Music Maestro please!

Saturday night launches festival fortnight

The 40th Newbury Spring Festival launches in style on Saturday night with two performances - the first at St Nics Church, where the Philharmonia Orchestra perform Elgar’s Cello Concerto with soloist Sheku Kannah-Mason, the 2016 BBC Young Musician of the Year, and opening the daily Corn Exchange programme with swing and jazz classics of the 1930s is the Michael Law’s Piccadilly Dance Orchestra.

The following fortnight will see more than 40 performances at venues in and around Newbury. Musicians from different genres of music will descend on Newbury from the worlds of classical, jazz, musical theatre, swing, folk, world-music, ballet and concerts for children and all the family.

Tickets are still available for some of the performances, in particular you can hear one of Britain’s leading pianists John Lill play Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra next Friday or the dynamic young choral group Sansara at East Woodhay Church on Thursday, May 24, with an all-English programme. You may prefer the Mugenkyo Taiko Drummers at the Corn Exchange on Tuesday or folk group Kabantu whose programme unravels new marriages of music from around the globe at Donnington Priory on Wednesday.

Even if the concert you want to go to is sold out, it’s worth going along on the night as more often than not there are returns available.

www.newburyspringfestival.org.uk