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OVERTURE
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THE NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS AND SUPPORTERS O F B U X T O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L F E S T I VA L
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DEAR FRIENDS MESSAGE FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR, ADRIAN KELLY Spring is in the air in Buxton. Emerging from the colder months always boosts our collective energy, but I can’t help feeling that this year there is a little more optimism and a real sense of purpose.
Adrian Kelly conducting Viva la Diva in Salzburg, 2019
After two difficult years, the Festival team is gearing up for what promises to be an exciting summer.
At the heart of the Festival summer are two operas by Italian romantic composers. This repertoire has been a feature of the Festival since its inception over forty years ago. The acoustics and the scale of the Buxton Opera House seem perfectly suited to the bel canto style which places the performers and their performing prowess at the centre of proceedings. In 2021 we began a new collaboration with Paul Kerryson and Buxton Opera House with A Little Night Music. We are delighted that we will follow on from this in 2022 with the musical Gypsy.
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Jamal Aliyev
also join forces with the Northern Chamber Orchestra for performances of our oratorio for young people, Our Future in Your Hands. We live in turbulent times, but for the younger generation climate change is a burning issue. Kate Whitley’s score captures this spirit of urgency with compelling authenticity. Another important element in this year’s Festival is jazz. Neil Hughes has assembled an extraordinary line up of talent, and I feel sure that jazz lovers from near and far will be keen to explore.
The hiatus in the performing arts which occurred as a result of Jess Gillam the pandemic has been particularly difficult for emerging talents. For this reason, I am very happy that the music programme this year features some exceptional young performers. Pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, soprano Louise Alder, cellist Jamal Aliyev and saxophone sensation Jess Gillam will all be performing in Buxton, are already among the leading artists of their generation, and all of them unquestionably have distinguished international careers ahead of them.
As for the Book Festival, Vicky Dawson continues to attract a huge variety of distinguished Louise Alder authors to appear at the Festival. When I look at the programme, I am struck by the sheer variety on offer, sometimes in the course of a single day. For any of you who were unable to make it to Buxton last year, I sincerely hope that we will get the pleasure of your company this July – you won’t want to miss it.
As always we are joined by young singers from the Royal Northern College of Music who will join the chorus for the operas, but this year we are particularly happy to be launching our Young Instrumentalists Programme. RNCM musicians will play the stage music in La donna del lago and will
Cover image of George Humphreys as Agatha in the Salzburg production of Donizetti’s Viva la Diva (originally titled Le convenienze e le inconvenienze teatrali)
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A CRIME AGAINST PEACE ANNOUNCING A NEW EVENT IN SUPPORT OF THE DEC’S UKRAINE HUMANITARIAN APPEAL.
Inna Husieva Ukraine. Before entering politics he served as a Territorial Army officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, and, as a civilian, helped set up the government in Helmand Province and later served as a military assistant to the Chief of the Defence Staff. Oliver Bullough In response to the catastrophe faced by Ukraine’s people, Buxton International Festival has added a special fundraising event to its summer programme. ‘A Crime Against Peace’ will be held on Friday 15 July at midday in Buxton Opera House when Tom Tugendhat MP and author Oliver Bullough join writer Julian Glover to debate the challenges surrounding the UK’s response to Russia’s brutal attack on Ukraine.
Tom Tugendhat
The event will be held in support of the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. To add that little extra as only BIF can do, the event ends with three songs from Ukrainian soprano, Inna Husieva. £5 from each £15 ticket sold will be given to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and tickets are on sale now.
As Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat is prominent in challenging the government from within Parliament on the UK’s response to the war in
Oliver Bullough writes regularly for the Guardian and New York Times, and is the author of the prescient new book Butler to the World – How Britain has Become the Servant to Tycoons, Tax Dodgers, Kleptocrats and Criminals. Soprano Inna Husieva was born in Donetsk, Ukraine. She completed her Julian Glover master’s degree at the Pyotr Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine under the tutelage of Professor Evdokia Kolesnik. Since 2017 Inna Husieva has been working with the Open Opera Ukraine, specialising in the performance of baroque repertoire. Inna is a 2021/22 Young Artist at the National Opera Studio. Inna will perform two Ukrainian songs and ‘Tsaryu Nebesnyy’ (O Heavenly King), a beautiful prayer composed by Tetiana Yashvili.
