Halesworth Arts Festival 2015

14th Year of North Suffolk’s Favourite Festival

Details of the 14th year of the largest arts festival in North Suffolk have now been released. Headed up by The Swingles, Dillie Keane, the Demon Barbers and David Gower, there should be something for everyone with 22 events over 15 days.

Halesworth is a market town in North Suffolk, 8 miles inland from Southwold on the coast. The New Cut Arts Centre has been home to the highly acclaimed Halesworth Arts Festival. The Cut, as it is known, is a fine old converted maltings building with a purpose built auditorium that had raked seating for 240 and superb acoustics.

This small Festival consistently punches above its weight and nowadays attracts audiences from all over the country. Artists appearing over the years have included musicians John Williams, Emma Johnson, Benjamin Grosvenor, Dame Evelyn Glennie and Julian Lloyd Webber; jazz legends such as Glenn Miller Orchestra, Georgie Fame, Paul Jones and Julian Joseph; folk artists like Kathryn Tickell and Show of Hands; comedy performers such as Marcus Brigstoke, Shappi Khorsandi, Arthur Smith, Jeremy Hardy and actors such as Simon Callow.

Tickets can be booked online at the Festival website www.halesworthartsfestival.org.uk, by post, by phone on 01986 874264 or in person at the Festival box office. A downloadable copy of the printed programme is available on our site.

Thank you. We really appreciate your support.

This year’s Events:

Saturday 10th October
SHIR
COMPLETE JEWISH MUSIC

“Shir provides a harmony of shalom and happiness, and combines virtuosity with accessibility”
Klezmer, Israeli, Sefardi, Yiddish, Ladino and Mizrahi all mix together to create an exciting evening of spontaneous energy and emotion.

Music to cry, smile, laugh and dance to.

The Cut 7.30pm £13.50

Sunday 11th October
Echoes of Ellington
JAZZ ORCHESTRA

In 1914, a young man called Edward Ellington wrote a simple piano piece entitled Soda Fountain Rag. Over the next sixty years, he would compose a canon of work which would have him recognised as the foremost American composer of any genre.

Echoes of Ellington was first formed in 1994 to celebrate the Duke’s music, and to bring it by live performance to a modern audience.

Today, the orchestra is in its finest incarnation yet, with highly specialised virtuoso players on all the instruments who understand intimately the nuances put on the page by the Duke. Whether a familiar standard such as Satin Doll, or a rare marvel from one of the Suites, you can be sure of a sonic big band journey like no other.

The show is conducted and presented by clarinettist Peter Long, who over the years has built a reputation as the pre-eminent big band frontman in the United Kingdom today.

The Cut 7.30pm £19.50

Monday 12th October
Heart & Harp
BRIDGET COUSINS & VIRGINIE ROUDIER

Two very different harpists provide a feast of traditional and contemporary Celtic harp delights with a folk flavour.

This is Virginie’s debut at the Cut, while Bridget makes a welcome return.

Performing individually and together, Virginie and Bridget enjoy the chemistry and spontaneity of a new musical relationship born of a common love of the instrument.

The Cut 2.30pm £9.50

Monday 12th October
Piccadilly
SILENT MOVIE/LIVE MUSIC: STEPHEN HORNE piano, with MARTIN PYNE percussion

Talk of the town, the Piccadilly nightclub is in danger of decline when manager Valentine sacks his star attraction.
A young Chinese woman, working in the kitchen, is given the chance to become the club’s main act which soon leads to a plot of betrayal, forbidden love and murder.

A film noir made in 1929, before the term was in use, Piccadilly is one of the true greats of British silent films, on a par with the best work of Anthony Asquith or Alfred Hitchcock in the period. What marks the movie out is the astonishing confidence of its direction

The Cut 7.30pm £8.50

Tuesday 13th October
Cellophony
EIGHT CELLOS/ONE STAGE

London based cello octet Cellophony have rapidly established themselves as the UK’s leading cello ensemble, carving a reputation as accomplished exponents of both the standard cello ensemble repertoire and a diverse array of specially commissioned arrangements and adaptations.

