WHAT’S ON
AUGUST
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WHAT’S ON AT TOWN HALL SYMPHONY HALL RESIDENT ORCHESTRA
ASSOCIATE ARTISTS
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Ex Cathedra, Birmingham City Organist Thomas Trotter, Black Voices
Certain events by Resident Orchestra or Associate Artists are included in respective concert packages. Contact the Box Office for more information.
HOW TO BOOK By phone: 0121 780 3333
Online: www.thsh.co.uk
In person: Town Hall Box Office is open two hours before the start time of a performance. Symphony Hall Box Office, in the ICC is open 10am – 6pm (Monday – Saturday). Closed Sundays and Bank Holidays except when there is an event (open two hours before event starts).
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Town Hall is located in Victoria Square, Birmingham, B3 3DQ.
Symphony Hall is located within the International Convention Centre, 8 Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2EA. For further information visit www.thsh.co.uk/your-visit Funded by
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Town Hall renovation also funded by
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Lucinda Williams Plus Support Three-time Grammy Award winner, Lucinda Williams will play her Car Wheels On a Gravel Road Anniversary show and play tracks from this album, followed by her greatest hits! When: Fri 2 August, 8pm Where: Town Hall Limited Availability
Celeste Barber – Challenge Accepted Actor, Comedian, and Social Media Super Star Celeste Barber is the self-proclaimed queen of everyday sophistication and low budget lifestyle aspirations. When: Thu 8 August, 8pm Where: Town Hall
Sold Out
Got 2 Sing Choir proudly presents This is Us! Back by popular demand, a wall of sound awaits you as Got 2 Sing Choirs from across the Midlands proudly presents ‘This is Us!’ – a spectacular concert of roof-raising popular songs with an audience participation finale. When: Sun 18 August, 2pm & 7pm Where: Symphony Hall
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“AS I’VE BEEN A BUSKER MYSELF, I THOUGHT TABBY COULD BE A BUSKER’S CAT” Best known for her popular rhyming stories for children, especially those illustrated by Axel Scheffler, Julia Donaldson is the multi award-winning author of some of the world’s best loved children’s books, most notably the modern classic The Gruffalo which has sold over 13 million copies worldwide.
Photo By Steve Ullathorne
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Many of Julia’s books have made the journey from page to stage, and now Tabby McTat has joined them in a new adaptation from Freckle Productions, the team behind Stick Man, Tiddler and other Terrific Tales and Zog.
Tabby just wants to get back to Fred the busker, who he’s been separated from. Then he falls in love and has a family, but he still thinks about Fred and is torn between the two – until that gets resolved by the next generation.”
Ahead of performances at Town Hall this August, Julia talks about her inspiration for Tabby McTat, and seeing her work adapted for the stage.
You say you were a busker yourself in the past – did you enjoy that?
Where did the idea for Tabby McTat come from? “I’d published Stick Man the previous year, and my editor said it would be nice to have something a bit more cuddly, because Stick Man is very hard and wooden. I’ve always been a cat lover, and I remember sitting on a train and thinking of cat ideas. “I started with the fact that cats have owners, and who might that be? Could it be a burglar or a policeman? And as I’ve been a busker myself, I thought Tabby could be a busker’s cat, and that the two of them could be separated in some way. So that part of the story came to me during that train journey. “I knew that Tabby and Fred the busker would eventually come back together again, but I didn’t know how, and it was actually my husband Malcolm’s idea. He said to me, ‘it would be nice if it went down to the next generation,’ – so that bit of the story came from him. “In a way, Tabby McTat is my most complex picture book, because instead of it simply being about someone who has an aspiration, or somebody who faces difficulties but gets what they want in the end, it’s about being torn. To begin with,
