Tickets now on sale for the West Meon Music Festival 9th -12th September 2021
As with so many events this year, the West Meon Music Festival has been beset by doubts as to whether it would be possible to stage a full event or – as last year – would covid-19 regulations mean that plans would again need to be scaled back.
With restrictions now easing, festival organisers, the Primrose Piano Quartet, are confident that it will be business as usual – or almost. “Last year was the festival’s 10th anniversary,” says Susanne Stanzeleit, the quartet’s violinist, “but many of our planned events had to be cancelled due to the limitation on audience numbers, so we are delighted to be able to hold many of those concerts this year. There will be a few differences though with no paper tickets and some socially-distanced seating for those who prefer it.”
Postponed events now taking place this year include a recital by exciting young guitarist Laura Snowden, sponsored by the Southampton Classical Guitar Society, which will now be held on the morning of Saturday 11th September at All Saints Church, East Meon, while 2018 BBC Young Musician of the Year finalist, cellist Maxim Calver, will be giving his delayed recital at the Church of Our Lady in Warnford that afternoon.
The festival opens on Thursday 9th September with the Primrose performing two of the most popular piano quartets in the repertoire – by Mozart and Fauré – at St John’s Church in West Meon where the festival is based.
In all there will be 11 events spread through the four-day festival including master classes, a family concert, and three evening concerts which will include a performance of Brahms’ Horn Trio with leading UK horn player Stephen Stirling and a recital by international prize-winning pianist Roman Kosyakov. The festival ends on the afternoon of Sunday 12th September with a concert that includes Schumann’s exuberant Piano Quintet – regarded as one of his finest compositions – when members of the Primrose will be joined by more musical guests.
This year the festival also incorporates “Music for All” a series of free concerts thanks to a generous grant from the Lottery’s Community Fund, which is helping to support the recovery of live music missed by so many people during the lockdowns. “Music for All” includes Maxim Calver’s recital, a late night performance by the Primrose, the family concert and local band, Rehab Blues, performing at West Meon’s Thomas Lord pub.
“We know that some people may still be nervous about attending public events,” adds Stanzeleit, “so although we can have normal seating again throughout our venues, we shall have a section in each which is socially-distanced, for any who would feel happier with a little more separation.”
Full details of all the festival programmes can be found on the festival website,http://www.westmeonmusic.co.uk, where tickets are on sale from 1st August.
Breaking the Isolation
CONCERTS, OPERA, THEATRE and DANCE IN YOUR HOME
As we are all coming to terms with locking down to beat this medical tornado called COVID-19, many of us are also having to come to terms with missing a season of great concerts and events that have all been cancelled. This is entirely understandable, especially as the disease is already taking its toll within the musical community, and we of course wish that butchers bill be light, that those laid low with this awful disease (from all walks of life) recover swiftly and fully, and that the whole thing be consigned to history soon. However, until that day comes, concerts, gigs, festivals and other musical events are put on hiatus.
Although
The one glimmer of positivity in all this is that we have better communications systems than ever before, and we no longer have to be in the concert hall to experience the concert. Alongside the army of musicians presenting gigs from their living rooms, and isolated musicians finding innovative ways of creating a Zoom-based orchestra, there is a healthy back-catalogue of recorded concerts and events, many of which are now being made available online, often for free for limited periods.
One such option is 50 classic festival concerts from the Montreux Jazz Festival, all available free to stream for 30 days. These include a diverse range of artists, including Ray Charles, Carlos Santana, Nina Simone, Deep Purple, and Marvin Gaye and even the Wu-Tang Clan! To learn more about this service, go here: https://www.montreuxjazzfestival.com/en/50-concerts-to-stream/
Montreux is not alone in doing this. The Berliner Philharmonic has made access to its digital concert hall free during the lockdowns, with access to its hundreds of concerts and movies about classical artists connected with the orchestra. To learn more about this service, go here: https://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concerts
Similarly, the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam has unlocked its past concerts for enthusiasts to watch and enjoy: https://www.concertgebouworkest.nl/en/video-overview, while the Opera Philadelphia is streaming an Audio-On-Demand premier of Breaking The Waves (composed by Missy Mazzoli with a libretto by Royve Vavrek) on SoundCloud here: https://www.operaphila.org/whats-on/on-stage-2016-2017/breaking-the-waves/audio-stream/.
Moving across to YouTube, The Royal Opera House is streaming recorded weekly ballets or operas, then making them available on demand after the first stream. For more details, go here: https://www.youtube.com/user/RoyalOperaHouse
THEATRE
National Theatre at Home
The National Theatre will stream some of the best British theatre free to your home from here. The productions will be available to view for free for one week.
Royal Shakespeare Company’s Culture in Quarantine
As part of the BBC’s plans to keep bringing arts to audiences, you will be able to watch the following six RSC productions in the next few weeks. Exact details of the times and dates are yet to be released, but will be updated here.
Shakespeare’s Globe
Access from here.
DANCE AND OPERA
The Royal Opera House
As part of their #OurHouseToYourHouse initiative, the Royal Opera House will be offering a programme of free broadcasts and live content that audiences can access at anytime, anywhere across the globe, bringing both ballet and opera to every home and every device.
Sadlers Wells
Sadler’s Wells will be screening archive performances, special one-off created just for screen and dance workshops aimed at a variety of ages from a family workout for ages two-to six, to classes for the over sixties.
The Sadler’s Wells’ Digital Stage is here
ONLINE CHOIRS AND SINGAGLONGS
There is a lot more to be had online, and we want this to be an open-source service to music and art lovers. If you know of an orchestra, band, theatre or concert hall that is doing the same service, please reply to let us know.
Thank you!