Thursday 1st October 2026
Our next ‘first Thursday’ gathering will include a short recital by Tim Emmerton, celebrating 80 years of the Manchester Guitar Circle.
We don’t know the exact date of the inaugural meeting, but October 2026 marks 80 years since the first report of the MGC as a recently launched club appeared in BMG magazine.
The main feature of Tim’s programme will be the premiere of ‘From Here to There’ by Helen Walker, commissioned by the MGC and dedicated to our co-founders, Terry Usher and Jack Duarte.
Also included will be two movements from a baroque pastiche composed by Terry, published by Clifford Essex shortly before the MGC’s launch, and a well-known folksong arrangement by Jack.
Here’s the full programme…
Prelude & Sarabande (from ‘Suite in the Manner of the XVII Century’) – Terry Usher
O, Dark, Sweetest Girl – Irish Traditional, arr. Jack Duarte
From Here to There (first performance) – Helen Walker
The ‘Sarabande’ Tim plays will be an unpublished extended version from the MGC archive.
Doors open from 8.00pm at our usual venue…
United Services Club, 30 Southern Road, Sale M33 6HQ
Visitors welcome (£2.00 on the door)
Tim will be playing before the break, around 9.00pm.
The first copies of ‘From Here to There’ just arrived from the printers and will be on sale on the night, with Helen there to sign them.
We look forward to welcoming friends old and new for this celebration of the MGC’s past and its future.