About Ian Cresswell, Cherry van Kranen and the Martinborough Music Festival
Larger than life, energetic, persistent, exasperating, kind, caring, incorrigible, urbane, affable and more. This was Ian Cresswell.
Kind and caring; in the weeks before he died, Ian was at Masterton District Court to support young offenders. He organised a fourth benefit concert for Aziel Verner whom he felt sure had a promising future as a concert violinist. There are many other examples of Ian’s support, and creation of opportunities for youth to succeed.
Ian could get himself into trouble too. He loved parties. Ian’s 80th birthday was a HUGE affair. Anyone Ian could invite he did invite. When Dinee turned 80, a surprise party seemed the perfect gift. Ian invited lots of guests. When Dinee got wind of it she told Ian she did not want a big party. Ian had to “uninvite” the people he had asked much to the amusement of people in the know – that was Crez.
A passionate advocate for the restoration of the Martinborough Town Hall, Ian had ideas for how he could increase its usage once the renovations were completed. Some years ago when heading up the Martinborough Town Hall Committee, he shared with the writer an idea based on music festivals; Ian did not think small. For a start, he had three in mind – jazz, classical music and rock.
The first, Jazz In Martinborough, is now well established on the annual Martinborough events calendar. The second, a classical music festival, Martinborough Music Festival will be launched at the end of September. The third, a rock festival, needs to have a champion. Ian had thought that once all three were established there could be a combined month- long festival of different musical activities – something for everyone. Then there could be drama and poetry festivals, film festivals… … Continue Reading
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