City updates

A concert of warmth and light

A fundraising concert at Bath Abbey on 24 February will help send generators to the city of Oleksandriya, a Ukrainian city which has built ties of friendship with communities in Bath and North East Somerset.

The fundraising appeal, started by the Friends of Oleksandriya, is supported by B&NES Council, the Rotary Club of Bath, schools across the region and both universities. It has already enabled 13 generators to be delivered and these are now helping to provide warmth and light to kindergartens and schools. With temperatures in the city plunging to minus 11 and with lower temperatures expected, there is an urgent need to get more of the larger size generators to help provide power for their children’s hospital and general hospital.

Bath Abbey is hosting A Concert of Warmth and Light on 24 February at 7pm, the first anniversary of the Russian invasion into Ukraine. This will feature local Ukrainian singer, Nicole Medin, a voice telling a story evoking the desperate plight of the Ukrainian people. She will be joined by children’s choir Voices for Life and by two local choirs, Canzona and the Trowbridge Philharmonic Choir.

Former Mayor of Bath, Marian McNeir MBE, who is helping to organise the concert, wants to see the Abbey full to bursting. Zhenya Shkil is a local resident of Ukrainian origin and the founding member of Friends of Oleksandriya. She says, “The people of Oleksandriya have shouldered so much throughout the last year and this is our chance to help them.”

Tickets (£10, £20 and £30) are on sale at bathboxoffice.org.uk

25 years for Wiltshire Music Centre

Wiltshire Music Centre in Bradford on Avon, the “world class concert hall” in the midst of rural Wiltshire, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year with an ambitious programme of concerts, gigs and special events for all the family.

The 2023 Spring and Summer international music season opens on 3 February with flamenco guitarist Juan Martín. Other highlights include Polish cellist Maciej Kulakowski on 8 February, folk star Eliza Carthy and her band The Restitution on 12 February, Nigerian-Scottish trumpeter Aaron Azunda Akugbo on 10 February, pianist Clare Hammond on 18 February, and folk band Blazin’ Fiddles on 3 March. There is also a more experimental and cutting edge series of music, including Riot Ensemble (24 February) who will give a World Premier of a new work by young British female composer and electronic performer Jasmine Morris. This concert will also feature music composed by young people around Bradford on Avon during Riot Ensemble’s ground-breaking residency.

Family events at the Centre include My Science Fair (12 March), Hairy Maclary’s Adventures (14 April) and Noisy Nature (30 April).

Events named here are just a small selection of what’s on offer. Check the full programme out at wiltshiremusic.org.uk

Engineered in Bath

Were you aware that an engineering world of expertise and brilliance flourishes within our city? This exhibition at Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution (BRLSI), running from 11–18 February, is packed with information about the innovative developments within this vital sector of our economy, showcasing hardware and software products in an exciting and cutting-edge collaboration with engineering companies in Bath.

BRLSI, a cultural centre in the heart of Bath, has worked with key people from local engineering companies to create this free week-long exhibition designed to appeal to curious minds of all ages. It will feature world-renowned work in aerospace, automotive, energy, defence, security, digital technology and medicine. Explore which local companies contribute to the creation of new ships, aeroplanes, racing cars, Olympic stadia, visual reality and much more.

If you have any would-be engineers, some mini Elon Musks or Marissa Mayers among your kinfolk, then this is the opportunity for them to discover what being an engineer involves. There will be plentiful information available on careers in the industry and top experts in attendance will help guide visitors towards their first steps in the world of engineering.

Engineered in Bath: innovative hardware and software, 11–18 February, 10am–4pm, except Sundays, BRLSI. 16 Queen Square Bath. brlsi.org

Rugby painting recreated by Bath artist

To coincide with this year’s Calcutta Cup clash on 4 February, a new painting is being unveiled at the World Rugby Museum. Commissioned by Oliver Donovan and painted by Bath artist Robert Highton, the artwork recreates a famous lost painting from 1889.

A Football Match, Scotland v England depicts a rugby match played in Edinburgh in 1886. The painting was a collaboration between two artists, William Heysham Overend and Lionel Percy Smythe. The match was characterised by frequent attacks from the Scottish backs met by strong English defence, and the result was a scoreless draw.

Oliver was struck by the role the image could have played in popularising rugby in France. “It has inspired so many to take up the sport and it’s one of the most well-known rugby paintings ever created.” Rob researched the artistic style and the history of the game depicted. He learned about the cold snap that delayed the fixture and reflected this in the painting, where the breath of the players can be seen in the cold air. Recreating the original painting was quite a challenge, with no original to copy. Rob worked from enlarged photographs kindly provided by the Scottish Rugby Union, which has its own reproduction of the original painting. The new painting is on long-term loan to the World Rugby Museum and will be on display from 4 February. robhightonart.com; worldrugbymuseum.com