MUGSS Charity Christmas Concert

A selection of everyone's favourite christmas songs, carols and some of Gilbert & Sullivan's finest songs.

Saturday 12th December - 7pm

St Ann's Church, St Ann's Square, Manchester

Tickets are £5, with all proceeds to the charity Yombo.

The Yombo Project

Yombo school was not chosen at random. When we first became involved with Yombo school it had the highest reported mortality and morbity in its children of any school, not only in Tanzania, but in East Africa. In simple terms the children were the sickest and also the most likely to die of any children in East Africa. There has been some reported improvement but not much. It is still among the worst. This reflects the slums in which it is located and the poor health status of the population served by the school.

However: An increasing number of children in the school are orphans. This is through the death of parents from HIV/AIDs and other diseases.

Although education is "free" students still have to pay a small fee to attend secondary school and cannot attend unless they have the school uniform. Although the extended family will help provide a home for orphaned relatives they cannot afford to pay for their passage through secondary school. This is a tragedy as education is the big chance for these kids to break free from the slums.

To keep these kids at school for all 5 years secondary education costs… £250 including fees (£50 per annum), uniform books etc, not much to us - a fortune to them.

A special fund has being set up - within the new charity. This will give grants to orphaned kids to allow them to get as much from their education as possible. We will only start funding a child if we can guarantee the full 5 years - no broken promises. We hope this will help keep more girls in education.

This will not save the world! It will however help people to help themselves to a better life - 1 child at a time!

We also hope to improve the education in music and theatre of all the kids. This is a topic barely touched in the school at present. We will be collecting unwanted recorders and recorder music, we have 2 keyboards to take to them, and part of the proposed new school/village hall will be designed to allow small productions/concerts to be staged as at all schools and village halls in the uk!

We will not save the world but we will bring a little more joy into the lives of a few children and their extended families and we bring joy into our own lives as we do it!

No money is spent on administration. No expenses are claimed - It all goes to the kids!

Thanks all for your help!

Jen Petrie,
MUGSS Chair, 2009 - 2010

About the Musical Director

Jonathan Gibson was born in Northampton, the youngest of a family of local musicians. He began playing the French Horn at the age of 9 and quickly became a regular player with the county's youth orchestra and the Northampton Symphony Orchestra. From 1993 to 1997 Jonathan studied at the Royal Northern College of Music with, amongst others, David Cripps and Derek Taylor and worked in masterclasses with Michael Thompson, Timothy Jones, Peter Francombe and Anthony Halstead. Since Graduating from the RNCM he freelances extensively with such ensembles as the National Festival Orchestra, Skipton Camerata, Manchester Camerata, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Manchester Mozart Orchestra, Manchester Concert Orchestra and the chamber group Harlequin Brass with whom he has recently recorded a CD.

It was during this time that Jonathan first came to MUGSS as part of the Orchestra for various productions in the Renold and Dancehouse theatres, along with several more societies in the area. In his spare time, cricket and rugby union occupy his mind, although he can be found at most Sale Sharks home games, he avidly supports his 'local' rugby team, Northampton Saints and both his county and national cricket teams. Jonathan has regularly appeared as a guest in the horn section of Wilmslow & Stockport Symphony Orchestras and could recently have been heard performing Brittens' Serenade (for Tenor, Horn and strings) with Skipton Camerata, Schumanns' Konzertstuck with Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra and appeared playing his horn in the Golden Jubilee episode of Coronation Street.