own doorstep.

The Toad Lane concerts originated from the ‘music at lunchtime’ weekly concerts which began at the old library and art gallery on the Esplanade during the 1960s. Back then, recorded music played in gallery IV with light refreshments, before live performances became the norm.

Music at lunchtime continued with occasional changes in venue until the millennium, and the development of the Touchstones Arts and Heritage Centre. The displaced concerts used Drake Street’s Champness Hall for a short time until the Grade-I listed church, St Mary in the Baum, reopened after significant renovation.

The late Revd David Finney and performer and reviewer Dr Joe Dawson – a double-Fellow of the London College of Music in singing and composition who has also held senior positions in schools and colleges across Rochdale – took on the project at the church as TOLPAC, Toad Lane Performing Arts Centre.

In 2001, John Cole, the council’s arts and libraries chief, handed over the concerts with the words, “If you are still going after five years, you can keep the piano.” Needless to say, the piano was kept – and the concerts have now reached over 950 in number.

Led by series director Dr Joe Dawson, the Toad Lane Concerts, as they were now known, excellent classical music has been provided over hundreds upon hundreds of concerts from local talent, such as young soloists and adult choirs, to professionals of the highest calibre, including international postgraduate music students.

Dulcet melodies which celebrate the superb acoustics of St Mary in the Baum fill the church on most Wednesdays, providing a welcome escape from the day and some real food for the soul.

Almost as impressive as the display of talent from performing virtuosos is the array of instruments featured over the years: instrumentalist piano, organ, piano accordion, harpsichord, marimba, xylophone, flute, clarinet, oboe, oboe d’amore, cor anglais, saxophone, bassoon, trumpet, cornet, horn, trombone, tuba, violin, viola, cello, double bass, guitar, classical harp, even the Celtic harp.

The Toad Lane concert series was granted the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 2020, the highest award a voluntary group can receive in the UK. The series had been preparing for its 950th concert when the pandemic struck, forcing a hiatus, making the already-impressive accolade even more precious.

After pilots in May and August 2021, the series reinvented itself under Covid-compliant conditions, largely returning to its tried-andtested formula, temporarily without refreshments.

Toad Lane Concerts take place every Wednesday at 12.30pm at St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL16 1AP.
Entrance fee is £6.
Contact 01706 648872 for further information.

Forthcoming concerts:

• 1 December - Ugnius Pauliukonis piano (RNCM Gold medallist)
• 8 December - Angela Rowley soprano, choral director and adjudicator, Tim Kennedy piano (Cambridge & RNCM staff)
• 15 December - More than Melody Ladies Choir Christmas Concert Party