NEWS PAGE

See the Home page for the very latest events and items.

31st May 2008
NEW CONCERT TOUR PLANS FOLLOW LAST CONCERT IN THE 2007-8 IN CONCERT TOUR THAT WENT TO THE SEASIDE.

The last concert in the current series took place in Clacton on 17th May. John and Aquila record their new album at Brentwood Cathedral in August after which we will produce a new concert tour for 2008-2010.  If your church or venue would like to be included in that tour, please e-mail clive@johnglynn.org.uk as soon as you can with up to 3 dates you'd like us to come.  We will then send you arrangement details to help you decide if you want to go ahead.  Please feel free to approach any previous venues you've seen us perform at for references.

3rd May 2008
Packed house at Walsingham

John Glynn and Aquila attracted nearly 100 into the audience at the Church of the Annunciation (pictured left) at Little Walsingham, Norfolk, (UK) last Sunday evening.  This was the latest step in their In Concert Tour.  Both parishioners and pilgrims flocked into the church for the evening's entertainment.

Father Noel Winn, the Director of the Roman Catholic National Shrine at Walsingham, praised father John for his musical mission and the candid way he laced his introductions with episodes form his spiritual and life journey.
An interval collection raised over £400 for the Walsingham New Church Fund.  That church was built in 2006 on the site if its predecessor in Friday Market Place.  The audience called for an encore after the last song, I Watch the Sunrise, and many walked away with copies of John Glynn and Aquila CDs and Songbooks.
Click here and visit the Walsingham website...
 

7th February 2008
Website passes 1000 visits mark

Over 1000 visits have been made to the johnglynn.org website from all over the world.  CDs have been despatched to all corners of the World, including the USA, Canada and Australia.

28th January 2008
John Glynn and Aquila Springfield Concert Success in Essex

Singer-songwriter, John Glynn & Aquila scored notable success at St Augustine of Canterbury Church, Springfield on Sunday 27th January 2008.  Extra seats had to be brought in to accommodate the enthuisatic audience.  An interval collection raised £316 for Springfield's twin parishes in South Africa and Uganda and £46, representing 10% of Aquila Concert Shop sales at the venue, was raised for CAFOD, the Catholic aid agency.

10th December 2007
Christmas Concert at Wanstead, East London

Exactly one year after their first successful concert at Wickford, John Glynn and Aquila  appeared live at the Parish Centre in Wanstead, east of London, on Sunday 9th December.

They performed songs form both the May The Lord Bless You and Open The Door albums.   Future concerts include Springfield in Chelmsford in January and Walsingham, Norfolk in April.  Discussions are also taking place with possible concert organisers as far afield as Plymouth and Middlesbrough.

23rd November 2007
FATHER JOHN'S MISSION TO SOUTH AFRICA A HUGE SUCCESS

Father John and 9 parishioners from Wickford were in South Africa for 16 days in late October.  The main purpose of their visit was to share the Feast Day of St Teresa of Avila at their twin parish in Mpumalanga Provice: Volksrust. Wickford parishioners raised £16,000 GBP to assist their mainly Zulu twin parish based in the town and surrounding townships and villages of Volksrust the Mission also travelled to the cathedral at Dundee in KwaZulu Natal, the Spiritan House at Bethlehem in the Free State, as well as Durban and St Lucia.  The Mission was self financed and all monies collected went directly to South Africa.  Even bank transfer charges were avoided.  

12th August 2007
NEW CONCERTS AND ALBUM PLANS FOR 2008

The Aquila Music Trust met on 27th July and have revealed ambitious plans for the coming year.
A series of concerts at parishes in London, Essex and Norfolk are in the planning stages for performances between Advent 2007 and Easter 2008.   The concerts are free to parishes and their audiences.   The concerts feature music form Open The Door and May the Lord Bless You albums.   10% of all sales of CD's and songbooks goes to CAFOD and each parish can hold an interval collection for their parish projects of a charity of their choice.   The Fareham and Portchester Parish in Hampshire, UK, held a collection for their parish's Musical Mission, raising over £60 GBP ($120 USD).   The Wickford Parish in Essex, UK, raised £200 GBP ($400 USD) for the Catholic Children's Society (Brentwood Diocese). Any other parish wishing to hold a concert should e-mail email@johnglynn.org.uk to set the ball rolling.
WORKING TITLE - "WATCH THE SUNRISE"

Plans are in place for a new album for John Glynn & Aquila for recording in the summer of 2008.   Father John has a host of material he has written over the years that has yet to be recorded.

24th June 2007
FATHER JOHN LEADS BELFAST RETREAT

John Glynn flies out from London Stansted Airport today, to the Province of Northern Ireland.   The Bishop of Down & Connor invited Father John to lead a retreat for some 27 Catholic Priests and 3 Bishops from Belfast and surrounding areas during the course of this week.   Many of these priests had ministered to their parishes during the bombings and killlings that blighted the province for over thirty years, known as "The Troubles".   Fr John will lead them through four days of prayer and reflection, and no doubt the occasional song.

Catholics and Protestants had been divided in the area for centuries. When the Republic of Ireland was granted independence from Britain early in the 20th Century, the six counties of Ulster were kept by the UK at the behest of the majority Protestant population.   Most Protestants were Unionists by politics and most Catholics were Republicans.   A political settlement was reached in 2007 whereby a Protestant Unionist was appointed First Minister of Northern Ireland and a Catholic Republican his Deputy.   There is a great hunger for peace and tranquillity in Northern Ireland that led to the British and Irish Prime Ministers working hard to achieve peace in recent years..

