Val Hopkins
Jazz Promoter

Originally written for Just Jazz by Pat O'Beirne

Val Hopkins has been promoting her extremely successful Jazz-by-the-Lake in Ambleside for three years.

She became involved almost purely by chance, through a meeting with John Minnion, at the Keswick Jazz Festival where she requested that there should be more jazz taking place in the Lake District throughout the year. John said that it wasn't for him but why didn't she try promoting something as she knew about and lived in the area.

Thinking about this for some time, it was while enjoying a Christmas meal at the Ambleside Salutation Hotel that she was inspired to think that it would be an ideal jazz venue. Discussions with John followed, and from his experience he came up with facts and figures to encourage jazz at the Salutation, which were presented to the owners.

They were not interested!

Disappointed yet undaunted Val decided that she was prepared to take a personal financial risk if a venue could be found. Eventually the Waterhead Hotel, alongside Lake Windermere, was chosen and negations went ahead. Autumn 2000 was an immediate sell-out from only one advertisement in the Jazz Guide. Eighty people delighted in the music of The Simon Banks Trio with Frank Brooker, The Savannah Jazz Band, The Harlem Hot Stompers and Mart Rodger Manchester Jazz.
Jazz-by-the-Lake was born! It was a roaring success and continued there the following autumn.

Circumstances then allowed it to transfer into the larger venue of the Ambleside Salutation Hotel, and a twice yearly pattern, to capacity audiences, has developed there, taking place in March and September.

Val believes in maintaining quality and places importance on the satisfaction of clients both with the programme and the accommodation.

Good musicians who play traditional music that has something to say to you, and who play from the heart, are her criteria. She has not invited a band she does not like and she does respond to feed back.

Dancing and music have always been a love of hers, as has the importance of the therapy of music and its social aspects. She loves what she is doing. It has been an ambitious task, but her experience as a primary school headmistress and a nursery nurse course tutor have stood her in good stead with regard to the organisation of Jazz-by-the-Lake. And she can still find time to be a special needs assessor for the area Dyslexia Centre.

Though Val has 'gone it alone' she values her liaison with John Minnion and the support of her husband and two sons.
At the recent jazz weekend The Zenith Hot Stompers entertained us with Good-time jazz, The Shine Trio delighted and amazed us with some beautifully sensitive playing and superb interaction between their instruments. Wonderfully exhilarating sessions by Maddox-Huxley Reeds United had the audience entranced by the gorgeous cascade of sounds pouring from the two clarinets in particular. And a satisfying programme of solid traditional jazz and gospel from The Savannah Jazz Band concluded the weekend.

Pat O'Beirne         

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