IFORD Opera – now If Opera – celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, from 6th to 16th August, returning for a second year to Church Farm, Wingfield, near Bradford-on-Avon, with a programme which combines wit, tragic drama, Viennese sparkle, baroque boozing and the golden age of jazz and swing. The opening night, Thursday 6th August,…
RENOWNED folk singer, cellist and viola player, a founder member of folk big band Bellowhead, Rachael McShane brings her own band, The Cartographers, to Dorset for three dates, 18th and 19th July and 23rd August, at Studland, Marnhull and Buckland Newton village halls. Hailing from the north east of England, McShane rose to prominence with…
WHITCOMBE Manor hosts the annual Dorchester Arts summer party with music, on Sunday 19th July from 1pm, with star performer Liza Pulman providing the entertainment. The beautiful 300-year old manor is the home of best-selling crime and historical novelist Minette Walters, and her husband Alec. Liza Pulman returns to Dorset after a sold out appearance…
BRIDPORT’s Art Deco theatre, the Electric Palace, is a stylish setting for a Jazz Jurassica event on Saturday 18th July at 3pm, celebrating Blue Note and the history of jazz. The Sound of Blue Note — the band — takes its name from a sound that shaped jazz history. It’s a sound that jazz buffs…
FROME celebrates the 25th anniversary of its multi-arts festival this year – and the festival opens on 3rd July, just two days after the funeral of Martin Bax, the actor, former town and district councillor and mayor, who became one of Frome’s most loved and valued citizens. A former actor with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Martin…
BEST-selling novelist, playwright and scriptwriter Chris Chibnall is one of the big draws at this year’s 29th Beaminster Festival. One of Dorset’s prettiest towns has an eclectic and stimulating programme, from 27th June to 5th July, including Chris Chibnall, superstar folk duo Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman, actress and singer Lucy Stevens as the great…
HISTORIC performance duo GreenMatthews are touring arts venues with their new show, Midsummer Revels, with local dates at the Museum of Rural Life at Glastonbury on 17th June and the Corn Exchange at Dorchester on Sunday 21st June. Chris Green and Sophie Matthews are modern-day balladeers, specialising in telling stories through song, and playing a…
SINGER-songwriter Sarah McQuaid is touring again, featuring songs from the new album which she will be recording at the studio at her home in the far west of Cornwall. She will be at Torquay’s Fougou Music venue on 2nd July. “Settle down, and I’ll try to make a soothing sound,” Sarah McQuaid sings on the…
FOR nearly 50 years, the Tannahill Weavers have brought the traditional music of their native Scotland to audiences all over the world. On the eve of releasing their 20th album, the Tannies come to Dorchester Arts at the Corn Exchange on Saturday 16th May. When they appeared at Glasgow’s famous Celtic Connections festival, a presenter…
BATH’s Party in the City, the opening night of the flour weeks of Bath Festivals, on Friday 15th May from 5pm, is the biggest free multi-venue event in the south west, attracting thousands of music lovers to enjoy live music in 50 venues, including the city’s leading music venues, as well as pubs, clubs, churches,…