CONCERTS in the West, the musical charity which promotes rising stars of the chamber music world, celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025. The first concert series of the year, on 14th and 15th February, brings the period instrument quartet Ensemble Hesperi to Bridport Arts Centre, Ilminster Arts Centre and the Dancehouse at Crewkerne. Ensemble Hesperi,…
IF you think a chamber ensemble is all about serious string quartets, solemn musicians in evening dress playing beautiful but often quite austere music, you haven’t met Bowjangles. This is the quartet that puts the swing into strings. They are back in Dorset, at Litton Cheney community hall on Thursday 23rd January, Lytchett Matravers hall…
THE music of the baroque is some of the most engaging, moving and enjoyable of any classical music era. Shaftesbury Arts Centre celebrates this colourful musical genre at a festival which runs from Wednesday 22nd to Sunday 26th January, with a programme of recitals, talks and film. What and who do you think of when…
THE internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble Windborne travels from New England to Dorset in January, making a welcome return to the Artsreach circuit with To Warm The Winter Hearth, showcasing the singers’ powerful and innovative vocal harmonies. The four singers come to Blandford parish church on Friday 17th January, and Yetminster’s Jubilee Hall on Wednesday 22nd,…
SASHA Regan’s award-winning, hilarious, all-male production of ©Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance, comes to Bath Theatre Royal from Monday 2nd to Saturday 7th December, direct from a four-week run at Wilton’s Music Hall in London. This original staging has now been winning awards – and fans – around the world for…
ON Friday 22nd November composer Jenny Bliss will be at Wells Cathedral with a programme of baroque and contemporary works for St Cecilia’s Day. Her new compositions, Let there be light and O Cecilia, will be performed by some of the best known players on the baroque music scene, including Joanna Lawrence from the Orchestra of…
THE Armonico Consort and actor Julian Glover come to Westlands entertainments centre on Monday 11th November, the anniversary of the day that the guns fell silent in 1918. They Shall Grow Not Old, which begins at 7.30pm, is an inspiring and moving commemoration in music and words. The critically-acclaimed choir will perform poignant and much-loved…
A CHAMBER group of musician friends, who got together in a spirit of adventure to bring music to new audiences, come to Dorset and Somerset for the November series of Concerts in the West. The Berkeley Ensemble will be at Bridport Arts Centre on Friday 15th for the usual coffee concert, at 11.30am, and Ilminster…
BRIDPORT Lyric Theatre hosts a multi-arts event celebrating women’s lives, Hersong III, on Sunday 20th October from 6pm. Performers and artists living and working in the Bridport will be taking part in this show which celebrates women’s stories of their lived experiences about love, labour and loss, through spoken word, song, movement and theatre. Expect…
SOPRANO Hilary Cronin comes Dorset and Somerset for the October series of Concerts in the West on 4th and 5th October. Hilary, who was selected by BBC Music Magazine as a Rising Star of 2022, having won both first prize and the audience award at the 2021 Handel Singing Competition, is accompanied by Asako Ozawa….