british composer awards new category

applications forms for the 2009 British Composer Awards landed today, and I'm delighted to see that they have introduced a new category - Contemporary Jazz Composition. As someone who has commissioned, supported and promoted jazz composers to create new work or develop new collaborations over recent years, albeit in my own small way, it is great news for the more substantial fruits of their work to gain appropriate recognition rather than be a square peg in the round hole of other categories. That said, Gwilym Simcock's 2006 Lichfield Suite stood up strongly on its own when it was shortlisted in the Wind Band or Brass Band category in 2007.

more mantra videos

here are the other four videos

seven elements on radio 3

just found out that BBC Radio 3 plan to record the fourth and final part of the Confluences Project on 15 July. If 'hat trick' is three in a row, what is the word for four in a row?
I'll be down in Salisbury on Monday for the world premiere at the Salisbury Festival.

mantra videos

Seems they have been hidden away in our office for months, but we've rediscovered them so that we can finally share some of the thinking behind this year's extraordinary Mantra project, with the Orlando Consort, Kuljit Bhamra, Jonathan Mayer and Shahid Khan.



more to come...

natasha's a hit, baby

check out the excellent reviews from emerging theatre group The Happiness Patrol's latest show - four-star from the Birmingham Post and another one here. THP visit Lichfield with a brand new show in July.

lakeman revealed

I am delighted to announce that Seth Lakeman, the wonderful West Country fiddler and folk singer, will be performing as part of this year's Festival on Thursday 16 July. Our mysterious Mystery Gig is finally revealed!

I first heard Seth's music when his album Kitty Jay arrived in my office just after I started here in 2005. I was hoping to bring him to last year's festival, but that sadly didn't work out, so I'm thrilled that he is finally coming for his first visit to Lichfield.

Over recent years the festival has welcomed quite a few rising stars from the UK folk scene, including Jim Moray, Lisa Knapp, Andy May and Ian Stephenson, as well as groups that have tapped into that rich vein of British folk music while mixing it with folk traditions of other countries, like Salsa Celtica, Baltic Crossing and this year's Moishe's Bagel. But all of this has very much been complimenting the thriving folk scene in Lichfield that has been going on for years with the regular events promoted by Lichfield Arts as well as the Lichfield Folk Festival.

More information about Seth Lakeman's gig can be found here and tickets can be purchased here.

bugs, butterflies, bark

over the last month, I have tended to cut through the gardens of Erasmus Darwin House rather than walk on the street for the final bit of my car-office commute . Most people access the gardens via the archway below my office, but few realise that you can come in from Beacon Street directly. Erasmus is, of course, Charles Darwin's grandfather, coming up with a coherent theory of evolution nearly 70 years before his grandson did.
Hidden in amongst this wonderful Herb Garden are some of the most striking flowers and plants I've seen in ages, and it has been a regular refresher before spending the day slaving of a hot computer. EDH is due to close for refurbishments during June, but the the gardens will remain accessible and free and fabulous during this time.

The Festival's Education team was planning to hold nature-themed arts activities at EDH for under 5s on the day the festival opens (9 July). Called Bugs, Butterflies and Bark, this wee event has proven so popular that we've had to schedule an extra day on the day before the Festival (8 July), and that too is on the cusp of reaching capacity.
The winning enquiry so far is from a woman who call the Festival Office wanting to speak to the person organising this participatory event, wondering if she was able to get advice about the bees nesting in her roof. Would any apiologists please step forward...

and the winner is...

Valery Gergiev, Lichfield Festival's Patron, has just won the Conductor category of this year's Royal Philharmonic Society Awards. As the jury writes,

The award goes to a conductor of unique talent and personality. A mercurial figure on the international musical stage, he chooses to devote a significant amount of time to music making in the UK, particularly with the London Symphony Orchestra. Intensity and passion - and a high level of risk taking - are the hallmarks of his conducting, and he pursues a single-minded advocacy of composers in whom he believes. He is a conductor who makes things happen - an inspiration to players and audiences alike: Valery Gergiev.

on the cusp of Finkelstein's Castle

tomorrow night at the Brighton Festival, Finkelstein's Castle, the sequel to SharpWire's Johnny's Midnight Goggles that blew audiences away last year, receives its world premiere. Over a week ago there were only 10 tickets left, and by now I'm pretty certain that both performances have sold out. Both FC and JMG get first time West Midlands performances over the first four days of the Lichfield Festival. An extract from Johnny's Midnight Goggles can be found here. You can get a blow by blow account as SharpWire travel the country from here.

lichfield blog shortlisted for major award

the 2009 Parliamentary Jazz Awards shortlist was announced today and among the nominations is the fabulous jazzbreakfast run by Lichfield resident Peter Bacon, shortlisted in the Jazz Publication category alongside Jazzwise magazine and jazzreloaded.com.

As Peter states, this is:

proof at last that the new media are as valued as the old, and that when it comes to what is, let us face it, a niche interest, the web or blog site is the perfect vehicle for sharing information about and enthusiasm for this treasured art form.

Through jazzbreakfast, Peter provides one of the most entertaining, erudite, uptodate and prophetic accounts of jazz in Britain that I am aware of. He also rigorously supports rising talent throughout the West Midlands, and there are many artists who have received a leg up from a jazzbreakfast review or comment.
Hidden away in the jazzbreakfast delights are also details of what the world's greatest jazz players really do have for breakfast. Peter has been the jazz reviewer for the Birmingham Post for fifteen years, and Administrator for the Lichfield Festival since 2004.

Speard the word, spread the love, and let's all wish him well deserved good luck for when winners are announced on 20 May.

hit the baby, natasha

The Happiness Patrol, the young theatre company from Birmingham who will be performing their newly commissioned show Tales of Terror at the Lichfield Festival between 15-18 July, have an even newer show to do before then. Hit the Baby, Natasha! is Philip Holyman's reworking of Chekov's Three Sisters, and runs from 21 -23 May at Birmingham's Old Joint Stock Theatre. Tickets available via here.

Philip Holyman, Artistic Director of The Happiness Patrol, has previously been involved with the Festival when he rewrote Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows into Mr Toad's Prison Break, an outdoor theatre show for families, as part of last autumn's Lichfield Literature weekend.

For those that might be interested, a review of their previously sold out show Masque of the Red Death from can be found here.