Music has always been important to the ministry and congregation at Great Meeting and musical contributions to our services are actively encouraged. In addition to the regular playing of our organist, Robin Lister, over the past year we have had piano, flute, harmonica and vocal performances from members of our congregation. We also hosted choral music performances, live Jazz in the Garden, as well as lively folk music concerts!
We were pleased to be the chosen venue for the Leicester Musical Memory Box’s Dementia Friendly Carol Concert in 2022 and 2023.
We have a proud musical history. William Gardiner (1770-1853) a composer best known for his hymns published in two collections of his works: Sacred Melodies (1808) and Music and Friends (1838) was a choir master at the Great Meeting Chapel. He is also credited with being the first person to perform and popularise Ludwig van Beethoven’s music in England.
Closer to to the present day, a composer and songwriter David Kent, while a member of our congregation and our musical facilitator, won the Vincent Silliman prize in the US for their worship song The Light of the Spirit. David’s work include countless songs and muscical, most recently the acclaimed all-female: “Soul Sisters: The Musical“.
We are always keen to present social evenings and concerts and these have included supper cabarets, 1940s singing, folk concerts, and even a comedy performance by Annie and Fannie, Cinderella’s ugly sisters!
The chapel’s first organ was installed in 1800. It was a modest, free-standing instrument positioned in the gallery. In 1882, following the expansion of the chapel, Leicester-based organ builders Porritt installed the current organ in the newly constructed chancel, where it remains to this day.
In 1928, the organ was rebuilt and expanded by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd, renowned for their contributions to churches during the Gothic Revival era of Victorian Britain.
With its impressive 2,015 pipes, our organ continues to deliver exceptional sound quality and is still played weekly.
