THE Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra begins March with a series of unashamedly popular concerts, conducted by Pete Harrison, featuring the music of John Williams and Hans Zimmer, two titans of film composition. The final concert in the series is on Saturday 9th March at Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre. The programme features music from the soundtracks of some…
DORCHESTER’s St Mary’s Church will be the handsome setting for a concert showcasing the work of three living Dorset composers who are also accomplished musicians – Rick Birley, Geof Edge and Tamara Konstantin – on Saturday 24th February at 7.30pm. Over more than 30 years, Rick Birley has composed a large body of work which…
A LECTURE-concert exploring the work of neglected women composers will help to raise funds for the restoration of the 15th century Bubwith Chapel at Wells’s Almshouses. Soprano and harpsichordist Sara Stowe will give the talk at the chapel on Tuesday 27th February. An exceptionally versatile musician, Stowe’s repertoire ranges from medieval song through the baroque…
ONE of Handel’s most popular operas, Semele, is the winter choice for Bath Opera, and the first opera by Handel in the company’s 25 years of performing fully-staged operas. It will be at Bath’s Roper Theatre from Thursday 15th to Saturday 17th February at 7.30pm. This raunchy story of adultery among the Greek (or Roman)…
BRUTON’s St Mary’s church is the elegant and historic setting for a concert on Sunday 18th February at 3pm. Workings in Tapestry brings the family duo Faelan and Clare Sydenham back to Bruton, with a programme that explores the power of the recorder and harpsichord in the Renaissance and Baroque eras, and the way these…
TWO outstanding musicians, whose repertoires span the classical and folk worlds, harpist Catrin Finch and violinist Aoife Ni Bhriain come to the Marine Theatre at Lyme Regis on Friday 16th February. The partnership of these two great musicians, the world-renowned Welsh harpist and one of Ireland’s foremost traditional fiddle players who is also a classical…
THE 2024 series of Concerts in the West opens on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th February with three concerts with the Perks Ensemble – Oscar, violin, and Elliott, viola, Perks and Alexander Ullman, piano, who have been part of Concerts in the West in previous years and this year are joined for the first time…
BOURNEMOUTH Symphony’s February programme is a rich combination of classical favourites, rarities and masterpieces, with some of the world’s great soloists joining the orchestra. All the concerts featured here are at Poole’s Lighthouse arts centre, but many also have performances at other regular venues – Bristol’s newly refurbished and reopened Beacon (formerly the Colston Hall),…
ONE of Gilbert and Sullivan’s best-loved operas, HMS Pinafore, sails into Bath next week, from Wednesday 24th to Saturday 27th January when the always-inventive Opera della Luna makes its Theatre Royal debut as part of its 30th anniversary tour, with its much-praised production of the show that gave the world “the Monarch of the Sea…
SHAFTESBURY has a new festival, celebrating the baroque, specifically the glorious music of the 17th and 18th centuries. There are concerts, talks and a screening of a film about one of the greatest stars of the period, from 23rd to 28th January, with most events are at Shaftesbury Arts Centre. The festival – the latest…