Jesmond residents can look forward to a seasonal treat as the Tyneside Mandolin Orchestra hosts a lunchtime concert of folk, jazz and festive tunes at St. Hilda’s Church on Monday 16 December.

Based in Jesmond, the Tyneside Mandolin Orchestra regularly performs at local venues. Founded 10 years ago, the orchestra was created by Tom Cronin to revive the sound of early 20th-century mandolin groups. He told JesmondLocal that the group aims to provide a welcoming musical space, particularly for retired people, in order to address loneliness and isolation, which can cause significant health problems for some older people.

The group currently has around 35 members, playing a variety of instruments, including mandolins, mandolas, mando-cellos, guitars and a mandolin bass. They meet weekly on Monday mornings at St. George’s Church Hall in Jesmond.

Cronin said he has plans to launch a beginner mandolin course in the new year, with the aim of encouraging more people to get involved. While “some experience playing a fretted instrument is ideal” Cronin said that “new members are always welcome”, making the course an opportunity for anyone to join the musical community.

The orchestra attracted attention on social media earlier this year with its creative Metro-themed performance at Jesmond station when commuters were treated to a unique reworking of country song “I’ve Been Everywhere” that mentioned all 60 stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro.

The Metro-themed version took listeners on a musical journey across the familiar Metro map, from South Hylton to Airport on the green line, and from South Shields to St James on the yellow line. The American cities in the original version were replaced with local stops including Seaburn, Wallsend and West Jesmond. 

Orchestra member Tom Archbold

Performing at the Jesmond Metro Station was “a highlight” and “hopefully brightened the start of the week for a few confused commuters”.

As musical director of the orchestra, Cronin came up with the idea to celebrate the local transport system. “There’s no better place to do it. A song about the metro in the metro station. “We’re delighted that Nexus liked the song and that they asked us to perform it live for their customers at Jesmond Metro station,” he added.

Although the orchestra had been performing the piece for some time, this was its first opportunity to play it on the Metro network. “It was great,” said orchestra member Tom Archbold. “It’s a joy when we play it. It’s a good place to play and get us out to the public.”

Nexus captured the performance and uploaded a recording to its YouTube channel (watch it below). “The way that they have crammed in all 60 stations into the lyrics is just really clever, really playful,” said a Nexus spokesperson. “We love it. The reworked lyrics of this famous song perfectly demonstrate how Metro is at the heart of the communities it serves and is firmly part of everyday life in north east England.”

For more information about the orchestra or next week’s concert, email Tom Cronin at cronin.tom@gmail.com