This unique repertoire base and its exhilarating delivery on stage have won the group a following across the globe, with acclaimed performances on the festival scene across Europe and as far afield as South Korea. The members of Cellophony also work as soloists and chamber musicians all over the world

The Cut 7.30pm £16.50

Wednesday 14th October
Ji Liu PIANO

“Here is a young pianist with a rare sense of inborn musicality…. Yes, there are too many pianists around these days, but way too few of them are anything like Ji Liu.”Pianist Magazine Editor’s Choice AAAAA
In 2014 Ji’s debut CD Piano Reflections was released by Classic FM and immediately went on to become No.1 in the classical charts. Born in 1990, Ji Liu studied at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, with Dmitri Bashkirov, at the Escuela Música Reina Sofía, and with Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music.

The Cut 7.30pm £14.50

Thursday 15th October
Hamlet
LIVE FROM THE NATIONAL THEATRE

A screening of the sellout NT production.

PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH NEW CUT ARTS.

The Cut 7.30pm £12.00

Friday 16th October
Under the Arabian Sky
MIDDLE EASTERN DANCE

Once there was a land of camels, of silks, of fabulously wealthy palaces, Sultans and princes, Grand Viziers, guards with turbans and gleaming, polished scimitars, where women were scented, had kohl under their eyes and lounged on cushions or danced. And most importantly there was magic. There were snake charmers, flying carpets, angry djinns and helpful genies stuck in bottles and lanterns, who would do the will of their masters.  There were palaces that could appear and disappear in a trice, or be transported across vast deserts to another place, leaving just an empty space where they once were. Here the storytellers wove their magic to beguile all who listened and watched, as one tale after another unfolded.

The Cut 7.30pm £12.50

Saturday 17th October
Dillie Keane
IN CABARET

Dillie Keane takes a short break from her Fascinating Aïda gal pals to present her first solo show in 557 years.
With some brand new songs, some grand old favourites, gorgeous songs of love and songs of disgraceful filth, Dillie will break your heart, mend it again and have it sent to the cleaners for pressing. And she’ll give you her recipe for chutney while she’s at it.

The Cut 7.30pm £16.50

Sunday 18th October
Threads
JULIA BLACKBURN & DIANA QUICK

In her new book Threads, the novelist Julia Blackburn explores the illusive story of the fisherman/artist John Craske, alongside her love of East Anglia: its landscape, its seascape, its people. Diana Quick will read some of the stories from the book and together, they will discuss how the book took shape.

The Cut 11.30am £9.50

Sunday 18th October
Brian Patten
A LIVERPOOL POET HOLDS FORTH

Brian Patten is one of the UK’s best-loved poets.

Since making his name in the 1960s with Adrian Henri and Roger McGough and The Mersey Sound anthology, he’s written over fifty best-selling books for adults and children. Fantastic live, don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear him deliver his bittersweet, playful and humorous poems in person.

Followed by a conversation recalling landmark moments in his writing life, prompted by The Poetry Trust’s Creative Director Dean Parkin.

PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE POETRY TRUST

The Cut 7.30pm £12.50

Monday 19th October
Rags to Riches
HELEN CRAYFORD & PIANO

Helen will transport you on a fascinating whistle-stop tour of Ragtime, Novelty Piano and early Jazz, featuring Scott Joplin, “Fats” Waller and George Gershwin, all performed in costumes of the period 1890-1940.

The Cut 2.30pm £9.50

Monday 19th October
Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project

Waveney Bird Club and Suffolk Ornithologists Group invite you to attend their fundraising event in aid of the Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project (SCBOP).

This year the project celebrates its 10th year of Barn Owl conservation.  SCBOP was announced the 2015 Winner of

Creating the Greenest County Awards Landscape and Biodiversity Category.

