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…
WHEN Opera della Luna stages one of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operas, you know you are in for a great evening. So welcome back to Jeff Clarke’s company at Bath Theatre Royal, from Tuesday 13th to Saturday 17th May, with The Mikado, probably the best loved of all the Savoy Operas. This hilarious tale of…
ONE of the world’s greatest cabaret singers and a brilliant song arranger, Barb Jungr comes to Taunton Brewhouse on Thursday 8th May, and Bridport’s Electric Palace on Saturday 10th, with Hallelujah on Desolation Row, a celebration of the songs of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. This show features her best and award-winning interpretations of songs…
A TRIO of harp, viola and flute players, who met at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama nearly 20 years ago, come to Dorset and Somerset on Friday 9th and Saturday 10th May, for a series with Concerts in the West, at Bridport, Ilminster and Crewkerne. Trio Anima are Rosalind Ventris, viola, Anneke Hodnett,…