End of an era at The Edge.

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

The performance by The Impossible Gentlemen on Dec 2nd will be the last jazz event at The Edge Arts Centre in Much Wenlock to be curated by outgoing Artistic Director Alison Vermee.

Alison Vermee has supplied the following statement;

“Alison Vermee has announced that she has left her post as Director of The Edge Arts Centre in Much Wenlock and has taken up a new post at the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton as Theatre Development Officer. She said: “It has been an absolute pleasure and privilege to develop the jazz programme at The Edge. We have shared some truly memorable occasions together. I am deeply grateful to the musicians, audiences, agencies and funders who helped to make The Edge something very special. In my new role in Wolverhampton, I will be looking into developing a jazz programme. If you would like to keep in touch with what I am doing, I am creating a new mailing list. Please send your details to an email address I have set up for this purpose - .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  Thank you.”

Ian adds;

Since I first posted this story I have received a phone call from Chris Phillips at The Edge informing me that the jazz programme at The Edge is not to be discontinued but will be scaled back on grounds of cost. It is unlikely that we will be seeing many big jazz names in the future. As yet no acts have been confirmed for 2013 but the new programme is due to be published in December 2012. Its contents will be awaited with interest.

It is a tragedy that the hugely successful Jazz Notes at The Edge programme is going to be scaled back. This venue with its warm, listening atmosphere and superb acoustics has become one of my favourites and I have seen and reported on many memorable concerts. Some of the international artists The Edge has hosted are rarely observed outside London. The reduction of the jazz programme at The Edge is a huge cultural blow to the county of Shropshire and beyond, I still can’t believe that it’s been allowed to happen.

I would like to thank Alison Vermee for her hard work and vision in establishing The Edge as a successful and significant venue loved by artists and audiences alike. I’d also like to thank her for her support of The Jazzmann and wish her every success in her new post at the Arena Theatre in Wolverhampton.

I’m pleased to see that Alison is considering the possibility of developing a jazz programme in Wolverhampton and I am certain that many members of her loyal Edge audience, myself included, would support her new venture.

The performance at The Edge by The Impossible Gentlemen on Sunday December 2nd 2012 will be an emotional and memorable evening, the end of an era. It should be a great night, it’s just a shame that it will be the last concert to be organised under the current programme.