Wiltshire Music Centre has announced its Spring/Summer 2021 programme that contains something for all music fans.
LIVESTREAM: BELSHAZZAR’S FEAST
SAT 8 MAY 7.30PM
Available to Watch Again until Wednesday 12 May
An exclusive online evening of musical treats and witty conversation. One of the best-loved duos in folk music, previous BBC Folk Awards Best Duo nominees Belshazzar’s Feast start with traditional folk music, add a touch of classical and jazz, throw in a bit of pop and music hall, and top it off with a wry humour that has won them fans across the world. Paul Sartin (of Bellowhead and Faustus) and Paul Hutchinson (of Pagoda Project) have together wowed audiences with their eclectic and eccentric mix of songs and tunes and their between-songs chat guaranteed to send audiences home with smiles on their faces.
Tickets: £12 Book now
LIVESTREAM: REYLON YOUNT YANGQIN
WED 12 MAY 1PM
Available to Watch Again until Sunday 16 May
Outstanding Chinese-American yangqan player makes his WMC debut. City Music Foundation Artist Reylon Yangqin draws on his eighteen years of experience as a trailblazing yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer) player to present a cinematic solo programme of traditional and contemporary Chinese music. Embracing the emotive storytelling aspect of his music tradition, Reylon transports us through a range of beautiful scenes: from a celebration of the arrival of rain in Thunder After the Drought, to a moment of solitary freedom along an abandoned railroad in Strange. The adventure culminates in the world premiere of ANTARA, an ethereal experiment by Taiwanese composer Chia-Ying Lin, commissioned by the London-based artist collective Tangram.
2PM Post-concert Q&A with the artist
Tickets: £10 / £25 Young Artist Series Pass (3 concerts)
LIVESTREAM: NISHLA SMITH / TOM HARRIS
WED 26 MAY 1PM
Available to Watch Again until Sunday 30 May
Journey through ‘The Garden’ with rising jazz stars. ‘The Garden’ is a new concept concert from imaginative song-interpreters Nishla Smith and Tom Harris. Together the City Music Foundation Artists paint an enchanting vision of a fantasy world in this one-off set for Wiltshire Music Centre. Awoken at witching hour, and unable to find sleep again, our narrator finds her way outside, to the moonlit garden. She wanders the paths, thinking of people she’s met, places she’s travelled, things she’s done, and opportunities missed. Her fondest memories and deepest regrets. Plant perfumes, bird calls, and the slow rising of the sun bring songs from her childhood bubbling to the surface. Imagining this story, Smith and Harris weave together beloved songs and original music with new poetry, stories, and musical interludes.
2PM Post-concert Q&A with the artists
Tickets: £10 / £25 Young Artist Series Pass (3 concerts)
LIVESTREAM: GEORGE FU PIANO
WED 9 JUN 1PM
Available to Watch Again until Sunday 13 May
Young virtuoso pianist presents inspired lunchtime programme.
DEBUSSY Selections from ‘Études’, L. 136
GEORGE FU Passacaglia on a theme by Radiohead
BRAHMS Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Händel, Op. 24
City Music Foundation Artist George Xiaoyuan Fu plays an inspired recital filled with compositions inspired by other works. The programme opens with a selection from Debussy’s Études, short studies that look back at Chopin while deploying colours that reach toward the avant-garde. The pianist’s own composition, Passacaglia on a theme by Radiohead, is a fantasy composed upon a theme from Airbag, one in which the theme appears “in many different guises… always staying true to the major-minor/yin-yang seesawing that is at the core of its bittersweet, Sehnsucht-ridden DNA.” Finally, Brahms’ Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Händel is a youthful piece filled with ingenuity and variety, culminating in a highly complex and exciting fugue.
2PM Post-concert Q&A with the artist
Tickets: £10 / £25 Young Artist Series Pass (3 concerts)
LIVESTREAM: SANSARA
SAT 19 JUN 7.30PM
Available to Watch Again until Wednesday 23 May
Programme to include:
LUIS DE VICTORIA O quam gloriosum
BRAHMS Warum ist das Licht gegeben
SCHUMANN Abendfeier in venedig
PARRY Songs of Farewell (1-4)
GALVANI Alma Redemptoris Mater
Leading chamber choir present programme of stillness and light. Known for their “breathtaking interpretations” (Choir & Organ), award-winning vocal ensemble SANSARA presents an evening of choral music specially curated for the Wiltshire Music Centre. Featuring music from the Renaissance through to present, this varied programme invites moments of stillness and reflection for times of change before looking to the future with hope and joy. The programme will feature several of Hubert Parry’s stunning Songs of Farewell, alongside Brahms’ large scale motet Warum ist das Licht gegeben and music by William Byrd, Clara Schumann, Rhiannon Randle and SANSARA’s Associate Composer Marco Galvani.
Tickets: £12 Book now
The Arts in Wiltshire 