Lunchtime concerts resume at Chesterfield Library

The free concerts, which are now in their 30th year, will be held on October 16, November 13 and December 11, 2021 at 11.45am. They are popular with shoppers, families and elderly people who don’t want to go out in the evening.

Pianist Andrew Marples will perform on October 16, presenting a 45-minute programme of relaxing and uplifting ‘Lockdown classics’.

This season’s concerts are planned with Covid safety measures in place including limiting capacity to 100 and removing queuing before the start of the event by opening the doors an hour in advance at 10.45am.

Admission is free with a retiring collection.

These will be the first lunchtime concerts at the library since February 2020.

Andrew Marples co-founded the concerts in 1991 and recently raised more than £9,000 for a new grand piano in the theatre.

Over the past three decades,he estimates that almost 450 Saturday lunchtime concerts have been performed by a total of more than 5,000 musicians and listened to by close to 50,000 people. Andrew has performed in at least 120 of those concerts, either as pianist, singer or conductor.

Performers live within 50 miles of Chesterfield and the lunchtime audiences have been entertained by classical recitals, choir concerts, jazz sessions, folk groups and orchestras.

The concerts and run voluntarily and rely solely on donations from audiences.

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