“Yes, I loved it. I started busking with a friend when I was a student in Paris – and then Malcolm, my now husband, came to join us and extended our repertoire incredibly, because we could hardly play anything before him! It was a brilliant way to have a holiday, because every time Malcolm and I went away, we would just buy our flights and then pay for all our accommodation and food by busking.” A lot of your stories are written in verse, what do you feel that adds? “Well obviously if it’s done well, it makes a story very memorable – and people have loved rhyme since time immemorial. I love writing in verse because I wrote songs for so long. What’s it like for you when people turn your books into stage performances? “Handing it over to a theatre company or film company you know it’s going to change, but you have to let it go. I’m invariably impressed by the energy and talent of the cast. The stage productions always include songs and although I’m occasionally a bit critical (being a songwriter myself) I especially enjoyed the catchy numbers in Tabby McTat.” Tabby McTat plays at Town Hall from Tue 20 to Sun 25 August. 5
NCO: Dream, Fantasy, Nightmare Join the NCO’s Under 12 Orchestra for an unusual and inspiring performance, which teeters on the edge of reality. When: Sun 18 August, 6:30pm Where: Town Hall
LIVE
Freckle Productions present
ON STA GE
Tabby McTat Interwoven with original songs, Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Tabby McTat is the heart-warming tale of friendship and loyalty from the team behind Tiddler and Other Terrific Tales and Zog. When: Tue 20 August, 1pm & 3:30pm Wed 21 August, 11am & 2pm Thu 22 August, 11am & 2pm Fri 23 August, 11am, 2pm & 4pm Sat 24 August, 11am, 2pm & 4pm Sun 25 August, 11am & 3pm (Relaxed Performance) Where: Town Hall
Tabby McTat © 2009 Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Published by Alison Green Books, an imprint of Scholastic Children’s Books
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Elgar’s Cello Concerto When Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Mirga GražinytėTyla recorded Shostakovich together, it became one of the best-selling classical recordings this century. When: Wed 21 August, 7:30pm Where: Symphony Hall
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Pankaj Udhas Live There isn’t a music lover whose eyes don’t well up on hearing the song Chitti Ayi Hai by the legend, Pankaj Udhas. This anthem of longing still tugs at our heartstrings and evokes a deep sense of nostalgia. When: Fri 23 August, 7:30pm Where: Symphony Hall
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra: Mirga Conducts Mahler’s Fourth Mahler’s Fourth Symphony is quiet by his standards – but it still aims at the stars, and it ends with an utterly unexpected vision of heaven. And if that’s exactly what you could do with at this stage of the summer holidays, everything about this concert is just as magical – whether it’s Ravel’s ravishing musical fairytale, or the sheer delight of Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite. When: Sun 25 August, 7pm Where: Symphony Hall
Moseley Folk & Arts Festival Moseley Folk & Arts Festival is set to return to the beautiful Moseley Park in 2019 from 30th August to 1st September. Every year people from across Birmingham and beyond flock to the park to witness a healthy mix of traditional, contemporary and downright experimental Folk, World and Roots music. When: Fri 30 August, 1pm Sat 31 August, 11am Sun 1 September, 11am Where: Moseley Park
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KATHRYN WILLIAMS • WIZZ JONES • SIMPLY DYLAN • CHARLIE PARR • JD WILKES • BABE RAINBOW • ZOONI RAJASTHAN HERITAGE BRASS BAND • GWENIFER RAYMOND • YOU TELL ME • BOAT TO ROW • DOF • BIRD IN THE BELLY MUHA • JOHN BLEK • THE DRYSTONES • GERMA ADAN • HARARE • THOM ASHWORTH • CEILIDH LIBERATION FRONT DEATH BY STAMPEDE • CHARLOTTE CARPENTER • COUNTY LINE RUNNER • HANNAH READ • ALEX REX • SAINT ALTO ZIRAK HAMAD DAHOLL KURDISH BAND • THE FAUX PAS • PHILIPPA ZAWE • WITHERWARD • SON OF JOHN EMILY MAE WINTERS • JOSHUA BURNELL & FRANCES SLADEN • RACHEL CROFT • CHLOE MOGG
ARTS PROGRAMME
STUART MACONIE • HELEN PANKHURST • PEGGY SEEGER Q&A • TOM BINNS
THE HURRICANE TAPES • ROB AUTON • BETHANY BLACK • ANDY ROBINSON • JOHN HIGGS • DAISY CAMPBELL MAGDA KNIGHT • CATHERINE O’FLYNN • BERNADETTE RUSSELL D & F BROS GRAND INDIAN CIRCUS • THE COMMENTATORS • WOOD CARVING & CRAFT • STORYTELLING FOR ALL AGES YOUTH FOLK BAND & INSTRUMENT LESSONS • BLACK COUNTRY LIVING MUSEUM MORRIS, CEILIDH & MAYPOLE DANCING
MOSELEY PARK • BIRMINGHAM
AUG 30TH - SEPT 1ST
Tickets selling fast • moseleyfolk.co.uk
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