Programme:
F.Liszt – Paraphrase on Ernani
J.S.Bach – Prelude and Fugue no.16 Vol II
F.Chopin – Etude Op10 no.8
Available to watch on our Facebook page bit.ly/
or on our website https://www.
Garsington Opera is delighted to announce the launch of Music for the Eyes – a weekly online documentary featuring music from Garsington Opera and images from the National Gallery of London. It will be premiered at 6pm every Wednesday in May on Garsington Opera’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. The first 30 minute episode appears this Wednesday 6 May.
Each week a panel of experts led by Johnny Langridge and Imogen Tedbury will take an
operatic theme and explore its context within visual art, literature and more.
The first episode is centred around Le nozze di Figaro and features director John Cox,
conductor Douglas Boyd (Garsington Opera’s Artistic Director) and Caroline McCaffrey-
Howarth (18th Century Curator at V&A).
Future guests will be announced weekly.
‘A gentle walk through the arts in their broadest sense, focusing each week on an
operatic theme and taking time with leading experts to look at its context within
visual art, literature and more.
A collaboration between Garsington Opera and Dr Imogen Tedbury (Curatorial
Fellow, National Gallery of London), we aim to draw unexpected and playful
connections between arts, taking a wider view of particular historic moments
through culture.
By looking at opera and art side by side we can discover unexpected points of
connection that can bring solace through reflection in our current situation.’
Johnny Langridge, Director of Communications, Garsington Opera
Grab an instrument and play along with thousands of musicians across the UK in a heartfelt performance of Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’ dedicated to those who need it the most.
While the concert halls and schools are closed, the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain’s musicians are still on a mission, ready to share music and inspire others through performance, and making every effort to continue to be an uplifting musical community at this time.
Although NYO cannot meet physically as an orchestra, they are inviting every musician in the UK to pick up their instruments and share a massed performance of Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’, as a gesture of community and solidarity, dedicated to the people in society who might be in need of a musical-pick-me-up: our hospital staff, key workers, supermarket workers, friends and family in isolation, and vulnerable members of society.
At 5pm on 17th April, NYO’s 164 musicians will throw open their windows, get out on their doorstep, and share their own 40 second performance of the well-known piece. In the days before, they will all be meeting on a ‘digital residency’, where they will spend time playing together in small groups, creating multi-track videos, perfecting their practice techniques, and connecting with each other musically, as well as creating resources and guidance for everyone joining in with the Ode to Joy-a-thon at home.
NYO want as many musicians as possible to join in, and have published the music for those who play at all levels, coming up with ways for everyone to perform, whatever their instrument.
Sheet music can be downloaded at this link: https://www.nyo.org.uk/ode-to-
They will be sharing the performances as widely as possible on their channels, and encourage those involved to capture their performance on video or photo and share using the hashtag #NYOdetoJoy, including who they’re dedicating the performance to.
Like all cultural organisations, we at the BBC Proms are currently dealing with unprecedented challenges and uncertainty. We are still hoping that the Proms will be part of the summer this year, although that will involve adapting and changing the festival we originally planned. We are working hard to find the best way to deliver Sir Henry Wood’s mission to make the best classical music available to the widest possible audience.
Due to the current situation we are delaying the announcement of our season, the publication of the Official Proms Guide and tickets won’t be going on sale on 16 May as had been planned. We are closely following developing news and guidance from the government and public health authorities, and will update everyone with our plans for the 125th-anniversary season of the Proms by the end of May. Our number one priority will always be the safety of everyone involved with, and attending the Proms.
All of us at the BBC Proms stand with music lovers everywhere and cultural friends and artists around the world affected by COVID-19.
Hastings International Piano presents a series of online short concerts, which continues this Friday 10th April at 7pm GMT+1 with a recital from our 2015 Competition winner Alexander Panfilov.
Programme
Watch on our FACEBOOK page or via our WEBSITE
In these times when the livelihood of our musicians is at risk, we have launched this series to support the careers of our prizewinners and will be paying them a performance fee. The concerts are free to view, but viewers will be able to make a voluntary donation to Hastings International Piano Engagement Fund, or choose to join as a Friend.
Visiting Hastings Contemporary via robot
Being in total lockdown myself, the robot experience at Hastings Contemporary seemed remarkably apt. I had been booked in for a private tour to get to grips with the system – which proved to be remarkably easy – though getting used to just who you are when you log on was at first a little disconcerting. Those who recall Silent Running may remember the three little robots, Huey, Dewey and Louie. At Hastings Contemporary I suddenly became one of them with a very similar sense of articulation. Using the arrows on my keyboard I was able to move forward and backward, and then turn left or right with the side arrows. There is also a facility for lifting the camera – my eye – to a higher vantage point. After basic instruction I was able to tour one of the galleries by myself. The present exhibition includes work by Ann Ryan entitled Earthly Delites. I found it easy to navigate the various tables on which the pieces are displayed, and the robot has a zoom feature which allows for close up inspection of objects. This is splendid as it gives a much better focus than one might achieve actually wandering round the gallery when there are so many more things to distract you.
