Excitement building about 22023 Beaminster Festival

The Beaminster Festival has been launched and there is already a great deal of excitement and enthusiasm about the programme. Priority tickets for Sponsors Donors and Friends are on sale with the General Public booking opening on 13 April.

Few who saw the BBC Young Musician 2022 finals could fail to be inspired by Ethan Loch, pianist, blind from birth and consequently learning his entire repertoire by ear. He won great praise from the judges for the tone colours he managed to conjure in his rendition of Debussy Preludes in the category finals and we are thrilled that they will feature in his programme, bookended by Bach and Chopin. Ethan has extraordinary hearing, not only having perfect pitch but being able to pitch your voice, the washing machine or the hum of a car engine.

There has not been an accordion appear at the Beaminster Festival for many years—and like buses, now two come along!

Ryan Corbett has taken the classical musical scene by storm! Having taught himself for a few years, he found a teacher and last year he was the first Accordionist to win the prestigious Royal Over-Seas League Gold medal, beating all other categories in the final. He is also the first accordionist to become a BBC New Generation Artist and as such features on Radio 3. Playing music from Bach to Albeniz this concert will be full of poignance, passion and virtuosity.

With the same instrument but a totally different style we have Faith Ristic playing together with her virtuoso violinist husband, Branko in an international quartet. Combining tabor pipe, double bass and guitar they journey from melancholy Roma violin laments to storming Kolos via jazz improvisation, swing, Gypsy Rumba, and Turkish and Indian influenced songs.

For more information visit www.beaminsterfestival.com

BOILED DUCK’S EGGS WITH ASPARAGUS SOLDIERS

Our British asparagus season is upon us, these days growers produce earlier crops from often March and April as we shouldn’t be competing against foreign imports or we get into a tomato and cucumber shortage situation in February where we shouldn’t be eating tasteless imported tomatoes anyway. We really do need to eat more seasonal produce and a lot of people say they do but you will be surprised what’s lurking in their fridges that have cumulatively done an awful lot of air miles. This is a simple, fun dish for dinner parties, with not much preparation required. If you can’t get hold of duck’s eggs, large free-range chicken eggs will do. It’s also a great fun way to get kids into asparagus.

Directions Ingredients

• 4 ducks eggs

• 1kg medium thickness asparagus, woody stems removed

• Maldon sea salt

• Celery salt

Mark Hix

Serves 4

Naomi Devlin at The Oyster & Fish House

Naomi will be joining Mark and the team on 17th May to cook a delicious 4-course meal and share her expertise on gluten-free foods and how you can boost your gut health by choosing the right food and drink. Naomi will be serving her homemade ferments and letting you know how you can make your own at home. You don’t need to be coeliac to enjoy this evening—you simply need to enjoy your food as much as we do!

For more information visit https://theoysterandfishhouse.co.uk/news-events/ an-evening-with-naomi-devlin/

1. Have two pots of water boiling, one salted for the asparagus and one for the eggs. Carefully place the eggs into the pan of unsalted water with the help of a slotted spoon. Set a timer for 6 minutes for duck eggs, a minute or so less for hen’s. Remove the eggs from the water on to a plate and at the same time put the asparagus into the boiling salted pan. This will take about 5 minutes to cook while you remove the tops from the eggs.

2. With a small knife (you can use a special egg top remover) carefully remove the tops from the eggs, then replace them to keep them hot, and put them into egg cups on pre- warmed plates.

3. Check the asparagus by cutting a little off a thick end to see if they are tender. Drain in a colander, then arrange in bundles next to the eggs. Spoon a little pile of Maldon sea salt and celery salt on to each plate and serve.