Photographs courtesy of David Hogg of Horizon Imaging, © 2020

It was a liberating experience. On Saturday 4 July, the first day of freedom from lockdown, Summer at Breinton: Fabulous Strings with the Lomeiko Zhislin Duo was potentially the very first live, public concert with an audience for over 100 days.

The first time for the musicians to perform to real people. The first time for us to hear live music. For many, the first time to be with people from other households, albeit outdoors and staying two meters apart. The first time to feel the unusual ‘normal’ again. The first time for one of our friends, who has been in complete isolation shielding her child in the most vulnerable category, to step out of the house.

There have been a lot of opportunities to view some splendid virtual streams on almost every day by truly talented and enthusiastic musicians. However, this outdoor recital was special - there is nothing like a live performance, played directly for an audience. We feel it was a tiny step towards the normality we all desire.

We would like to thank Natalia and Yuri for being the very first musicians for Summer at Breinton series, for their braveness and brilliance, and for accepting this recital with a very short notice.

We would also like to thank Imaan, Jamaal and Laura, who also gave wonderful performances to give us joy and lift our spirit.

And thank you for our brave guests for helping us to put on this event and for celebrating the return of music to Breinton.

The audio from this video is "Haendel/Halvorsen: Passacaglia for violin and viola" performed by Natalia Lomeiko and Yuri Zhislin.

Our thanks go to David Hogg of Horizon Imaging for this video of the recital.

The following video is an excerpt from the Woking Borough Council meeting on 30 July where the Mayor of Woking, Cllr Beryl Hunwicks, talks about her visit to Breinton to attend this recital.