The real advantage over the virtual tours offered by other art galleries and museums is that this is your own, live, tour, not a pre-recorded video. If things go wrong – you bump into a table – then this is real.
The system now being tested is unique to Hastings and has been installed by Bristol Robotics. Praminda Caleb-Solly, Professor for Assistive Robotics and Intelligent Health Technologies at the Bristol Robotics Lab, UWE said “I am absolutely thrilled to team up with Hastings Contemporary as part of our Arts and Humanities Research Council D4D project to provide people who are socially isolated the opportunity to enjoy art via the telepresence robot. This is an excellent example of how robotics technology can be used to support people in difficult situations such as we are currently experiencing. There are other applications for use of telepresence robots within health and social care and I look forward to learning from our experiences at Hastings to apply elsewhere.”
Though I was privileged to get an early insight into the system, the gallery very much hopes that this will soon be opened to a much wider audience. Those self-isolating will be able to book time slots for a visit and it will be possible for individuals to set up a visit and then invite others to join them. They will then obviously follow the leader round the gallery but will be able to interact immediately to pause or move on. The educational possibilities are enormous and only just beginning to be explored. Teachers will I am sure be excited at the prospect of involving whole classes in virtual tours, and once the system is exported to other centres and possibilities are endless.
The gallery is planning, in addition, further ways to use innovative technologies to ‘flip’ the gallery inside out so that people can continue to benefit from its work while stuck at home, including developing a new online hub of art and mindfulness resources, with the children of key workers in mind; creating bespoke digital art lessons and creative learning activities for many of the now closed schools in Hastings; and virtual 3D renderings of its three postponed Spring shows, Victor Pasmore: Line & Space, Stephen Chambers: The Court of Redonda, and Quentin Blake: We Live In Worrying Times.
To visit the gallery and be one of the first people in the UK to experience this technology please email info@hastingscontemporary.org.
Hastings International Piano, the charity responsible for the Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition and the Hastings International Piano Festival, has launched an online concert series to support the careers of their prizewinners in this time of national crisis. The short recitals premier every Friday evening on Facebook at 7pm GMT and at Hastingsinternationalpiano.org
In these times when the livelihood of our musicians is at risk, with engagements being cancelled and studies on hold, this series aims to provide an income to the young competition prizewinners as well as offering Hastings Piano supporters and the wider public something to look forward to at the end of the week.
The series launched on Friday 20th March with 2018 Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition Winner Roman Kosyakov giving a concert from his Birmingham Conservatoire, and continues every Friday evening. The concerts are free to view, but viewers are able to make a voluntary donation to Hastings International Piano Engagement Fund, or choose to join as a Friend whilst watching. These donations help to continue the organisations work supporting young pianists as well as engagement projects offered to the young people of Hastings and the surrounding area. This includes free tickets to events as well as workshops, school visits and inspirational talks from visiting artists.
The Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition is an internationally-renowned competition for young concert pianists from around the world, attracting 170 applicants in 2019 across global auditions, 40 of which came to compete in Hastings. Their prize: the opportunity to perform with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on our two-night final and to win a first prize of £15,000. The Competition returns in February 2021.
The inaugural Hastings International Piano Festival took place in February/March 2020 as the Concerto Competition moved to every other year. The Festival was a spectacular 2-week celebration of the piano involving 168 international artists including Rufus Wainwright, Guy Chambers, Reuben James, Claire Martin OBE, Rachel Portman OBE, Mark Kermode, Martin James Bartlett, The Puppini Sisters, The Dodge Brothers, The Swedish Trio, Liane Carroll, Neil Brand, The Pasadena Roof Orchestra and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who all performed at multiple venues across the creative hub of Hastings on England’s south coast.
A major success of the inaugural festival was the growth in young audiences across the region enabled to experience the festival, with the under-21 ticket scheme devised to provide free tickets for performances and a hugely popular free interactive piano concert for younger children. The music education programme provided over 1000 children with an opportunity to attend youth workshops, performances and master-classes, provided by many of the headline artists.
Curator and Managing Director of Hastings International Piano Ian Roberts says – “It is so important to help and support young exceptional talent who are forging ahead with their careers. The current situation musicians find themselves in has denied them the opportunity to perform all over the world with ensembles, orchestras and as solo artists. Our on-line concert series is our own way of providing a regular performance opportunity and continuing to support our past and current competition winners in their future development and endeavours. “
Visit our new website https://hastingsinternationalpiano.org
Twitter
Hastings Concerto Comp
@HIPCC
Tweets by HIPCC
Facebook
Hastings International Piano Concerto Competition
@hastingsconcertocompetition
https://www.facebook.com/HastingsConcertoCompetition/
Instagram
Hastings Piano Concerto
@hastingspianoconcerto
https://www.instagram.com/hastingspianoconcerto