The Dean of Brecon Cathedral swapped his cassock for an umbrella and a top hat when he stepped in to conduct a jazz band at this year’s Brecon Jazz festival.
The Very Revd Geoffrey Marshall led the Adamant Marching Band through the streets of the town when their usual leader, Jim Wood, had to play the sousaphone for a colleague who had been unable to make it. The Dean dug out a grey top hat which had belonged to his grandfather-in-law and borrowed Jim’s umbrella.
Brecon Cathedral hosted nine of Brecon Jazz’s 46 concerts this year, together with the annual Jazz Service. The service was attended by nearly 800 people and half the collection – more than £800 – was donated to victims of the Pakistan flood disaster. The preacher was Canon Brendan O’Malley, retired Dean of the Chapel and a tutor at the University of Wales, Lampeter.
The concerts were attended by from 140 to 380 people each, for which the cathedral was colourfully lit inside. The Fringe also had two stages and eight stalls in the Close, which raised about £2,000 for the Choir Endowment Appeal.