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SPECIAL FRIENDS EVENTS DURING BIF 2022 FRIENDS DRINKS RECEPTION
VIP DRINKS AT NO. 6 THE SQUARE
Wednesday 13 & 20 July from 6-7pm
Pre-performance drinks take place on the No. 6 terrace most nights for Friends at the level of Patron and above. It’s a fantastic chance to meet Friends old and new in relaxed surroundings before that evening’s performance. For Patrons and above these events are part of your membership; we will be sending you an invite to attend soon.
Blue Room, The Crescent Hotel, Buxton £20 Come and enjoy a pre-performance drink and canapés with other members of the Friends and the BIF creative team before the evening’s performances in the splendour of the Crescent Hotel. Open to all Friends, places are limited and cost £20. For Benefactors and Directors Circle these events are part of your membership; we will be sending you an invite to these and other events soon.
SOLO FESTIVAL FRIENDS If you are attending the Festival by yourself, why not join us and other solo Friends for a morning coffee from 9am – 10am every morning in the Garden Room at No. 6 Tea Rooms. No. 6 is opposite the Opera House. You’ll find the room straight ahead at the top of the stairs. Grab a coffee, check out what’s on and meet likeminded people as you start your festival day! 4
FRIENDS DAYS IN THE ASSEMBLY ROOMS, THE CRESCENT HOTEL Wednesday 13 & 20 July from 11am – 3pm A chance for Friends to get together and spread the word to potential new Friends. There will be exhibitions about the Festival and Buxton and musical interludes at 1pm and 2pm, showcasing young musicians and our community choir Kaleidoscope. Friends of the Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust will also be taking part on these days, giving us an opportunity to find out more the stories of this amazing building in the beautiful surroundings of the Assembly Rooms.
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‘TH E RE ’S A WH OL E H OST OF RE ASONS TO L OOK FORWARD TO TH E FE STIVAL TH IS YE AR’ Message from the Chairman of Friends of BIF, Pete Spriggs
Pete Spriggs with singers from the English Touring Opera at Moorcroft House After the ‘pandemic pause’ we’ve been delighted to see many of our Friends, old and new, at our recent events. The 2022 AGM and piano recital by the ever-inspiring Roelof Temmingh was attended by over 70 people (plus a small cohort via Zoom), and March’s recital by English Touring Opera singers was another ‘sold out’ delight. Looking forward I would urge you to join us at one of the BIF Roadshow events, a delightful evening at Hare Hill with the Corran Quartet on 21 May or the joys of jazz and wine tasting at The Rookery in Ashford in the Water on 16 June. We’re well underway with planning for the two Friends’ Days which fall on the Wednesday of each Festival week (13 & 20 July). We’d love to welcome you all to drop in between 10.30am – 3pm at the Assembly Rooms for a catch up, a cuppa and the chance to hear recitals from our 2022 interns and the Kaleidoscope choir. We’ll be joined by our friends from the Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust, and you’ll also have a chance to view the Malcolm Fraser exhibition. On each Friends’ Day we’re also holding a special Friends’ drinks and nibbles reception between 18:00 – 19:00 in the elegant Blue Room at the Crescent. More details on how to book will be shared shortly. I’m also delighted to share that during the Festival this year the Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust are generously offering Friends a 20% discount to the Buxton Crescent Experience. This self-led interactive tour takes you through the history of Buxton and the Crescent and is accessed next to the entrance to the Assembly Rooms. It’s a fascinating way to spend a spare hour between Festival events and I would
encourage you to take up the opportunity. To claim your discount simply present any Festival Ticket to the Pump Room staff when you make your booking or enter the online code fobif20 at https://buxtoncrescentexperience.com/ Don’t forget, booking opened for Next Gen Friends in May. Spread the news about this fantastic opportunity to access £10 tickets if you’re under 35. There’s a whole host of reasons to look forward to the Festival this year – we can’t wait to see you again over the coming months.
