In the words of Bob Dylan, we are making a few changes at Ashford Sinfonia. Our conductor of 9 years, Wes Carroll, has had major changes in his day job, which represent a temporary step up, with the future undecided. In addition to running Hythe Salvation Army Band, a Community Choir and a large family, he is now acting Head of Folkestone Academy, and is finding the limits of his time and energy.

We have therefore, at Wes’s request and with his help, introduced an experienced professional to help conduct the Orchestra, in the person of Les Lake. Les has a wide experience of playing in major orchestras, and runs Hythe Town Band. He will be sharing his Monday evenings between us and Folkestone and Hythe Choral Society for the rest of this term.

As a result, we have had to change the date of our Spring Concert, which will now be a less formal event on Monday evening, 26th March. Families and friends will be welcome!

So as of this evening, we welcome Les Lake to Ashford Sinfonia, and hope he will enjoy working with us. We bid Wes au revoir and wish him success and happiness in his new post, and thank him for his energy, humour and professional dedication over the last near decade. Dare we hope to see him back again?