OPERA lovers in South Somerset are in for a treat on Thursday 11th July when Welsh National Opera brings Donizetti’s Don Pasquale to Yeovil’s Octagon Theatre. A comic opera with wonderful music, Don Pasquale is staged with a new and updated libretto by Daisy Evans, who has also directed this small-scale touring production, with an…
SINGER Marta Fontanals-Simmons takes a break from preparations for her Glyndebourne debut to return home to Castle Cary on Friday 24th May. It’s a busy year for the Somerset born mezzo, who is singing in Faust at the Royal Opera House until 5th May, and will be taking part in Bath Festival’s Song Play concerts…
BOURNEMOUTH Symphony Orchestra has joined up with Allianz Musical Insurance to search for a Young Composer-in-Association, and you have until Friday 10th May to apply. The competition is open to UK- based composers aged between 18 and 30. The winner will have the opportunity to develop her or his compositional technique and experience in a…
LAST year’s Tri.Art production of In the Heights at Frome’s Merlin Theatre has won the David Beach award as the best youth show in the Somerset Drama David Beach Competition. The memorable and hugely enjoyable show (see www.theftr.co.uk/ in-the-heights-tri-art-theatre-summer-school-at-frome-merlin), is an early work by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, and incorporates his hip-hop lyrics and catchy…
AFTERMATH, the final play in the State of Play documentary theatre trilogy, had its premiere in Wimborne on 22nd March Sub-titled “in the wake of War”, the performance followed the impact of the Great War on people living in East Dorset, and was commissioned by the Priest’s House Museum. Based on letters, diaries, photographs and…
THE versatile Dorset-based ImpAct theatre will be working with the Bournemouth Borough Council Think Bike! campaign to stage Tamara von Werthern’s play The White Bike over four nights in the coming month. The performances, on 16th 17th and 30th April and 1st May, will be the amateur premiere of the work, and the company is…
A COMMUNITY group, which has revived a Victorian town hall as a community arts centre, has been selected as a finalist, in line to win up to £50,000 National Lottery funding, in this year’s People’s Projects. Town Hall Arts, which is based in Trowbridge, provides opportunities for people of all backgrounds to be inspired by…
FIVE alumni of the Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists’ Programme are coming to Dorset to give a concert for Dorset Opera Festival, at Wimborne Minster on Thursday 4th April. The Jetta Parker Young Artists’ Programme is designed to support the artistic development of talented singers from across the globe at the beginning of their…
SUMMER is still a long way off, but the organisers of Frome’s annual festival have their sights set on this year’s event, from Friday 5th to Sunday 14th July, which will include a celebration of a Frome institution known to many who grew up in the town. This year marks the 200th anniversary of the…
RURAL touring schemes bring a wide variety of performances to village halls, often in areas where residents would never otherwise see live theatre or enjoy world music. In Devon, the scheme is run by Villages in Action which has a typically varied programme for the spring. Theatre, circus, storytelling, laughter, puppetry, film and music from…