47 / 76
39
ALISON BALSOM
Superstar trumpeter
Alison Balsom is
back on Tuesday,
May 16. Not only
is she the world’s
finest trumpeter and
a serious musician, but her supermodel
good looks have meant she is the
poster girl of British classical music.
Alison will be joined by one of the UK’s
leading sopranos, Lucy Crowe, for a very
special recital at St Lawrence Church,
Hungerford.
THE SIXTEEN
Matching venue and musician is important
to the festival, none more so than with
choral group The Sixteen who will perform
in the beautiful setting of Douai Abbey on
May 12. Arguably the UK’s most popular
and important choral company, they have
gained a reputation for their excellent and
imaginative programmes. The theme this
year is Choral Pilgrimage and they will
perform works by Palestrina and Poulenc,
their singing so pure it will raise the hairs
on the back of your neck.
DUTCH SWING COLLEGE BAND
Not many groups can claim to have
recorded more than 100 albums, but
the Dutch Swing College Band have
done exactly that. Celebrating their
75th anniversary this year, the original
group started out in the cellars of The
Hague during the Nazi occupation of the
Netherlands in 1945. Now they are one
of the world’s greatest trad jazz bands,
appearing at festivals, theatres and royal
occasions all over the world. They will
perform at the Corn Exchange on May 6.
KAKATSITSI
Following their
sold-out show at
the 2013 festival,
Kakatsitsi, one of
the world’s leading
traditional African
drumming groups,
are returning to the
Corn Exchange
on Thursday, May
11. With their
infectious rhythms
and traditional
dances, Ghana’s
finest traditional
drummers, dancers and singers from
the Ga tribe perform a fascinating and
compulsive cross-section of West African
music tradition.
BOLLYWOOD BRASS BAND
Up on your feet! The London-based
Bollywood Brass Band is one of the most
exhilarating acts around. With pounding
dhol drums, trumpets and trombones, this
is the Indian-style big band sound with
six hot horns and four funky drummers,
playing great dance rhythms. Full of
colour, May 19 promises an evening you
really won’t forget.
BETTY BLUE EYES
A first for the festival
and a big hit in the
West End, on May
12 comes
Betty Blue
Eyes
, the award-
winning full-length musical based on Alan
Bennett’s comic film
A Private Function
.
Set in 1947 among the forthcoming
celebrations for the royal wedding, there’s
laughs aplenty as a small Yorkshire town
rears a pig called Betty for a banquet for
dignitaries, while the locals make do with
Spam. Full of typically English eccentric
characters, combined with an infectious
toe-tapping retro-contemporary score by
Watermill favourites George Stiles and
Anthony Drewe, this is great entertainment
for all ages.
TRAVELLING BY TUBA
The sound of the brass instrument can
always make people laugh and never more
so than when played by Travelling by Tuba.
This classical music duo, with their dungs,
kudus and digeridoos, make youngsters
dissolve into laughter with their humorous
and fun approach to classical music.
Definitely a family-friendly show that
leaves you smiling, Travelling by Tuba will
perform at the Corn Exchange on May 20.
ORCHESTRAL CONCERTS
St Nicolas’ Church is the festival’s ‘concert hall’, hosting the major orchestral concerts. On May 6, the opening night, you can hear
the finest of English choral masterpieces, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
conducted by David Parry, particularly known for his opera work, with a truly stellar cast, including one of the finest mezzo sopranos
in the world, Alice Coote, and our own Festival Chorus of superb local choralists.
On the middle Saturday, violinist Tasmin Little – regarded as one of the world’s leading violinists and international soloists, returns to
the festival to play the well-known Bruch
Violin Concerto
with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra followed by Sibelius
Symphony
No 5,
and the closing night sees the marvellous Moscow State Symphony Orchestra with a concert of popular Russian Music,
including the much-loved Tchaikovsky
Piano Concerto No 1.