THE LEAMINGTON Music Festival marks a musical birth and a musical death.
The festival will commemorate 150 years since Maurice Ravel’s birth and 50 years since Arthur Bliss’s death, and explores where the worlds of the two composers meet – the composers and musicians they worked with, learned from, and influenced, form a fascinating web from which to draw inspiration.
There will be nine events in the Pump Rooms and two in nearby All Saints Church during the flagship festival over the bank holiday weekend from May 2 to 5.
The festival is launched on May 2 by Trio Shaham-Erez-Wallfisch playing Ben-Haim, Shostakovich and Ravel, and ends on May 5 with the Sacconi String Quartet and pianist Simon Callaghan with a programme of Ravel, Bliss and Franck.
Inbetween there will late-night jazz from the Dominic Alldis Trio exploring the meeting of classical and jazz, and a piano recital from Mark Bebbington featuring music by Bliss, Ravel and Poulenc.
The Sinfonia of Birmingham and CBSO associate conductor, Michael Seal, return to town playing Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite and Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique Op. 14.
They also bring with them harpist Alida Fabris and CBSO flautist Helen Benson to play Mozart’s Flute & Harp Concerto.
International baritone Roderick Williams and pianist Andrew West present their new programme, A Taste of Exotic, featuring songs by eight composers inspired by distant lands.
The Carducci String Quartet and clarinettist Emma Johnson playing works by Puccini, Bliss, Mozart and by Johnson herself.
The annual bank holiday organ recital will be given by Royal Birmingham Conservatoire student organist Elli-Mae McGlone, who has chosen a wide-ranging programme of music by Bach, Leighton, Durufle and Widor.
The festival will also see the launch of Leamington Music’s new Young Artist Spotlight concerts and features Turkish violinist Deniz Sensoy and Italian pianist Alessio Enea with music from Debussy, Stravinsky, Amy Beach and Franck.
And a new exhibition, Musical Colours, from Artist-in-Residence Jane Williams, will be on display throughout the weekend.
Visit www.leamingtonmusic.org for full details.