PETE SPRIGGS Chair, Friends of Buxton International Festival
THANK YOU Thank you to all our members who renewed their subscriptions for the 2022 season. The number of people wishing to support the Festival remains high, with over 2,000 members resubscribing at various levels and helping to secure the future of the Festival. We are particularly grateful to all those who have upgraded their support to a higher level of membership. Thank you to all our members for the financial support you give. 5
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(From left to right) Lee Barnes, Lucy Marsden, Harriet Grubb, Michael Williams, Vicky Dawson, Sarah Crispin, Joanne Williams
T HE B IF TEAM ARE LOOKI NG FOR WAR D TO WELC OMI NG YOU BA C K TO TH E F EST I VA L T HI S JU LY THE BIF TEAM SHARE THEIR TOP PICKS FOR BIF 2022 Lucy Marsden – Fundraiser I love house plants – they brighten up my home and they make me happy. However keeping plants alive is a challenge, and they and I are often rescued by my partner who seems to have the knack! I shall definitely be coming to see Sarah GerrardJones – The Plant Rescuer – at this year’s Festival – I’m hoping she can advise me on a very unhappy 24-year-old Yucca plant that I’ve got! In fact if it wasn’t 7ft tall, I’d bring it along! Sarah Crispin – Bookkeeper I’m really looking forward to spending my lunch breaks at some of the talks. There are 2 that have caught my eye; George Monbiot whose writing I have appreciated for many years as it is challenging without being depressing, and Kitty 6
and Al Tait as I have teenagers who love to bake and I’m so aware of the mental health challenges they and their peers face. What better way to spend an hour than listening to people talking about their passions!
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Harriet Grubb – Marketing Manager Jamal Aliyev made his BIF debut last year, but I couldn’t make the concert. Everyone who went came out with their jaws on the ground. Apparently he was phenomenal, and I’m making sure I won’t be missing out again this year. Joanne Williams – Development Director I am really looking forward to Viva La Diva as the promo video from when it was performed in Salzburg really made me smile. Our production is a re branding of Donizetti’s Le Convenienze ed Inconvenienze Teatrali, a real and rarely performed opera. The music is apparently glorious, and the plot cover stereotypes of 18th and 19th century Italian theatre with divas behaving badly, unscrupulous managers and pushy parents. I can’t wait to see it live on stage in Buxton with George Humphreys in the role of the aging diva in stilettos! Very different to his role in Onegin in 2019. Lee Barnes – Administrator Two people I will always remember fondly from their association with the Festival are Shirley Williams and Malcolm Fraser and I am delighted that we will be remembering them both during the Festival this year with a talk by Rebecca Williams, the daughter of Baroness Williams, and a special event remembering the founding Artistic Director of the Festival which is sure to bring back many happy memories from all those who knew Malcolm and those who have appreciated his vision for holding an arts festival in such a beautiful location. Caroline Hewitt – Artistic Administrator My top pick is an unmissable day, rather than an event, and it’s Tuesday 19th July! There’s an outstanding line up, with the Manchester
Camerata, the Brodsky Quartet and Jess Gillam. I used to work for the Camerata, so it will be interesting to hear them perform again, and also because of the calibre of their musicians and the exciting programme. Before that, I’m looking forward to Philippa Forrester at 12.30pm. The topic is fascinating to me. The idea of upping sticks and moving somewhere completely wild is often just a dream, but she actually did it when she moved to the Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming and followed in the footsteps of wolves and grizzlies. Then, Jess Gillam at 8pm is going to leave me buzzing – she always plays with such energy and commitment. It will be the perfect end to a brilliant day at the Festival.
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INTRODUCING NEIL HUGHES, BIF JAZZ DIRECTOR Dear Friends, I am delighted to be presenting a jazz series for the Festival in July. After 20 years of programming jazz in Altrincham and Southport the discovery of Buxton has been an absolute pleasure. Great venues in a beautiful town with a history of appreciating the arts bodes well, and we can already see that in advance ticket sales. So thank you to each and every one of you, for diving in and confirming that a series of distinct jazz gigs would be a welcome addition to Buxton International Festival. Please let me know your thoughts, I am in Buxton regularly, or pop along and see me at the jazz event in July where I have a lovely trio lined up. NEIL HUGHES Buxton International Festival Jazz Director
ABOUT NEIL In 2003, after selling his software business, Neil had the crazy idea of building a live music business in Altrincham. The Cinnamon Club was born, and in that first year, Humphrey Lyttelton, Georgie Fame and George Melly visited. The business continued to grow and attract jazz stars from all over the world, with Dame Cleo Laine and Sir John Dankworth performing one memorable night. In 2016 Neil took over Southport Jazz Festival and ran it until Feb 2020, the last festival in the UK before Covid. Having sold the Cinnamon Club after 17 years to become a writer, Neil was happy to be lured out of retirement by Michael Williams, CEO of the Festival, and challenged to build a programme to fit within such a prestigious festival.
THE BOOKSHELF Book Festival Director Vicky Dawson delves into the books at Buxton for 2022. This is the time of year when copies of our author’s books plop through the door of the BIF office. I have long since stopped believing that packages addressed to me are opened by me. It is far too exciting for BIF CEO Michael to let a brown book wallet sit on my desk un-opened… Here is an early taster of some of the books I’ve read so far. These books will be passed to our always very wellprepared interviewers.
Philippa Forrester is a familiar face from Tomorrow’s World and children’s television. She tells a very good joke against herself in her reference to ‘her previous career with puppets’ in her charming book On the Trail of Wolves. Married to the wildlife cameraman Charlie Hamilton James, Philippa’s whole family was 8
given the opportunity of relocating to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The extraordinary experience of viewing bear cubs as she takes her boys to school is related alongside stories of what can only be described as wildlife watching bunfights as ‘enthusiasts’ use social media to be first on the scene to view wildlife
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events in US National Parks. Philippa’s book challenges the idea of Yellowstone and Grand Teton as ‘authentic’ or pristine wilderness. Possibly the most ‘borrowed’ book by the rest of the staff from this year’s book stack is Damon Galgut’s 2021 Booker Prize winning novel The Promise. A multi-layered family saga that unpicks the relationships between family and domestic staff in Apartheid era South Africa, Damon will join us via video link from his home in Cape Town. Much anticipated by me was Gill Hornby’s novel Godmersham Park. I had the pleasure of interviewing Gill for BIF Digital in 2020 on her previous novel, Miss Austen. Gill’s writing can genuinely claim to be Austen-esque and is a reading delight for Janeites. James Runcie is the author of the Grantchester novels, which have successfully been adapted for television. His new novel The Great Passion is splendidly BIF-esque, if I may coin a phrase. Bach’s writing of the St Matthew Passion is a story of genius and longevity, grief and joy. Members of the BIF Company will perform an aria from the St Matthew Passion to set the scene for this event. Two very beautiful books have lately arrived, Sarah Gerard-Jones’ The Plant Rescuer and Kitty & Al Tait’s Breadsong. The production value of books has changed massively in my thirty years in
the book world, and these are a joy to read and view. Kitty Tait’s adventure in bread making is an especially interesting one, transforming an anxious teenager into an accomplished business owner. Kitty will be our youngest contributor by some way this year. Sarah Gerrard-Jones is the founder of the Plant Rescue Box initiative which aims to stop plants being discarded by growers, wholesalers, shops and individuals. She has appeared on BBC Gardeners World and will be exhibiting at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. If you like to embrace thrift and ‘make do and mend’ then this can be applied to your plants. Some of you will by now have rumbled that my Overture Christmas picks – Tristram Hunt, David Kynaston, Zoë Playdon and Jenny Uglow – are all authors that are coming to the Festival in 2022. All were genuine recommendations on my part. I can’t wait for the morning in early July when the Waterstone’s truck pulls up outside the Octagon foyer loaded with bookcases, till point and lots and lots of lovely books to create our Festival pop-up bookshop. I look forward to seeing you there to talk about books. VICKY DAWSON BIF Book Director
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H O L I D AY S W I T H JOHN WHIBLEY It’s great to see plans coming together for summer festivals all over the UK and Europe and to be looking forward to being at many of them. Continuing our long association with the Festival and the Friends, we are pleased to make a contribution towards Friends fundraising for each opera holiday booked by a Friend of Buxton Festival. We’re also pleased to be able to continue our Buxton Friends offer of an additional £50 per person off any of the opera holidays below if you send in a copy of this article. For further info, please get in touch: john@whibley.co.uk 01663 746578.
2022 OPERA HOLIDAYS IN THE UK • June 22–26 Oxford (Garsington and Longborough): L’Orfeo, Rusalka, Die Tote Stadt (Korngold) • October 13-16 Llandudno WNO on Tour - La bohème, The Makropulos Affair, Migrations
DON’T FORGET TO PRE-ORDER YOUR BIF 2022 PROGRAMME In this year’s programme book we have: • Journalist, broadcaster and selfproclaimed ‘Music Theatre obsessive’ Edward Seckerson writing about Gypsy, the ‘mother of all musicals’ (according to director Paul Kerryson). • Journalist George Hall giving insight into the shortcuts Rossini took in composing La donna del lago, and introducing us to the not so well-known Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783), composer of Antonio e Cleopatra. • Gerry Northam, retired BBC Radio presenter and investigative journalist, chatted to Kate Whitley and Laura Attridge, the creative forces behind the BIF-commissioned oratorio Our Future in Your Hands.
• October 24-27 Glyndebourne Glyndebourne Tour: La bohème and Figaro • November 9–12 Canterbury Glyndebourne Tour: La bohème, Figaro and Mozart Requiem
2022 OPERA HOLIDAYS IN EUROPE • May 11–17 Trieste: Rigoletto • July 22–26 Munich: Capriccio, Der Rosenkavalier, La bohème • August 17–21 Stockholm: Drottningholm - Il Giustino (Vivaldi), Proserpin (Kraus), Ballo • September 1–5 Verona: Turandot, Nabucco, Aida • September 15–19: Venice: Il trovatore and Madama Butterfly • September 22-26: Prague: Don Giovanni, Rusalka and Flying Dutchman • October 22–26 Wexford: Armida (Dvořák), Lalla-Roukh (David), La Tempesta (Halévy) • November 5–10 Brno: From the House of the Dead, Káťa Kabanová 10
• Ian Muir-Cochrane (former BBC radio, TV and online journalist) interviewed newlyappointed BIF Jazz director Neil Hughes. We will also have contributions from director Stephen Medcalf on the new English version of Viva la Diva (Donizetti), and director Rebecca Meltzer on Mansfield Park (Dove). Pre-ordered programme books are available at £12 each, while there will also be copies for sale during the festival at £15.
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D AT E S F O R Y O U R D I A R I E S WINE TASTING & JAZZ AT THE ROOKERY, ASHFORD IN THE WATER
OPERA DINNER AT THE CRESCENT HOTEL We are delighted to announce the date for our second fundraising Opera Dinner. It will be held in the Assembly Rooms on Saturday 15 October 2022. Join us for a night to remember – full details to follow.
BIF GOES TO HARE HILL
Thursday 16 June at 6.30pm We have an early summer evening treat with a wine tasting and jazz in the beautiful garden setting of The Rookery near Bakewell. The Dominic Halpin Trio will play a selection of popular favourites while you enjoy refreshments on the lawn. Places cost £35 per member and can be booked online, or by sending a cheque payable to ‘Friends of BIF’ to 3 The Square, Buxton SK17 6AZ.
Join us for a magical evening at one of the National Trust’s little-known jewels, the walled garden at Hare Hill, Alderley Edge. Come and hear the BIF Ensemble – the Corran Quartet – play a selection of classical music in a relaxing environment on Saturday 21 May. Remember to bring chairs or rugs and a picnic – tickets are £15 and available on the ‘what’s on’ section of Hare Hill’s website www.nationaltrust.org/hare-hill.
LONDON EVENTS 2022 For our London Friends and any of you who need an excuse for a trip to the city, we have two lovely events to raise awareness of the festival and what we do and to celebrate two new international partnerships. Please see below; tickets are free but limited, and if you would like to attend please contact joanne.willliams@buxtonfestival.co.uk for availability. Both events run from 7pm - 9pm.
AUSTRIAN CULTURAL FORUM 28 Rutland Gate, London SW7 1PQ Wednesday 25 May
ITALIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE 39, Belgrave Square, London SW1 Thursday 16 June
Recital with extracts from Viva La Diva – with George Humphreys from Austria and singers who will be part of this year’s performance in Buxton and an introduction by Adrian, our Artistic Director.
Recital with extracts of Rossini’s La donna del lago – with young singers and introduction by Italian Director Jacopo Spirei who has directed several of Rossini’s lesser-known operas, most recently Ermione at Naples’ Teatro San Carlo. 11
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PLATFORM 3 IN NUMBERS Platform 3 is an outreach programme that combines the joint forces of Buxton International Festival and Buxton Opera House. It launched last September and has been going from strength to strength.