24th June 2007
LIVE CONCERT SUCCESS AT FAREHAM

John Glynn & Aquila performed at the Catholic Church in Fareham, on 13th May 2007 John Glynn and Aquila appeared in concert at Fareham in the English county of Hampshire. Mandy Harman, Charlotte Canale, Jim & Fran McEvoy with Christine & Clive Thomas joined Father John and sang SONGS FROM "OPEN THE DOOR" & "MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU". Nearly 100 parishioners arrived after Sunday evening mass, to enjoy the music and sing along with the choruses they knew. Between each song, John Glynn told the story of his songs and the path of his song writing mission. An interval collection raised funds for Fareham Parish music events and audience members bought over 50 CDs and song books.

John Glynn & Aquila photographs © Clive Thomas 2006. Top left - Fran and Jim McEvoy; top right -Father John; bottom left -Charlotte Canale; bottom right-Mandy Harman.

11th May 2007
JOHN GLYNN PERFORMS DUC IN ALTUM AT BRENTWOOD CATHEDRAL EVENT

The closing hymn at the Brentwood Diocesan Pastoral Council Plenary meeting on Saturday 12th May, will be Duc In Altum. It will be performed by its composer, John Glynn, in duet with Brentwood Ursuline scool student, Sian Thomas, accompanied by Aquila's Christine Thomas. John Glynn and Aquila travel to Fareham the following day for a concert of songs from Open The Door and May The Lord Bless You.

14th January 2007
JOHN GLYNN ON BBC ESSEX

Father John reviewed the Sunday newspapers on this morning's edition of Sunday Breakfast on BBC Essex. The programme also featured an interview about his new album, OPEN THE DOOR, and the BBC station for the county of Essex played SOFTLY SLEEPING, a track from the album sung by Fran McEvoy.

2nd January 2007
JOHN GLYNN'S YOUNGEST FAN

Three-year-old Dominic Kwan (of Father John's Parish) was travelling in the car with his parents and older twin sisters when he suddenly yelled at his mother (who was driving): Open the door!"  Startled, and afraid he was going to jump out, his mother stopped the car to find him pointing, not at the door, but at the CD player. "Open the door! Open the door!"  Only when the CD Open the door was playing did he settle down.  Such fine musical taste at such young age!

9th December 2006
John Glynn & Aquila Concert Collection reaches £210 for Catholic Children's Society (Brentwood)

John Glynn and Aquila sang SONGS FROM "OPEN THE DOOR" & "MAY THE LORD BLESS YOU" on Saturday 9th December 2006 7.30 pm at Our Lady of Good Counsel, London Road, Wickford, in Essex, Father John's Parish Church. ADMISSION WAS FREE, THERE WERE FREE REFRESHMENTS AND A COLLECTION FOR BRENTWOOD CATHOLIC CHIDREN'S SOCIETY, WHICH RAISED £210. MANY IN THE AUDIENCE BOUGHT CD'S AFTER THE CONCERT.

14TH APRIL 2006
I WATCH THE SUNRISE DOCUMENTARY ON BBC ESSEX, GOOD FRIDAY

CHRIS BARD'S RADIO DOCUMENTARY ON FATHER JOHN'S MOST FAMOUS SONG, "I WATCH THE SUNRISE" was on BBC Essex on Good Friday at 6pm and featured Father John, Daniel O'Donnell, Eileen Greaves of the Sacred Heart Choir [Southend] from the 1960s, Joan McCrimmon, Kevin Mayhew, and the Brentwood Diocese's Director of Music, Andrew Wright. BBC Essex will put the programme on www.bbc.co.uk/essex in due course. A full description of the story behind the song will appear on a new web page here at johnglynn.org in the near future.

13TH APRIL 2006
FATHER JOHN LIVE ON BBC LONDON TV NEWS

Following his controversial statement, at a protest meeting, on Saturday that "if there is an eviction [of the travellers] at Dale Farm you can be assured i will be there waving my 'this is ethnic cleansing' banner' ", Father John Glynn appeared live on BBC TV London news last night. His statement was condemned by Wickford councillor and Basildon council leader, Malcolm Buckley. Earlier in the day, travellers from the Hovefields site in Wickford won the backing of a court decision that they could not be evicted until they had exhausted all the appeals they were entitled to make legally.

12TH JANUARY 2006
PAYPAL ONLINE PAYMENTS FOR CD's & SONGBOOKS PROVING POPULAR

Orders continue to flow into johnglynn.org on a daily basis following the introduction of payment via paypal. Customers as far apart as Norfolk, Cardiff and the Isle of Wight have placed orders online and submitted their e-mail addresses to arrange payment. An electronic invoice was then sent back to each customer with the facility to pay by credit or debit card. New customers can just click on cd order form on the welcome page menu and fill in the details of their order!

14TH DECEMBER 2005
CD RELEASE HITS THE HEADLINES

A full page article on father John Glynn's CD release appeared on page 3 of yesterday's issue of the Basildon Evening Echo. Under the headline "move over Mr O'Donnell here comes Father John", Kate McGrath wrote : "it isn't unusual to meet a singing priest. But when you discover your friendly father has sold more than 4,500 albums the tale becomes a little more unusual...he started writing songs in college 35 years ago...'to my surprise the song [i watch the sunrise caught on'... Daniel O'Donnel has used it on an album." in fact, when Daniel performed the song at the Brentwood centre as part of a nationwide tour, he introduced Father John to the audience to receive a deserved ovation. The new cd has also been mentioned on BBC Essex and featured in a recent issue of the Universe.