Our Guest speaker will be Colin Shawyer, author of The Barn Owl.  Colin is widely recognised for his work on the study and conservation of owls and raptors. As a professional ecologist he worked with the BTO on Project Barn Owl (1995-1997) and the Barn Owl Monitoring Programme (2000-2009). Founder and co-ordinator of the Barn Owl Conservation Network (BOCN), Colin regularly contacts the Suffolk Project and other experts across the country and oversees the annual monitoring of over 3,000 Barn Owl Nest Boxes.

All profits will go to The Suffolk Community Barn Owl Project

The Cut 7.30pm £10.00

Tuesday 20th October
The Royal Collection
U3A LECTURE BY CHRISTOPHER LLOYD

The Royal Collection has one of the largest and most significant groups of old master paintings in existence. Extending from Hans Holbein the Younger in the sixteenth century to Lucian Freud in our own time, the collection includes outstanding works by leading artists of the Italian (Duccio, Mantegna, Caravaggio, Canaletto),German (Durer), Flemish (Rubens, Van Dyck), Dutch (Rembrandt, Vermeer, Cuyp, de Hooch), French (Claude), and British (Reynolds, Gainsborough, Lawrence, Landseer) schools.

Many of these paintings are still displayed in the royal residences for which they were created or acquired. The lecture will discuss the aims and highlight the interests and achievements of those monarchs who were instrumental in  forming the collection: Charles 1, George 111, George 1V and Queen Victoria.  Yet, just as the historical context is all-important for a proper appreciation of the Royal Collection, so too it is legitimate to ask what role it should play in the modern world.

PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH U3A.

The Cut 2.30pm £5.00

Tuesday 20th October
Aquarelle Guitar Quartet

Recognised as one of Britain’s leading chamber music groups, the Aquarelle Guitar Quartet is a dynamic and innovative ensemble known for its extraordinary achievements in performance, its expansive repertoire and its ground breaking work in developing the guitar quartet medium.

The quartet has performed extensively across the UK and abroad to critical acclaim, and is admired for its original arrangements of music from a wide range of styles, periods and cultures. They have received many awards and their recordings for Chandos Records have been widely acclaimed.

The Cut 7.30pm £16.50

Wednesday 21st October
The Swingles
THE WORLD’S GREAT A CAPELLA GROUP

Not many artists make it to 50 years. Fewer still would decide to use that milestone to make the most forward- facing music of their career. The Swingles are a group like no other.  The Swingle Singers of the 1960s won five Grammys® and collaborated with musical icons the Modern Jazz Quartet and Luciano Berio. For many, their agile interpretations of Bach redefined what singing could be.

The 7 stunning singers that make up today’s UK-based group use their voices to conjure imaginative worlds. Above all, there is the primal power of voices raised together in harmony. Deep End, their latest album, defies expectations. Anything but a nostalgia act, the Swingles are celebrating their half-century by making vital music, once again.

The Cut 7.30pm £24.50

Thursday 22nd October
Dickens Abridged
FAST-PACED MUSICAL COMEDY

From Adam Long, founding member of The Reduced Shakespeare Company and co-creator of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) comes Dickens Abridged – a fast-paced musical comedy. An absurdly talented cast of four bring hundreds of the great author’s best-loved characters to life in 70 minutes of madcap Dickensian mayhem. It also delves into the bizarre-but-true story of Charles Dickens’ own life, including his complicated romantic entanglements and his inexplicable enthusiasm for performing the bludgeoning scene from Oliver Twist over and over and over again. A singing, dancing love-letter to the life and works of the great man and unlike any Dickens-based show you’ve ever seen before.

