1st December 2017 - St Sebastian Wokingham Band at Wokingham Town Hall

We were in the warm of the Town Hall on the 1st, with mulled wine and gingerbread men while watching a rousing performance by St Sebastian Wokingham Band. Playing some Christmas classics including Ding Dong merrily, Good King Wenceslas and Rudolph the red nosed reindeer we had a full house singing along. Please enjoy the video below courtesy of Silk Purse video.



We will be sharing photos, videos and live feeds on our facebook page at www.facebook.com/wokinghamadvent so please do check there for the most up to date content.

6th December - Pauly Zarb and Family at the Local Barbershop

On the 6th Living Advent Calendar performance we were at The Local Barbershop for another brilliant event, this time by Pauly Zarb and family.  Pauly originally from Australia now residing in Wokingham, has been a professional musician for over 20 years. From Australia’s best festivals to USA's best festivals and now in Europe, Pauly is well recognized throughout the world of music.

Pauly opened his performance with a heartfelt rendition of "O Holy Night" whilst the crowd were handed a warming Hot Chocolate from Local Barbershop host Simon. Pauly then invited his daughters Chloe and Ella up to join him, aged just 11yrs and 9yrs they displayed their talents playing "Silent Night" on the violin and guitar. Even his youngest, 3 year old Zavier couldn’t resist a turn at the mic with an impromptu rendition of Tommy Thumb.  We were then treated to a true family singsong of classics such as “Rockin around the Christmas Tree” and “Frosty the snowman”. What a talented family!!

Many thanks to the Local Barbershop our hosts for this evening. In their words. “The Local Barber Shop is truly local! We have a team all living within a 5 mile radius of the shop. A majority of the team went to school in Wokingham. That means that the money we generate is spent locally and benefits the town. Come and be a part of a local success story.”

Tonight we will be at the Ship Inn for performance 7, Ben Lambert with some swing classics, Michael Buble and a few seasonal songs.

15th December - Reading Accordion Group at the Ship Inn

On the 15^th day of the Living Advent Calendar we were treated to a performance by Reading Accordion Group. 

In their words:

“Reading Accordion Group (RAG for short) is a small music group whose aim is to entertain & raise money for charities.  This performance will show off the unique sound of the piano accordion with a seasonal flavour.”

They started with the Beer Barrel Polka followed by a series of medleys of classic singalong tunes including Daisy Bell, Oh Susanna, Scotland the Brave, My Darling Clementine and many more. The performance was wrapped up by some Christmas classics; Jingle Bells, Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer and White Christmas. 

The audience certainly enjoyed themselves singing along to many of the classic songs.  

Tonight join us at Martin & Pole for Ethan, Ellis and Connor: Two guitars, a Cajon and a voice.   

13th December: Johnty's Sax & Bass Duo at the Art House

Day 13 of the Wokingham Living Advent Calendar took us to the wonderful Art House, More Arts’ gallery space in the centre of town. The performance was by duo Johnty Wilkes and K. Darling who wowed the crowd with a jazz performance of Saxophone & Sacred Advent Christmas Music. 

Combining beautiful, velvet soft sax (Johnty Wilks) & swelling bass (K. Darling) with new age jazz and sacred music, the duo performs what has been described as deeply relaxing "doom jazz" in churches and festivals in the UK, Ibiza & Brazil. 

The Wokingham Paper are continuing to do daily articles online on the Living Advent Calendar performances. Follow the link for some fab photos from the evening. 

http://www.wokinghampaper.com/wokingham-living-advent-calendar-day-13-the-art-house/

Tonight you will find us at The Ship Inn for some seasonal accordion music by Reading Accordion Group. 

10th December - Ben Warner at TG Art Gallery

Day 10 of the Wokingham Living Advent Calendar saw a break from music with poetry from Ben Warner.

Ben is an experienced actor & public speaker.  He wrote 'The Day that Christmas Died' specifically to be performed at this year's 'Living Advent Calendar' and performed it together with a handful of other Christmas poems.  In his words “My aim is to entertain”.

The performance was at TG Art Gallery on Peach Street and the audience filled the gallery and enjoyed some festive treats.  

Do enjoy these few photos from the evening.

You can find more photos and articles from all the performances so far on the Wokingham Paper website.  www.wokinghampaper.com

Tonight join us at Wokingham Borough Council at 6:15pm for Spotlights Dance Centre who will be presenting some of their young dancers. 

Don’t forget that performances on Saturday and Sunday are at 4pm. Check the online calendar or Wokingham Town Council’s twitter feed for who will be on.