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In a last minute addition to the Music Festival programme, Adam Rayner will be joining Tuesday’s performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as reader.
The RSC actor and star of BBC drama Mistresses will join violinist Alina Ibragimova, introducing each concerto with a reading of specially commissioned poems written by Andrew Motion.
Adam Rayner was a huge festival hit when he joined us as a Carte Noire reader at last year’s Literature Festival – we’re sure that the combination of exceptional music from Alina, and engaging readings from Adam means the concert will be a real festival highlight!
Tuesday 6 July 2010 at 6pm Cheltenham Town Hall, tickets from £8 box office: 0844 576 8970
Music Festival Intern Hannah Ross writes about being a Shetlander, the Music Festival, The Sound of Music, and everything in-between…
As a Shetlander, coming to work at the Cheltenham Music Festival is a bit of an adventure, and I don’t expect to find too many reminders of home (even if we Shetlanders have a habit of turning up all over the globe), but a reminder of home I did find, slap bang in the middle of the festival brochure (hooray!). Catriona McKay, while not a Shetlander herself, wrote The Swan LK243 when on board the newly restored Fifie boat The Swan LK243 with internationally renowned Shetland fiddle group Fiddlers Bid. I’d be hugely surprised to find the Bid on the line up for a classical music festival, but I think Catriona’s piece will make pleasing contrast to rest of programme by Aquarelle Guitar Quartet, which also features works by Rimsky-Korsakov, Piazzolla, and a selection of contemporary classical composers.
The 2010 HSBC Cheltenham Music Festival begins in less than two week’s time and we’ve a wide ranging programme for families, children, and both serious and light music lovers.
A few recommendations to help you around…
Opening night Rodgers and Hammerstein Gala on July 3 with tickets at a special price of £15 — more
The 24 year old sensational violinist Alina Ibragimova performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with the European Union Chamber Orchestra and with specially written poems by Andrew Motion — more
The ‘Rush Hour’ series of concerts at the Parabola Arts Centre — an hour of music at 6pm followed by a drink at the Hotel Du Vin (included in the £12.50 ticket prices). James Rhodes — ‘the classical pianist with a rock star attitude’ — starts the series on July 13 — more
O Duo — seen here in profile film as they work towards the world premiere of Stephen McNeff’s specially-commissioned work, CONCERTO-DUO, to be performed by the duo with BBC Symphony Orchestra at their 80th birthday concert at the Barbican Centre on 22 October 2010.
Thanks to Borletti-Buitoni Trust for the video clip.
Music Festival Intern Hannah Ross writes about her experiences so far…
“20kg of white rice… 6 white cabbages… 2 heads of garlic, was it?” Perhaps these are not quite the thoughts you might expect to be running through the head of an intern working at a music festival. Nor might you have imagined said intern looking for a tape measure and ending up using one of those metallic ones with the clippy bit at the end to get the chest measurements of a variety of t-shirts!
“…looking for a tape measure and ending up using one of those metallic ones with the clippy bit at the end to get the chest measurements of a variety of t-shirts!”
I count myself very lucky to be working as an intern at the Cheltenham Music Festival. It seems to be the case that for anyone trying to get into arts admin, competition is so high that unpaid internships are an essential part of your C.V. I’ve heard many horror stories about interns who are simply left to make tea and do photocopying, but luckily this is not the case for me! While there is indeed tea making and photocopying involved (and dishwasher unloading, and mailing preparation, and many other basic everyday tasks, as you’d expect), everyone takes on their fair share, and it’s a really inclusive and supportive environment to work in.
Music Festival Director Meurig Bowen reveals a little about what he and his colleagues are up to, now that the festival is less than a fortnight away…
A lot of people I meet, once they’ve found out that I direct a Music Festival (and once they’ve concealed their disappointment that it’s one of those music festivals, not a Glastonbury or Latitude — this admission, I realise, is akin to outing oneself as a lingerie model…but for a thermal underwear catalogue) are surprised to learn that it’s a full-time job, year-round. It seems they imagine I work on the Music Festival only on Sunday afternoons, and that I’m a day-job potter, plumber or low-mood therapy counsellor the rest of the time.
“…and at this time of year, it’s particularly full-time. And of course that applies to my Music Festival colleagues at Cheltenham Festivals too. We’re all pretty flat-out.”
Well, this is a full-time job; and at this time of year, it’s particularly full-time. And of course that applies to my Music Festival colleagues at Cheltenham Festivals too. We’re all pretty flat-out.