“IRREVERENT, WITTY, FAST-PACED AND OUTRAGEOUS!” The Stage

The Cut 7.30pm £16.50

Friday 23rd October
Crickets & Bats
DAVID GOWER & SIMON BARNES

As an icon of British cricket David Gower needs no introduction. Reflecting on a lifetime’s passion for sport he entertains his audiences with his laid back humour and endless source of amusing anecdotes from his days at the crease and from his extensive travels. David also has a passion for wildlife, resulting from his childhood in Africa.
David will be joined on stage by sports writer and nature journalist Simon Barnes. In sport Simon has witnessed World Cups, Wimbledons and world records in Olympic Games, and will talk with David about sporting highlights. Simon has also walked with lions and night-stalked leopards in Africa, patted a grey whale in California and watched a flight of ten million fruit bats in Zambia. David and he will share wildlife anecdotes too.

PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE WORLD LAND TRUST.

The Cut 7.30pm £15.00

Saturday 24th October
From Screen to Green
A HIDDEN WORLD IN HALESWORTH

What you can see if you’re able to leave your desk.
Halesworth’s Millennium Green is the largest single Millennium Green in the country. Stretching along the banks of the River Blyth, it is a haven for wildlife and a beautiful, tranquil place to unwind that now covers 50 acres. Dan Bradbury and Scott Guiver, from Halesworth based conservation charity World Land Trust, try to escape their desks armed with cameras and binoculars for their lunch breaks, when they can. Join them as they take you through a light hearted presentation into what can be seen in our local beauty spot, if you have 40 minutes to spare. Sharing stories and photographs of their sightings they will explain why they believe Millennium Green is so important. With kingfishers, tree-creepers and water voles, we are sure you will agree that Halesworth is home to some of the most endearing creatures on the planet.

3.15-4pm: Once the presentation at The Cut has finished, join Dan and Scott for a guided walk around Millennium Green.

PRESENTED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE WORLD LAND TRUST.

The Cut 2.00pm £5.00

Saturday 24th October
Glories of Venice
HALESWORTH FESTIVAL VOICES

Our annual excursion to the town’s church. Music includes works by VIVALDI, ALBINONI & MONTEVERDI

St Mary’s Church 7.30pm £13.50

Sunday 25th October
Demon Barbers XL

Winners of ‘Best Live Act’ @ BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Renowned for their no holds barred approach to their live shows, The Demon Barbers return to the concert stage with a new repertoire, extra band members and a modern twist to their multi-award winning Roadshow.

Since winning ‘Best Live Act’ The Demon Barbers have been immersed in the development of their Folk & Hip Hop Dance Extravaganza ‘The Lock In’. Following a number of successful UK tours, including high profile shows at Glastonbury Festival and 5 star reviews for their 2 week run at Edinburgh Fringe, The Demon Barbers now bring some of the UK’s most exciting young Clog, Sword, Hip Hop & Break dancers onto the concert stage to create the live folk music & dance spectacular of the year!

Combining solid traditional acoustic instruments and songs with the added oomph of a superbly tight rhythm section they create a unique and captivating sound.

The Cut 7.30pm £19.50

& Sunday 15th November
Kathryn Tickell & the Side

Chanelling their diverse musical experiences into a powerful new sound The Side stay true to the spirit and essence of Kathryn’s own Northumbrian folk tradition whilst unleashing the talent and creativity of each individual musician.

Evocative slow airs that could break your heart move seamlessly into life-affirming jigs and reels; Amy storms into a clog dance; Kathryn’s dizzying rapid-fire piping contrasts with the richness of the cello and Ruth’s sparkling harp playing melds it all together – a very special evening is in store in the company of Kathryn and The Side.

The Cut 7.30pm £19.50

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Art Exhibitions

OPEN DAILY FROM 10.30am THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL with works by JOHN NICHOLSON, HELEN COCKBURN, LISA ADAMCZEWSKI, IRINA SIBRIJINS, TONY LAWS and LIZ SHACKLETON

Admission Free

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Art Box

We are also showing some remarkable work by members of Artbox, our local local not-for-profit group that provides art sessions for adults with learning disabilities as part of their work.

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Halesworth Arts Festival

New Cut, Halesworth IP19 8BY

www.halesworthartsfestival.org.uk

REGISTERED CHARITABLE INCORPORATED ORGANISATION No: 1156374

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