Priest raises £6k in 24-hour concert

Sep 20 2007 by Gillian Stratton, Crosby Herald

PARISHIONERS have congratulated Fr Neil Kelley for raising more than £6,000 during a 24-hour organ concert at St Mary’s, Waterloo Park.

After the 24 hours, he was tired but triumphant and thankful for the support of doorkeepers and refreshment sellers, as well as a steady stream of spectators and well-wishers,

He worked his way through a wide range of sacred and secular music, including request numbers.

The money raised will be divided equally between St Mary’s, Waterloo and St Faith’s, Crosby.

He said: “When you are planning to get through 1,440 minutes of music the end seems a very long way off.

“As midnight came and I felt as if I had done a day’s work, I released I wasn’t even halfway there.

“When I performed Rossini’s Petite Messe Solonelle in Birmingham back in 1987 with one Lesley Garrett as soprano soloist little did I imagine I would be tackling a version for piano at 4am one Monday morning twenty years later in a Waterloo Church.

“But when it got to the wee small hours of that 24-hour sponsored event I was prepared to play anything just to keep myself awake.

“I went through Handel’s Messiah twice and those there in the 23rd hour accompanied my playing of just about every hymn in the hymn book.

“As the last 30 minutes loomed people were sending encouraging texts, I had mastered the art of texting and playing at the same time by then, and the goodly number who were there for the final piece, the Widor Toccata, gave a most moving standing ovation. It was all very worth while.”