The History of Trunch Concerts
Trunch Concerts were started in 1997 by Cellist and Conductor Roy Abrams (pictured conducting his orchestra), at St.Botolph’s Church. He retired to Trunch having been a professional musician and teacher. It’s rare for a musician to retire and give up playing for good and Roy therefore sought the opportunity to work with the local community to promote concerts in an historic Norfolk Church. To enable this to happen, he even put his own grand piano in St Botolph’s.
Since the early 2000s, the project has focused on raising funds for for the preservation and restoration of the church fabric, which became a crisis when the Quinquennial Inspection of 2001 revealed two very large and growing cracks in the church tower.
- In 2005 the tower was secured from splitting.
- In 2010 the chancel roof was repaired.
- The historic 1808 Wm Gray organ was restored in 2012.
- In 2014 cloakroom and kitchen facilities were installed.
Roy Abrams was later joined by a local musician John Mason. Concerts, organised from the very beginning under the auspices of the Council of Parish Churches, continued to be a noticeable feature of the music scene in Norfolk.
Roy Francis Abrams
(1929 – 2019)
Since the beginning of Trunch Concerts, the most adventurous local musicians readily performed at St.Botolph’s and St.Nicholas, including several projects with the Norfolk Composers Group. Past professional performers include The London Schubert Players (twice – courtesy of the European Union Cultural Fund), The London Mozart Players & Chloe Hanslip (NNDC/Orchestras Live), The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (twice) with Alison Bury and Anthony Pay (NNDC/Orchestras Live), The Chapel Choir of Selwyn College (Cambridge) with Sarah MacDonald. Other top professionals have also generously given recitals for little more than expenses. These include Anda Anastasescu (Debussy Prize Winner, Paris), Darragh Morgan (Professor of Violin, Guildhall School), Bruce Vogt (Professor of Piano, University of Victoria, Vancouver), Andrew Roberts (violin, OAE), Suzanna Hurrell (soprano, now Royal Opera Covent Garden), David Dunnett (organ, Norwich Cathedral), Jane Gillie (violin, OAE) and Stephen Rowlinson (violin, LSO).
Since 2017, Trunch Concerts have been held not only at St. Botolph’s Church in Trunch, but also (during the summer months) at St. Nicholas Church in Swafield, which is part of Trunch, Swafield and Bradfield parish, and is situated one mile from the village of Trunch. The first concert at St. Nicholas was “Hits of Rock,” featuring the Reverend Jonathan Meyrick, known as the “Rock Bishop.”
At the end of 2017 season John Mason left the Trunch Concerts team as he moved from Trunch.
Since the 2018 season, the variety of concerts has expanded. Not only classical musicians, but also touring theatre companies, jazz musicians began performing in Trunch and Swafield. Concert audiences have grown significantly.
Since 2026, Trunch Concerts series of classical music events at St.Botolphs’ Church have been organised by the team of St. Nicks Arts Centre, on behalf of the Parish of Trunch (covering Trunch, Swafield & Bradfield Churches), aiming to continually raise the high standards established over the first 30 years, exploiting the wonderful acoustic of our churches and maintaining a balance between different styles to meet the varying musical tastes of the public.
Proceeds from concerts held in St Botolph’s will continue to be donated to St Botolph’s Church restoration projects (restricted Fabric fund). Since 1998 the concerts in St Botolphs have raised in excess of £44,000 towards restoration projects with the total concert proceeds exceeding £46K.
The Church and community would like to thank the audiences, performers and those who offer other services of support for their generosity.
St Nicks Arts Centre will serve as a model of how an historic rural church can evolve into a thriving arts and community hub without losing its sacred and heritage identity. This initiative ensures that St Nicholas remains at the heart of Swafield and the local area — not only as a spiritual space, but as a beacon for creativity, learning and community spirit for generations to come.
We would like to thank the following organisations who have generously help fund our restoration journey:
