Festival Newsletter February 2016

Buxton Festival & Friends of Buxton Festival News

FESTIVAL FEBRUARY 2016

An impressive trio of giants

FABULOUS FICTION

Farewell Louise

Stephen Barlow writes about this years operas

The line-up for 2016

Louise Potter Chairman of the Friends retires

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Buxton Festival announces a new Honorary President We begin 2016 by welcoming the Duke of Devonshire as our new Honorary President.

We are delighted that he has accepted this role. His family have been keen supporters of the Festival since its inception and the present Duke is passionate about the potential of the Festival to introduce more and more people to the delights not only of our programme of operas, music and books, but the glorious architecture, history and countryside of Buxton and the Peak District. We look forward to working together and to the Friends’ Recital and Champagne Tea Party at his home in Chatsworth later in the year.

2016 also sees us having to say goodbye to Friends’ Chairman, Louise Potter. Louise has not only been a formidable fundraiser and Chairman of the Friends for the past 11 years but she has also led the development of the Literary Series which is now a crucial part of the Buxton experience. We owe her an enormous debt of gratitude and I am delighted that although she is ‘retiring’ as Friends’ Chairman she will remain as a member of the Festival Board.

Plans for this year’s Festival are well advanced. Stephen Barlow, our Artistic Director, and Randall Shannon, the Festival’s Executive Director, are feeling very pleased following their great success in securing the singers they wanted for our three fully-staged operas, and the stunning line-up of other ensembles, soloists and authors which will make 2016 another

Festival to remember. Advanced bookings from specialist travel companies are already flowing in, especially from overseas.

Buxton Festival prides itself on spotting the talent which will go on to appear in the greatest opera houses of the world. We are therefore delighted to congratulate Italian baritone Devid Cecconi who thrilled us with his performance of Giacomo in Giovanna d’Arco and has recently been singing the same role with La Scala in Milan.

Congratulations to Devid and a very Happy New Year to everyone.

FELICITY GOODEY CBE DL Chairman

MESSAGE FROM THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE I am delighted to have been invited to be the Honorary President for the Buxton Festival. Having been a supporter, a participant and a regular member of the audience at the Festival for a number of years, I will now be even more enthusiastic in encouraging new and established audiences to come to join the Festival this July.

Buxton is a superb venue to host this internationally renowned event, being at the heart of the Peak District which is loved by many visitors from home and abroad. Put this together with the diversity of the programme; marrying opera, literature and fringe events for young and not so young audiences, Buxton Festival will continue to be a must see event on the cultural calendar.

THE DUKE OF DEVONSHIRE Honorary President

BUXTON FESTIVAL

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Opera 2016: an impressive trio of giants Handel, Beethoven and Bellini make a profoundly impressive trio of giants when grouped together in a presentation of operas that are cherry picked from their work at a time when their footprints were becoming indelible.

Handel’s Tamerlano was written within 20 days when he was obviously on fire, composing Julius Caesar and Rodelinda as well within the same year to satisfy his hungry adoring audiences in love with his supremacy in Italian Opera Seria. Handel was 39 years old on the crest of a wave now living in Brook Street, but far from sacrificing his creativity to commercialism these 3 operas remain today as some of his most fertile and inspired. He’d come to London as a 27 year old and had found a composer’s ultimate aim, his market and the resource to develop truly narrative opera that aims to expose and demonstrate the psychology of human nature, within a form that had immediate and lasting popular appeal. In picking his subject, he took the opportunity to create the first major tenor role in any opera, that of Bajazet. This major role is taken this summer at Buxton

by Paul Nilon who is joined by a stellar cast of some of the finest Handel singers available today. Laurence Cummings is one of the finest Handelians, and will be in his element, together with The English Concert in the pit. Francis Matthews will bring his enormous intelligence, clarity and experience as Director to what will be one of the most special productions of this deeply moving opera.

Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania at a time when Catania was a thriving city of grandeur, status and artistic fertility.

His education was hardly all embracing, albeit there was a period when he was immersed in the music of Haydn and Mozart. Principally his life revolved around the music of contemporary Italians over whom Rossini towered. Bellini is said to have remarked after he saw his first opera by Rossini, Semiramide, that there was no purpose in anyone else trying to do anything. However, his adoration of

Festival dates:

8–24 July

Donizetti in particular led to his career blossoming and he was soon in demand as a composer who knew how to produce in the style of bel canto to please his audiences. But ‘bel canto’ goes nowhere near describing Bellini’s insight and rare talent to ally narrative and psychology within ostensibly melodic parameters.

Verdi was in awe of Bellini’s melodic talent certainly, apparently saying that ‘there are extremely long melodies as no-one else had ever made before’. He was also described romantically as the Swan of Catania as his reputation grew. It was in Germany where this deeper dramatic talent was truly recognised, and as Tim Ashley writes ‘Wagner, who rarely liked anyone but himself, was spellbound by Bellini’s almost uncanny ability to match music with text and psychology. Liszt and Chopin professed themselves fans’. Wagner intervened in typically magisterial terms in an esoteric but heated debate in Germany with a full justification of Bellini’s seemingly innocent works attesting that behind the purity of simple melody lay deep dramatic artistry.

I Capuleti e i Montecchi was composed in about 5 or 6 weeks, very hurriedly to commission although you would never know it, based not on Shakespeare but on other old Italian sources. Capuleti is Bellini’s first opera in his prime written before he was 30 years old, and within the five years following he composed Sonnambula, I Puritani and Norma which remain as three of the most complete and inspired operas of the time. It was the first Bellini opera I conducted and it was in Catania’s aptly named Teatro Bellini with the well-known soprano Mariella Devia as Giulietta. A beautiful statue of the great man stands outside the theatre, such is the value placed on his legacy. Alas, the Bellini cocktail has nothing to do with him at all,

Tamerlano

but Pasta alla Norma, a Catanese dish based on aubergines certainly does, named by a Director who claimed that the aubergine dish was as sublime as Bellini’s opera, Norma. Heinrich Heine held Bellini in very high regard, and although he described him as ‘a sigh in dancing pumps’ is quoted as telling Bellini he was ‘a genius and all geniuses die a premature death, like Raphael and Mozart’, which apparently he took to heart. He did in fact die at the early age of 34, only two years short of Mozart’s life span, and we can only speculate in sadness and admiration about what great works might have followed if he had lived longer.

Leonore was written when Beethoven was 34 and premiered in 1805. The very fact that Beethoven subjected his only foray into Opera to extensive revision after it had been first performed is extraordinary.

Beethoven was singular in strength of mind and nature and his sketch books tell us much about his method of composition, pitting idea against idea as he searched for the perfect solutions and form he required.

Festival operas: Leonore by Beethoven, I Capuleti e i Montecchi by Bellini and Tamerlano by Handel Visit the Festival website and join our monthly e-newsletter list for regular updates

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FEBRUARY 2016

But he caved in to criticism from friends and the judgement of those who were bold enough to venture their opinions before he finally presented the work as Fidelio many years later. He later referred to the whole project as a shipwreck, his confidence severely shaken where dramatic stage work is concerned. Much later Fidelio became a reverentially important work for many, especially after the 2nd world war, when Furtwangler wrote ‘The conjugal love of Leonore appears, to the modern individual armed with realism and psychology, irremediably abstract and theoretical….

Now that political events in Germany have restored to the concepts of human dignity and liberty their original significance, this is the opera which, thanks to the music of Beethoven, gives us comfort and courage…

Certainly, Fidelio is not an opera in the sense we are used to, nor is Beethoven a musician for the theater, or a dramaturgist.

He is quite a bit more, a whole musician, and beyond that, a saint and a visionary.

That which disturbs us is not a material effect, nor the fact of the ‘imprisonment’; any film could create the same effect. No, it is the music, it is Beethoven himself.

It is this ‘nostalgia of liberty’ he feels, or better, makes us feel; this is what moves us to tears. His Fidelio has more of the Mass than of the Opera to it; the sentiments it expresses come from the sphere of the sacred, and preach a ‘religion of humanity’ All this is perceptive and deeply felt, but my own view is that Beethoven’s first version, Leonore, is much more of a dramatic entity, ablaze with inspiration,

conviction, sensitivity and emotional sympathy, as much as it is a paean to true love and a morality tale with deeper political strains. It is full too of influences.

As with Capuleti, Leonore would have been impossible without Mozart’s huge variety of operatic focus, including women, hope, deeper moral purpose and a strong link to theatrical drama. Take for example Leonore’s well known ‘Abscheulicher’ aria; like Fiordiligi’s ‘Per Pieta’, her discovery that hope and strength of purpose is still available to her, Leonore’s aria is likewise in E major, and uses obbligato horns, only Beethoven increases the number of horns from 2 in Mozart’s work to 3 in his own.

My belief is that if Beethoven had not given way to his critics and revised it at all, Leonore would still be as widely performed now as Fidelio is. Suffice perhaps to say that when I conducted Leonore many years ago in Graham Vick’s production at Battignano, the music Beethoven subsequently cut out remains with me to this day, focusing as it does on the more human aspects of the domestic family, Rocco and Marzelline, Leonore and Jaquino, and the impending catastrophe brutal and violent Pizarro visits upon them. Beethoven was more than capable of writing music that touches us on all levels, particularly our most human sensitivities.

STEPHEN BARLOW Artistic Director

29 February: Benefactors and Patrons booking opens 7 March: Gold Friends booking opens 14 March: Friends booking opens 29 March: General Booking opens You will receive a copy of the brochure and booking form by post. For the first time this year we will be offering members the opportunity to book online.

All orders will be dealt with in order of membership level regardless of when received. For example if you are a Patron and your booking form is received during the Gold Friends booking period then you will still be given priority. Your membership status and entitlement will be verified by the box office upon receipt. If booking online please do not try and book in advance of your given booking period as this could delay your request.

FESTIVAL ACCOMMODATION

Our Artistic Director, Stephen Barlow conducted Koanga at Wexford Festival last November.

Here are a couple of the press quotes.

‘The musical direction was in the hands of Stephen Barlow‚ who managed to hold the audience with a compelling reading of the score.’

BOOKING DATES

‘There is exquisite playing from the orchestra under the conductor Stephen Barlow’ (The Times)

(Scene & Heard International)

Last year’s Festival production of Giovanna d’Arco has been nominated as Best Opera in the Manchester Theatre Awards, the winner to be announced on Friday 4 March.

Buxton and the surrounding Peak District offer a wide range of accommodation including historic hotels, award winning guest houses and comfortable self-catering apartments and cottages.

Demand for accommodation is high during the Festival and we highly recommend you book early. For further details on accommodation please visit www.visitbuxton.co.uk or www.visitpeakdistrict.com or call the helpful team at the Buxton Tourist Information Centre Tel: 01298 25106.

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CELEBRATING PARTNERSHIP We are delighted to welcome Ecclesiastical Insurance as one of our principal Corporate Partners for 2016.

Ecclesiastical is one of the largest British-owned insurance companies in the UK and the leading insurer of Heritage property. The team at Ecclesiastical will be joining us at a number of our events during the year and will be sponsoring our production of Beethoven’s Leonore.

BUXTON FESTIVAL

Diverse concerts for all tastes Festival audiences have come to expect a wide range of musical performances each year, and 2016 is no exception.

We are very pleased to be continuing to work with the team at the University of Derby as they celebrate ten years of success at the historic Devonshire Dome. 2016 also marks ten years of partnership with Buxton Festival and we are delighted that they will be associated with the Literary Series again this year.

Angela Hewitt

The support of local businesses has played an integral role in the development of Buxton Festival over the years and this year is no different as our accommodation and restaurant partner, and long-standing sponsor, the Old Hall Hotel will be supporting the production of I Capuleti e i Montecchi.

We look forward to a year of introducing new corporate partners and sponsors to the wonderful work that we do at Buxton Festival, while also celebrating our existing valued supporters who have enabled the Festival to thrive.

Lifting the veil on Tamerlano To achieve a third fully-staged production of Handel’s Tamerlano in Buxton Festival 2016, we are seeking a small number of generous donors to join the Tamerlano Syndicate.

This is an exciting opportunity to witness the creative journey as the production comes to fruition. As a member of the syndicate you will have the opportunity to sponsor your chosen Aria, meet the director, gain an insight into the initial set and costume designs, meet members of the cast, attend a closed rehearsal, and receive invitations to special events and dinners.

To find out more about Tamerlano Syndicate please contact Lucy Durack: lucy.durack@buxtonfestival.co.uk

Breaking the Rules

We are hosting recitals by two world-class pianists, Stephen Kovacevich and Angela Hewitt. Other instrumentalists include harpist Lauren Scott and her trio, Duo Antipodes (featuring Manus Noble on guitar and Jehanne Bastoni on cello) and violinist Joo Yeon Sir. Amongst the singers on offer, we welcome back Festival favourites such as baritone Roderick Williams, tenor James Gilchrist and soprano Anne Sophie Duprels, as well as up-and-coming vocal talent including Kathleen Ferrier award-winning soprano Gemma Lois Summerfield and baritone Josep-Ramon Olivé.

Gillian Keith and Simon Lepper return with a new piece depicting the tempestuous marriage of Richard & Pauline Strauss; soprano Sarah-Jane Brandon and baritone Gareth Brynmor John feature in White Camelia—The Story of a Courtesan; while The Marian Consort join forces with respected actor Finbar Lynch to commemorate the 450th anniversary of the birth of composer and murderer Carlo Gesualdo in ww . 2016 is also, of course, the 400th anniversary of the

The Jubilee Quartet

death of William Shakespeare and this landmark is commemorated by a concert of Shakespearean song from Nicky Spence, and a brand new piece on Anne Hathaway, featuring last year’s Lucia, Elin Pritchard.

Among the ensembles performing at the Festival are The Elias String Quartet, La Serenissima, The Lawson Trio, The Chilingirian Quartet, Kaleidoscope Saxophone Quartet, The Schubert Ensemble, Northern Chamber Orchestra, The Jubilee Quartet and The English Concert. Manchester Chamber Choir will present an evening concert in the amazing acoustic of St John’s Church and the Royal Liverpool Philhamonic’s contemporary group, Ensemble 10-10 present a moving new piece commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Srebrenica massacre.

The Pavilion Café continues to play host to our late-night concert series where this year jazz strand, with performers such as Digby Fairweather’s Half Dozen, The Alex Yellowlees Band, Robert Habermann and The Versatility Serenaders, is augmented by folk in the form of Tir Eolas and world music from Paprika.

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FEBRUARY 2016

Fabulous Fiction, Perilous Poisons, Perfect Pronunciation and the Loch Ness Monster!

We work with the country’s biggest publishers to create an exciting programme of talks by the authors of the best books to be released in 2016 and this year is a real bumper year…

Alexei Sayle

Melvyn Bragg

Highlights of the programme include Alexei Sayle talking to interviewer Mike Neary about his latest memoir Thatcher Stole my Trousers; gardener, cook and ex-doctor Sarah Raven will introduce her new cookery book Good Good Food; former Business Secretary Vince Cable will tell us about life After The Storm his new followup to his bestselling The Storm which discussed the world economic crisis; and Festival favourite Melvyn Bragg is joining us to reveal his new gripping historical novel Now Is The Time. We’ve very excited to be welcoming Kathryn Harkup, research chemist and author of A is for Arsenic who will be in conversation with Poirot actor Hugh Fraser exploring the use of poisons in Agatha Christies’ novels.

If you can’t get enough of Christie than you’ll be sure to enjoy a special event at this summer’s Festival—An Evening of Murder with Dr Lucy Worsley (20 July at 7.30pm).

An illustrated tour through the dark story of our fascination with murder, with Dr Lucy Worsley, BBC TV presenter, renowned historian and Chief Curator at the charity Historic Royal Palaces. She’ll examine some notorious crimes and criminals, but

Vince Cable

also explain how murder became a form of middle-class entertainment through novels, plays, paintings, and the press. Starting with a horrific early nineteenth-century serial-killer in the East End of London, she’ll end with the tame drawing room dramas of Agatha Christie.

We mark several anniversaries in 2016; the 100th anniversary of the battle of the Somme with Taylor Downing who will discuss the terrible impact of shellshock; 20 years since the war in Bosnia with journalist Ed Vulliamy who introduces his book on the subject The War is Dead, Long Live the War; and on the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death we hear from David Crystal on How was Shakespeare Pronounced?

If you’re a history buff you’ll enjoy Simon Bradley on The Railways: Nation, Network and People (the Sunday Times history book of the year for 2015). We find out about Scotland’s last battle—Culloden—with Trevor Royal. Peter Hennessy and James Jinks discuss the history of the Royal Navy Submarine Service since 1945; and Andrew Lownie opens a window into history with

Our autumn Literary Weekend will return in November from Friday 18 –Sunday 20.

Keep your eyes peeled for announcements about this year’s speakers in the coming months.

Lucy Worsley

a talk on his new book Stalin’s Englishman: The Life of Guy Burgess. One talk which might cause a commotion is Gareth Williams’ exploration of The Mysteries of Loch Ness.

If biography is your passion then you might like to save the date in your diary for Laura Thompson on the Mitford sisters, Josephine Wilkinson on Katherine Howard, Claire Harman on Charlotte Bronte, Philip Eade on Evelyn Waugh, Benjamin Wild on Cecil Beaton, George Goodwin on Benjamin Franklin and Flora Fraser, daughter of festival favourite Antonia, on George and Martha Washington.

We have a very strong fiction showing this summer, featuring bestselling authors Anna Hope, Jo Baker, Janet Ellis, Virginia Bailey and the author of the novel almost everyone read in 2015 The Girl on the Train

by Paula Hawkins.

The literary series concludes on Sunday 24 July with the Oldie Literary Lunch. Enjoy a delicious three-course menu at the Old Hall Hotel with a chance to meet Joan Bakewell, Richard Davenport-Hines and David Aaronovitch.

BUXTON FESTIVAL

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FESTIVAL IN THE COMMUNITY Kaleidoscope Lunchtime Choir will be hosting a fun sing-along session at Cavendish Hospital in February for patients with dementia. The choir will perform some of our favourite repertoire and we’ll encourage the patients to join in with singing games and well known songs.

40 year 5 pupils from Fairfield Junior School in Buxton have just completed their Arts Award certificates. Our Outreach Manager Claire has spent Tuesday afternoons at school for eight weeks teaching the pupils all about different types of art. They have had a go at painting and collage, poetry, drama and have had a fun backstage tour at Buxton Opera House.

Kaleidoscope Lunchtime Choir rehearsals have resumed and we’re sounding fabulous. Join us every Tuesday at 1pm—2pm in the dress circle bar at Buxton Opera House.

Claire (the Festival’s Outreach Manager) is very much looking forward to starting the Arts Award journey with Seahorse and Dolphin classes at Buxton Infant School this month (that’s 50 five year olds!). We’ll get messy with paint, silly with song and wonderfully wordy with poetry.

The Festival is working with Kinder Choir at the moment on a singing projects with primary schools in the High Peak. The project aim to establish and develop choirs in the schools and culminates in two celebration concerts in March in Buxton.

John Anfield retires from the Board We moved as a family from Devon to Buxton at half term October 1978. I was moving job from being the Director of Planning for Exmoor National Park to a similar post with the Peak District National Park. We were also moving back north as I am from York and my wife Sue is from Lytham St Annes, Lancashire.

One of the first things we noticed on arriving in Buxton was the scaffolding around Buxton Opera House. The work underway was for the restoration of this wonderful building, from its years of neglect as a cinema, to its re-opening as a fully working theatre and opera house.

I was there in 1979 on that memorable opening night of the Opera House and the first night of the first Buxton Festival. By then I had joined the tenor line of Buxton Musical Society, and Michael Williams conducted a specially written choral fanfare which we sang from both sides of the Upper Circle. What a memorable achievement was that first Festival!

Quite soon the Friends of Buxton Festival was started and Sue and I were early members. It was much less ambitious at the start, but crucially became an active group of volunteers who were supporting and fundraising for the Festival.

walking distance of the Opera House. I have always been involved in the musical life of Buxton, especially playing the organ at Buxton Methodist Church since 1985.

I was delighted to be invited to be a member of the Board of the Festival from 2003 until 2015. Being a Board member is a privilege, but it is also challenging!

The Board is responsible for the strategic direction of the Festival, for ensuring its long term financial stability, and for the key appointments of Executive and Artistic Directors. We also have a key role in listening to audience reaction to all aspects of the festivals-and this is usually a pleasure, but not always! One quickly learns that artistic productions can be loved or hated by different people in the same audience at the same production! That is part of the vitality of the Festival for a Board member!

I was on the Board for 13 Festivals and that is enough. We hope to be attending ever better Festivals for many years!

JOHN ANFIELD

For many years Buxton had a children’s opera. I worked with Anthony Hose, the first Music Director, auditioning children for ‘James and the Giant Peach’ in 1983, and was one of the rehearsal pianists.

Our son, Michael, was in the all singing and all dancing chorus. Even more exciting was Buxton Festival at Sadlers Wells in London in October, which included taking the ‘Giant Peach’ and all the children to London for a week!

We have attended something at every Festival. It became a key part of our summers in Buxton, especially as we live within

Kaleidoscope Choir

We also say farewell to Michael Williams who stood down as a Board Member at the end of 2015 following 21 years as a member.

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FEBRUARY 2016

FRIENDS NEWS Thank you!

We are saying farewell to three Friends’ Trustees at the Annual General Meeting this year; Louise Potter, Beryl Woods and Geoffrey Watson.

Louise Potter

Beryl Woods

They will all be sadly missed at Committee meetings and we wish them well for the future. Louise has been the Friends Chairman since 2005 and joined the Committee in January 1999, her huge contribution to the Friends has been much valued by us all. Beryl and Geoffrey have also both given many years of service to

Geoffrey Watson

the Friends for which we owe them a great debt of gratitude. You will be pleased to know that Geoffrey and Beryl have offered to carry on their support and Louise will continue as a member of the Festival Board and has told us she will be happy to return to the Friends Committee in the future.

GIVE AS YOU LIVE Friends of Buxton Festival has just been registered as a beneficiary of a new national retail scheme which allows people to benefit their favourite charity at no cost to themselves.

A number of national retail organisations have joined together to raise money for charity in this way. It is, of course, designed to persuade us to shop with them! Buxton Festival would not dream of trying to influence your shopping habits but it may be that you are already a customer of one of the retailers participating in ‘www. giveasyoulive.com’. If you would like to participate, and help Buxton Festival, all you have to do is visit the give as you live website and register. Don’t forget, a percentage of every purchase you make will be donated to Friends of Buxton Festival. We have already raised over £70 with just a few members participating. A leaflet is enclosed with the newsletter giving details of some of the brands which will donate a percentage of what you spend with them.

Friends Events and Holidays FESTIVAL OPERA LECTURES Lee Wood Hotel, Buxton Thursday, 21 April, 10am—3pm

This popular event aims to enhance your enjoyment of the Festival with in-depth introductions to three of the Festival operas: Leonore, I Capuleti e I Montecchi and Tamerlano.

We have lined-up three knowledgeable speakers; Professor Roderick Swanston, Simon Rees and Roger Witts to present lectures on each of the operas to be performed at the Festival this year.

The day starts with welcome refreshments before the first lecture of the day and includes a 3-course lunch in the delightful

conservatory restaurant.

Places cost £38.50 with lunch or £18 excluding lunch.

RECITAL AND LUNCH Moorcroft House, Lismore Road, Buxton Friday, 22 April at 11.30am

We are delighted to be able to offer this opportunity for members to attend this lunchtime musical entertainment with lunch. Moorcroft House is owned by fellow Friends Pat and Philip Holland and is situated just across the park from the Opera House. We are very grateful to them both for inviting us back to their lovely home.

Following the concert given by singers from

the English Touring Opera there will be a lunch provided by the Committee.

Tickets £35 to include an hour’s concert and lunch.

LYNNE DAWSON TALK 6 The Square, Buxton Thursday, 28 April at 10.30am for coffee, 11am for talk

Lynne Dawson has been one of Britain’s best loved sopranos for more than 30 years.

Her concert career has taken her all over the world to work with such luminaries as Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Neville Marriner, John Eliot Gardiner and Christopher Hogwood.

BUXTON FESTIVAL

Lynne was appointed Head of the School of Vocal Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2010 and will give a talk focusing on her work at the College.

Tickets £8 including coffee and biscuits. If you wish to stay on for lunch at No. 6 Tea Rooms it is advised you call to reserve a table—01298 213541.

Guests attending Lynne’s talk may wish to attend our next event:

LUNCHTIME CONCERT WITH NCO SOLOISTS: TRIO MAGIC Pavilion Arts Centre, Pavilion Gardens, St John’s Road, Buxton Thursday 28 April at 12 noon

Schubert Trio movement in B flat D471 Hans Krasa Tanec (Dance) Beethoven String Trio in G Op 9 no 1 Enjoy a brief, but delicious, lunchtime interlude with three of the Northern Chamber Orchestra’s top soloists: Nicholas Ward, violin; Richard Muncey, viola; and Jennifer Langridge, cello.

This is the final concert in the NCO’s new 2015—2016 Buxton series and has been developed through the Orchestra’s partnership with Buxton Festival and Buxton Opera House. Look out for future concerts later in the year.

Tickets £14 including coffee and cake at the Pavilion Gardens. Please note this is a special package that is only available to those members who book as part of our group.

traditional Afternoon Tea in the Carriage House Restaurant before we stroll through the garden to the Sculpture Gallery for a Champagne Reception. The evening ends in the enchanting Painted Hall with our musical entertainment.

Tickets £70 each including Afternoon Tea, Champagne reception and Concert.

FESTIVAL PARTY

FRIENDS’ PARTY Old Hall Hotel, Buxton Friday 22 July at 10pm

This popular event is a nice way to end an evening at the opera. Come and share drinks and your views of the opera with other members of the Friends. We also invite the cast to join us this post-opera soirée.

Tickets £20 including drink and finger buffet.

Pavilion Café, Buxton Friday 8 July at 9.45pm

Come and enjoy a post opera celebration on the opening night of the Festival with other members of the Friends and VIP guests.

Bookable via the Festival Box Office during priority booking.

Tickets £10 each.

FRIENDS’ DINNER Old Hall Hotel, Buxton Sunday 17 July at 5.45pm

Join us for a three-course dinner at the delightful Old Hall Hotel, an opportunity to have a break from the busy Festival schedule and relax with other members of the Friends over a convivial dinner before the evening performance.

Tickets £35 each.

LUNCH, MUSIC AND AN EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURE Homestead Farm, Jackson’s Edge, Near Disley Sunday, 11 September at 12 noon

We were delighted to accept Chris and Stephen Grime’s invitation to hold a fundraising event at their lovely home Homestead Barn, Jacksons Edge in Disley for members.

Chris is a painter and sculptor and, together with artist friends, will hold an exhibition of their work for you to visit and discuss with them before you enjoy a recital by the Northern Chamber Orchestra String Quartet followed by a buffet lunch.

Tickets £25 each.

CHATSWORTH HOUSE Near Bakewell Wednesday, 8 June at 4.30pm

By kind permission of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire we have been invited to hold a fundraising event for the Festival in the delightful surroundings of The Painted Hall at Chatsworth House.

We have secured two top-flight artists to perform for us; Australian-born Craig Ogden who is one of the world’s finest classical guitarists to perform with Mezzo soprano singer Claire Bradshaw who has established a flourishing career in opera, concert and recital.

We start our event at Chatsworth with a

Our last Friends event at Chatsworth House

3 The Square, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AZ

01298 70395

friends@buxtonfestival.co.uk

www.buxtonfestival.co.uk

President: Duke of Devonshire KCVO CBE DL Festival Chairman: Felicity Goodey CBE DL Executive Director: Randall Shannon Artistic Director: Stephen Barlow Friends Patron: Donald Maxwell Friends Chairman: David Brindley Buxton Festival Foundation Chairman: Jane Davies OBE Buxton Arts Festival Limited: Registered Charity No. 276957 Friends of Buxton Festival: Registered Charity No. 513970