AFTER six years in its second venue, Belcombe Court in Bradford on Avon, Iford Arts’ If Opera moves to the beautiful surroundings of Church Farm, Wingfield, south of the town, for the 2025 season. This year’s festival runs from 7th to 17th August. The Clare Teal picnic prom on Sunday 10th August is now sold…
DORSET-based composer Rick Birley is celebrated in a chamber concert at St Mary’s Church, Dorchester, on Saturday 19th July, at 7.30pm. The concert will showcase some of Birley’s chamber compositions, brought to life by some of the county’s finest musicians. Leora Cohen (violin), accompanied by Duncan Honeybourne (piano), will play three of Rick’s striking works…
SHAFTESBURY Fringe, three days of every kind of entertainment imaginable, returns to the historic Dorset town from 18th to 20th July, with a programme of more than 300 events (a record number) spread around 37 venues. As director Rob Neely says, it’s all about Shaftesbury: “From its very creation, Shaftesbury Fringe has acted as a…
CERNE Abbas has long hosted one of the West Country’s most delightful music festivals, for years featuring the Gaudier Ensemble, but now scaled back to just two days, 19th and 20th July at the beautiful and historic St Mary’s Church, and nearby Ashton Farm. Still one of the musical jewels of the summer, the…
THE peripatetic Southern Cathedrals Festival comes to Salisbury this year, from Wednesday 16th to Saturday 19th July, with a programme of services and concerts that celebrate the beauty and power of choral and organ music. The annual festival brings together the choirs of Chichester, Salisbury and Winchester Cathedrals to present choral music at its finest….
THE talented Scottish violinist Colin Scobie is the July soloist with Concerts in the West, with recitals at Bridport, Ilminster and Crewkerne on Friday 11th and Saturday 12th July, playing works by Beethoven, Elgar and Schumann, accompanied by pianist Jâms Coleman. Born in Edinburgh in 1991, Scobie (pictured) is already established as one of the…
THE Shaftesbury Chamber Music Series ends its season ton Saturday 5th July with a concert at the Farrington Hall at Port Regis by the Aquinas Piano Trio. Once again series found Ruth Rogers joins Martin Cousin and Katherine Jenkinson, this time for a programme of works by Mozart, Ireland, Shostakovich and Brahms. The performance starts…
SOMETIMES known as the poor relation of the classical strings section – a bit less charismatic than the violin or the deeply emotional cello – the viola has its own poignant and beautiful sound. Spanish-Belgian musician Lorena Canto shows the versatility of the instrument in her Concerts in the West recitals with pianist Yvain Calvo,…
BIRDSONG has been an inspiration to composers and musicians for centuries, from the trills of Vivaldi’s Goldfinch Concerto to Beyonce’s cover of the Beatles’ Blackbird. Now, the Lark Music-Making Competition, launched this week in association with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, encourages today’s amateur instrumentalists to take flight with their own interpretations. Open to anyone over…
THE picturesque West Somerset village of Dunster, on the edge of Exmoor, is famous for several things, including its castle, its Yarn Market, the medieval Gallox (“Lovers”) packhorse bridge, the tithe barn and the beautiful late medieval Priory of St George. This church is the main venue for another important Dunster attraction, the music festival…