During the Science Festival we caught up with particle physicist Brian Cox, and asked him about his recent rise to fame and what it’s like to be a Guest Director.
What does it mean to you to be Guest Director of the festival this year?
A: It’s wonderful because it is the biggest science festival in Britain and I assume it will get bigger, and bigger, and bigger. It’s the 10th anniversary next year isn’t it? So I’ll probably be asking to be Guest Director again because I’ve enjoyed it. It’s brilliant! I’ve done a lot this weekend. The Wonders [of the Solar System] event was great. I did two of those. [The Infinite] Monkey Cage, which I really wanted to do live – well, it was the first time we’ve done that in front of a live audience and it was brilliant, so brilliant that I think we want to do it always in front of an audience now. And I gave my usual talk, except it wasn’t my usual talk because I decided to invent a new one for Cheltenham and did a load of relativity and made it really hard. So I think everyone sat there going ‘Oh God, it’s maths’. I actually did vector identity. The vector, the differential form of Maxwell’s equations and derived the space-time interval. So there we go. I think it was alright.
Why do you feel events like this are important?
A: Science is of primary importance. I honestly think that economically and culturally speaking, it’s the most important thing to be doing in Britain. I think we should make Britain the best place in the world to do science. I think that should be an aspiration. David Cameron should stand up as Prime Minister and say ‘I will make Britain the best place in the world to do science’. The thing is, it’s affordable. We only spend, in total, about ten billion a year on universities, about three and a half billion on R&D. If you were to be bold and double it, Britain would be the best place in the world to do science and you wouldn’t notice in the bottom line of the country. Well, it wouldn’t impact the bottom line downwards. What it would do is impact the bottom line massively upwards. But I think in order to evolve and want to do that in Britain, you need massive public support because it’s a great bold project. And so things like Cheltenham and science on TV are building support for science. We’re going to lead the revolution and make Britain a better place in the world to do science and it will start here. In fact, this is probably the capital of the new Britain. It’ll be Cheltenham Town Hall if I have anything to do with it! Is that a bit overly ambitious?
Is this your first visit to the Cheltenham Science Festival and what do you think of it?
A: No, I was here last year. I did some stuff with Jim Al-Khalili. It’s brilliant. I actually like the fact that it’s quite informal. I like the fact that there’s this room in the Town Hall and everyone mixes together. There’s not a kind of a separation between speakers and the public and there often is at big festivals because it kind of has to be arranged that way. But I like here the fact that you just meet everybody.
Congratulations on your OBE. How does it feel to have shot to fame so quickly?
A: It’s actually beyond odd now. I was in a band before and we had a number one single so I’ve seen it a little bit, but not actually on the scale of after Wonders of the Solar System. I actually have to change my lifestyle because it’s a lot of hassle. That’s good because what it really means is that people are engaging with science. I’m kind of lucky in a way because I seem to have been the first person for a while who has managed to take these wonderful ideas and I’ve been kind of conduit for them. And although a lot of people have been doing it for a long time, you get over critical mass with viewing figures with the BBC. That’s what it is. Usually, you’d get at most about two million people – if you’re lucky, three million – watching a big science show and we had six and a half, if you add them up, for each episode. It’s still on. They just keep repeating it so it’s just consistently picking up an audience. That makes a huge difference. I’m really surprised because suddenly, you do get genuinely noticed like a celebrity rather than a scientist. In fact, my wife found a blog where someone had written ‘The BBC should stop having celebrities like Brian Cox presenting science programmes, they should have scientists’. That’s the funny thing – you get an audience that don’t know who you are. They don’t actually know you’re a scientist. They think you’re on Jonathan Ross so therefore you’re some kind of television presenter. It’s kind of an accolade in a way isn’t it? There’s a definite jump which I wasn’t expecting that has been made because of that programme.
Do you think the media’s recent love of science has been responsible for your rise to fame and do you think that will continue to happen with more and more people?
A: Definitely. It was a conscious decision by the BBC to have the World of Wonder season – which is this kind of year of science – and commissioning programmes with scientists. I mean Kathy Sykes did programmes, Jim Al-Khalili has done them, Marcus du Sautoy, Alice Roberts. The great thing is, because of programmes like Horizon, you can take people who are academics and allow them to grow. It’s not automatic that you can make TV programmes. It takes some practice. You have to learn. And the BBC are excellent at doing that. So it’s not a random thing. I think it’s been building interest for a while and it is primarily down to the BBC I would say.
