Bi-centenial events continue at St James

Wednesday 20 June 2018

A concert marking the bi-centenary of St James Concert and Assembly Hall will take place this evening, as a number of local organisations continue to support the facility during its landmark year.

The Admiral and The Saint concert, organised by Sarnia Festival Arts, will see the Coull Quartet return to Guernsey.

They have performed in the island on several occasions in the past, and on this occasion, the music will tell the story of Sir James de Saumarez and St James the Less in words and music.

The performance will be interspersed by a range of classical music, with David Foote narrating the story of how St James was brought into being through the efforts of one man, and how nearly 200 years later some determined islanders fought to save it as a public venue.

The Coull Quartet will further be joined by Guernsey’s own David Le Page on violin, Tom Hicks on piano and Casey-Joe Rumens as baritone.

Pictured: The Coull Quartet

The event is sponsored by Collenette Jones and supported by The Swallow Charitable Trust. Collenette Jones Director, Jon Collenette, said 2018 is a big year for both his firm and St James. 

“It is our 40th anniversary and also the year in which the firm’s founder, Rodney Collenette, finally hung up his boots as an accountant in practice for almost 65 years. Many of you will know Rodney’s long association with St James. I still remember proudly watching all 5’ 7” of my Dad parading into the Hall alongside the imposing figure of a 6’ 4” HRH the Duke of Kent at the opening ceremony in 1985. Collenette Jones has been a sponsor of St James for many years, initially because of the Rodney connection and now because St James embodies the Guernsey community spirit that we aim to mirror in our firm.”

Pictured: Guernsey Post is another local firm supporting St James in its bi-centenial year. 

Guernsey's postmen and women have been delivering the latest quarterly calendar of events happening at St James to residential properties and businesses across the Bailiwick this week, as part of the utility's efforts to support the site in its bi-centenial year. 

Jon Bisson, Executive Director at St James said it is a big help when promoting the events, which has also been planned to co-incide with a 'golden ticket promotion.'

“We are really excited to be sending out the new calendars to the whole of the Bailiwick," he said, "something that would have been impossible without the help of Guernsey Post. To celebrate this new relationship St James have hidden a number of golden tickets inside the guides, which will win the lucky recipients two free tickets to an event of their choice”.    

Mr Bisson added “St James is undergoing a period of expansion and to attract a broader audience to this fantastic venue we are working really hard to get high profile names on the bill, and we need public support to ensure St James remains financially viable.  Guernsey Posts support in distributing the guides via its door2door services means we can reach a much wider audience and tell as many people as possible about the events we are working so hard to put on”. 

Dawn Gallienne, Head of Corporate Engagement at Guernsey Post said “We are pleased to be able to support St James. St James plays an integral part in the local community through its calendar of local and visiting acts, art competitions, and music nights. We look forward to working with the organisation over the next couple of years, delivering the latest calendars, and hope to help them achieve their target of increasing ticket sales and financial viability”.