The Croydon Citizen » Katie Rose

Twice Madam Mayor: an interview with Toni Letts

Katie Rose — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 12:00:51 +0000

Twice Mayor of Croydon, a domestic violence survivor with an OBE for her services to housing and community, Toni Letts has many stories to tell. Funny, poignant and heart warming, her anecdotes are underwritten with her commitment to make a daily difference to the lives of Croydon folk. Describing herself as a “servant of the people”, Toni was inspired by her father, an Irish Protestant priest, “who would say ... Read More »

Hope, warm-heartedness and a takeaway: the third annual interfaith symposium, Sunday 10th September

Katie Rose — Thu, 05 Oct 2017 11:00:08 +0000

On a wet September evening, I find my way to the serene prayer room of the Baitus Subhan Mosque. There is a warm atmosphere of anticipation and keen conversation as people start to meet, greet and find out about each other. The event opens with stalls representing a number of community groups and a round of applause for members of the fire brigade, setting a tone of spirited, ... Read More »

Event Review: Shift K3Y + London Mozart Players at Boxpark, Wednesday 19th July

Katie Rose — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 11:00:47 +0000

What happens when world class classical musicians get in the mix with top electronic music producers? This was the question posed by an innovative collaboration between Croydon’s resident chamber orchestra, LMP (the London Mozart Players), and Shift K3Y at Boxpark.

The evening’s imaginative joining of musical worlds opened with the lush vocals of South Londoner George Cosby swooping above heart-stirring strings. LMP followed with a set including Argentine tango ... Read More »

Event review: Croydon Bach Choir presents Homo Sum at its summer concert

Katie Rose — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 11:00:55 +0000

On the warm and sunny evening of Saturday 1st July, many of us gathered at Croydon Minster to hear the Croydon Bach Choir present the final concert of its 2016-17 season, featuring the premiere of Mark David Boden’s work Homo Sum alongside opera choruses and arias and Mozart’s Coronation Mass. This far-ranging programme, with pieces spanning four centuries by composers from five different countries, indicated that this well-established sixty-strong ... Read More »

Your invitation to be part of Croydon’s first festival of peace

Katie Rose — Mon, 10 Jul 2017 11:00:01 +0000

In June 2018, we’re inviting everyone in Croydon to be involved in a cross-cultural, cross-arts, interfaith celebration of peace. As the world remembers the centenary of the end of the First World War, we can make a powerful, colourful, vibrant declaration of peace.

In the words of Father John Pritchard of St John the Evangelist church, Upper Norwood: “When we talk about peace, we have to talk ... Read More »

Event review: the London Mozart Players in Fiona Brice’s ‘Relationships’ at Matthews Yard, Friday 19th May

Katie Rose — Wed, 24 May 2017 11:00:49 +0000

One of the unexpected and wonderful outcomes of the closure of Fairfield Halls is the relocation of the London Mozart Players (LMP) to St John the Evangelist church, Upper Norwood. The longest-established chamber orchestra in the UK, formed in 1949 by conductor Harry Blech, LMP has been resident at Fairfield Halls since 1989. Executive director Julia Desbruslais described the move to St John the Evangelist as “a pivotal point ... Read More »

Event review: Hoodoo’s music venue celebrates its first birthday, Saturday 27th August

Katie Rose — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 16:00:29 +0000

A hoodoo (also known as a fairy chimney or earth pyramid) is a totem-shaped pillar of rock that forms in desert basins as a result of weather and rock erosion.Famous examples are found in Bryce Canyon in the US and Cappadocia, Turkey. Human imitations, known as cairns, are piles of rocks used over the centuries to mark important locations and routes. A hoodoo is also a West African roots ... Read More »

Event review: live jazz from Infusion, weekly at Smoothbean! coffee shop

Katie Rose — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 16:00:29 +0000

It was back in late June that a fluid collective of jazz musicians and a coffee shop began blending culinary and musical flavours to come up with something fresh for Croydon.

Smoothbean! recently celebrated its second birthday at 2-3 Dingwall Road, just round the corner from East Croydon station. Founders John and Pauline Hennessy were originally intending to open a juice bar but after “sampling the London weather” ... Read More »

The day that ‘Sing for Water’ came to Croydon

Katie Rose — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 16:00:02 +0000

Since 2011 I have been participating in Sing for Water, a choral movement which fundraises for WaterAid. So, having dreamed of organising a cross-choral event in Croydon, the occasion of entering my fifth decade seemed a fitting time to host ‘Water Love’, a singing fundraising party on Saturday 23rd July at Matthews Yard.

Sing for Water was initiated by composer Helen Chadwick in 2002, when frustrated by the government’s decision to go to ... Read More »

Rainbows Across Borders LGBT Asylum Seekers Choir leads the way at Croydon’s first PrideFest

Katie Rose — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 11:00:22 +0000

Croydon is preparing to celebrate its first PrideFest, to be held in Surrey Street on Sunday 28th August. I visited Rainbows Across Borders, Croydon’s LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) asylum seekers chorus, whose members will be leading the parade along with Wayne Trakas-Lawlor, Croydon’s first openly gay mayor, to talk about the part its singers will play. PrideFest will be the only gay and trans festival held within ... Read More »