Chesterfield Canal fundraising concerts with The Swing Commanders and Simon Mayor & Hilary James to be hosted in new venue
Two concerts to raise money for the restoration of the Chesterfield Canal will be held at the newly renovated Barrow Hill Memorial Hall.
The Swing Commanders will play on June 26 and Simon Mayor & Hilary James on June 27, 2026 on two nights of live music promoted by the Chesterfield Canal Trust.
A mix of 1940s classics, boogies woogie, western swing and 50s jump jazz is promised in the concert featuring vibrant and versatile group The Swing Commanders. Every member sings and plays at least one instrument.
There can’t be many performers who slide easily from a beautifully evocative Irish ballad into a mandolin and guitar version of Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba and then have the audience singing one of their own notorious comic songs, but it’s this wry humour and an easy, informal stage manner that holds it all together.
The Swing Commanders have appeared at most of the UK’s top vintage and country music festivals and filled dancehalls with lindy hoppers, modern jivers and line dancers throughout the UK and as far as Europe and the United States of America.
Across Britain from Shetland to Sark, and across the globe from Vancouver to Singapore, Simon Mayor and Hilary James have brought their special blend of dazzling musicianship.
Simon and Hilary are honorary directors of The Classical Mandolin Society of America, an invitation they were delighted to accept in 2022.
They share a passionate interest in children’s music and have worked extensively with young people in theatres and schools, as well as writing and presenting music education programmes for BBC Radio and TV for six years. Simon and Hilary have recorded five children’s albums of original songs, Lullabies with Mandolins (currently riding high on Apple Music), two rhyming picture story books for Top That! Publications, and the Musical Mystery Tour songbook, published by Faber Music.
Tickets cost £15 for each concert, available from https://chesterfield-canal-trust.org.uk/two-concerts-to-aid-restoration or call 01246 477569. The concerts start at 7.30 pm and there is a bar.