Headline acts confirmed for festival

By [fsalter]

ENSEMBLE Bash and the Delta Saxophone Quartet will headline this year's Grimsby St Hugh's Festival.

The 2009 musical extravaganza – which is made up of five classical concerts – will run from Friday, September 4, to Sunday, September 6, at St James' Church, Grimsby.

David Power, founder and artistic director of the Grimsby St Hugh's Festival, said: "I am delighted we can present such an exciting festival this year.

"All of the concerts will be thoroughly enjoyable and I hope as many people as possible will give them a try.

"We understand that we are living in economically difficult times and so we are offering a season ticket for the whole festival of just £35 which we feel is very good value indeed."

On Friday, September 4, at 7.30pm, critically-acclaimed percussionists the Delta Saxophone Quartet will give a concert of music by three of the world's most popular living composers – Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Michael Nyman. Alongside this will be arrangements of songs by legendary rock group Soft Machine, in what promises to be a thoroughly enjoyable concert.

The following day, from 7.30pm, Ensemble Bash will bring the music of three continents to Grimsby. From their extensive study in Ghana, they play the sweet buzzing xylophone, the haunting jangle of the bells and the muscular power of the mighty fontomfrom drums – the drums of the Royal Court of the Ashanti people.

The clean, cool lines of New York minimalism are present in Steve Reich's classic work Drumming, as well as the newest, most exciting young Brooklyn talent Lukas Ligeti.

British jazz legend Keith Tippett's delicate and magical Dance of the Dragonfly – a piece specially written for the members of Ensemble Bash – will be performed alongside Stephen Montague's music theatre piece where an exclusive dinner party turns into a duel of wine glasses and scrubbing brushes.

Tickets for both these concerts are priced at £10, or £8 for concessions.

The festival closes with a complete performance of Monteverdi's Vespers on Sunday, September 6, at 7.30pm, by the Yorkshire Bach Choir conducted by Peter Seymour.

The Vespers was written before he took up his position as maestro di cappella at St Mark's, Venice.

However, it is clear that he had the splendours of both that specific church and city in mind when composing one of the most lavish and spectacular collections of the Baroque.

This performance will be in Monteverdi's more intimate version for voices and a continuo of organ and chitarrone recorded by YBC in 2006 for commercial release. All tickets for this concert are £12.

These performances will be complemented by lunchtime concerts on Friday, September 4, at 1pm, by the York Guitar Quartet, who perform an exciting concert of new works written for the quartet.

Their eclectic yet accessible repertoire includes pieces influenced by East European and African music, flamenco, minimalism, rock and jazz.

And on Saturday, September 5, at 1pm, Ben Frith will give a piano recital comprising of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata and Shumann's Carnaval alongside piano miniatures by two local composers, David Power and William Meek.

Tickets for the lunchtime concerts are £6 or £4 for concessions.

Find out more

Tickets are available from the Caxton Theatre Box Office at Grimsby Central Library by calling (01472) 346251 or on the door.

For more, visit www.grimsby-st-hughs-festival.org.uk

For the latest Bounce Back campaign news, visit www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk/bounceback

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