1 Kaleidoscope Choir
1 Adult Readers Club
35 Places at 1 Summer School production of the musical Matilda JR
230
Sessions, and counting…
1,809 Under 18s involved in choirs, technical youth theatres, singing clubs, drama and dance clubs
2,215 Participants in workshops and showcases
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He transferred his genius to the CollegeConservatory of Music in Cincinnati, becoming the first J. Ralph Corbett Chair of Opera. Building on the work of the great Italo Tajo, he established an international opera department that attracted the best talent and created innovative award-winning productions and some of the future stars of the opera world. Malcolm was a modest, enthusiastic, energised, brilliant and kind man. He was a great listener and a great teacher, always leaving space for the students and collaborators to find their own way. He was an innovator and unafraid of going to the edge. He worked with many of the top names in the business in the UK, Europe, and the US. Malcolm Fraser with Michael Harper following a performance of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Malcolm was director and Michael played Oberon in his first role as a countertenor.
REMEMBERING MALCOLM FRASER Internationally renowned countertenor and BIF Board Member Michael Harper shares his memories of BIF co-founder Malcolm Fraser and tells us more about the special event taking place in his memory at this year’s Festival. My first experience of Malcolm Fraser was in a rehearsal of The Knot Garden by Michael Tippett. It was the US premiere of the chamber version and Michael Tippett was coming to see it. Malcolm had us dancing about furiously, writhing around on the stage and doing all sorts that one did not expect when coming to study opera in a major conservatoire. I was appalled and enthralled at the same time. This man had mad ideas about being on stage, but he was getting something extraordinary out of us. He was upsetting the status quo and creating the next generation of energised and alive singers. Malcolm Fraser started his career in the UK, teaching and directing at the Royal Northern College of Music. In 1979 he co-founded Buxton International Festival, helping to secure the future of the Buxton Opera House and carving out a place for rare operatic gems.
A couple of years ago, I found myself strangely connected with all the major institutions where Malcolm had served – BIF, the CollegeConservatory of Music, and the Royal Northern College of Music. I thought of all the things that he had done to influence and encourage me. So, I thought – what can we do to remember Malcolm? Then I found there were so many others who had benefitted from his teaching, directing, and friendship who were also keen to celebrate his life and work.
Remembering Malcolm Fraser will feature an exhibition of set designs by Paul Shortt, one of Malcolm’s regular collaborators; photos from Malcolm’s productions at Buxton; a short silent film loop of some of Malcolm’s productions; and a panel discussion centred around the new book written by Jim Schiebler with Malcolm and other contributors. The panellists will include three directors and advocates of Malcolm’s teaching and directing practices - Jim Schiebler, Jim Haffner, and Chia Patiño. The event will start with an introduction by the internationally acclaimed tenor and the newly appointed J. Ralph Corbett Chair of Opera, Stuart Skelton. There will be a Q & A session at the end. Friends will also be able to see the exhibition during the Friends’ Day drop-in at the Assembly Rooms. We hope that you will come and share you own special memories of Malcolm with us and with each other. Remembering Malcolm Fraser is taking place on Tuesday 19 July from 11.15am – 12.15pm in the Assembly Rooms, with tickets costing £15. Call the Box Office on 01298 72190 or visit buxtonfestival.co.uk/whats-on to book. 13
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REMEMBERING MARY BARSTOW (1929 – 2022) FRIENDS OF BUXTON INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL MOURN THE PASSING OF MARY BARSTOW, WHO DIED ON 25 MARCH AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS. Many Festival Friends will remember Mary through her volunteering at Festival events and page turning at numerous concerts. Mary lived in the town for many years and was involved with the Buxton International Festival since its earliest days, helping Malcolm Fraser behind the scenes. She began volunteering in 1984 when she joined the
Festival Friends, known then as Buxton Festival Society and in 1994 joined the Friends Committee, retiring in 2004. Mary was one of the Festival's most loyal friends, a tenacious and committed member of the Committee, rolling up her sleeves to cook for Friends events as well as giving many hours of assistance in the Festival office, proof reading programme articles and helping with sending out the brochure and newsletters. Mary’s care for others, particularly young musicians, and her generous sharing of her piano for countless Festival artists to practice on during the Festival was invaluable and always much appreciated by the Festival team.
NEW S FR OM B UXTON OP E RA HOU S E ‘Our much-loved Buxton Opera House opened in 1903 and was designed by the great theatre architect, Frank Matcham. The existing backstage environment is outdated and needs considerable re-development to enable the theatre to provide facilities that meet modern needs.’ LOUISE POTTER DL High Sheriff of Derbyshire. The High Sheriff of Derbyshire, and Friends of BIF committee member, Louise Potter DL wanted to play a positive part in highlighting the beautiful and much-loved Buxton Opera House during her occupancy of the role of High Sheriff. With this in mind she set out to plan a fundraising event to raise money for the refurbishment and development of the backstage of the Opera House.
Her concert, One Night Only, took place on 18 February amid Storm Eunice. Despite the dramatic weather there was a great audience who enjoyed a wonderful evening with music from Mary Bevan and Nicky Spence. Over £70,000 was raised, which will help improve facilities so the Opera House can welcome bigger touring productions to Buxton.
If you would like to support, there is still a donation button on Buxton Opera House website.
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S H O U L D B U X T O N F I N A L LY P U T T H E T O W N ' S FA M O U S W R I T E R ON ITS MAP? The town’s most influential daughter is the subject of a debate as part of Buxton International Festival on July 12. Vera Brittain has been honoured worldwide for her books and antiwar activism, but how well known is she in her former hometown? Now is the time for Vera Brittain to get her name on the map, say academic Dr Kathryn Ecclestone and former Buxton Advertiser Editor John Phillips, a BIF Friend. Buxton’s role in the Second World War lives on in the names of some of its streets: Harris Road, Tedder Avenue and Trenchard Drive, all named after the Air Marshalls who guided the RAF during the conflict. The roads were built when what became High Peak College in 1964 was an RAF Maintenance Unit between 1938 and 1960, overseeing the storage of bombs in the tunnels under the present industrial estate.
Leading author Michael Gladwell views this as a dangerous misunderstanding of history and suggests instead that a statue of Vera Brittain should be put up next to him, scowling at him. In the same spirit, perhaps one of the many new streets being created now in Buxton ought to be named ‘Vera Brittain Way,’ to provide historical balance and keep the memory of that debate alive. On one side, people believe that we cannot condemn decisions taken by our parents and grandparents who were fighting not just for their lives, but ours, against an implacable foe who had introduced the idea of Total War a generation earlier in the First World War. On the other side, pacifists like Vera Brittain believed that modern warfare was so abhorrent that nothing justified it – not even defeating fascism. The point here is not to wade into that debate. Instead the wonderful thing, surely, about the Bomber Harris/Vera Brittain conflict was that it happened at all. In the midst of a struggle for its very existence, Great Britain gave Vera Brittain the freedom to write to newspapers, publish a newsletter and speak at public rallies in a way which, anywhere else in Europe at that time, would have seen her shot. That freedom is what the country was fighting for, and that is what we should celebrate.
But WW2 bombing has another link to Buxton. The town’s most famous resident was Vera Brittain, author of the internationally-acclaimed memoir Testament of Youth, a campaigner for women’s rights and pacifism, and mother of the late politician Shirley Williams. She lived here between 1905 and 1915, and in 1944 waged a high-profile campaign to stop what she believed was the indiscriminate mass bombing of German cities, led by Air Marshall “Bomber” Harris. She was active in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament from its inception in 1957.
Newcastle Under Lyme, Vera Brittain’s birthplace, has a life-sized statue and Berlin named an area on the banks of the River Spree after her in 2016. If the Germans have recognised our town’s most famous daughter, perhaps we should too.
Harris has a statue in London which has been the recent focus for people who want to take it down as part of the movement to ‘cancel’ historical figures whose past is deemed to be problematic.
Kathryn will be in conversation about Vera Brittain as part of Buxton International Festival on 12 July. Book your tickets by contacting the Box Office on 01298 72190 or visit buxtonfestival.co.uk/whats-on.
JOHN PHILLIPS
John Phillips is former editor of the Buxton Advertiser and Kathryn Ecclestone is writing Vera Brittain in Buxton 1905 -1915: Testament of a Provincial Upbringing to be published in 2022.
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THURSDAY 7 – SUNDAY 24 JULY 2022 Buxton Opera House and Buxton International Festival
Book by Arthur Laurents Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Suggested by memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee Directed by Paul Kerryson Original Production by David Merrick and Leland Hayward Entire production originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins GYPSY is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd. on behalf of TamsWitmark LLC. www.concordtheatricals.co.uk
TICKETS: £25 – £71
BOX OFFICE: 01298 72190 BUXTONOPERAHOUSE.ORG.UK BUXTONFESTIVAL.CO.UK Gypsy A5 Leaflet v1.indd 1 Gypsy
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