Second musical of the week ahoy! After one of the newest (the sensational Operation Mincemeat) on Monday, tonight it was a golden oldie: Cole Porter’s evergreen Anything Goes.
Fantastic work from a 13-piece orchestra made up of @royalbirmcons@mybcu students and a few alumni, stylishly led by MD & current piano student @alexandermirandazezula
You’re all the top!
Ok so my #DavidAttenborough story is a very happy memory of doing a music quiz with him recorded during the long interval for Die Walküre at the Royal Albert Hall. He was a mere 79, and absolutely charming. And of course very good at the quiz!
The photo doesn’t do justice to the quite brilliant concert this morning by three quintets of musicians from @royalbirmcons (with guests from partner institutions in Hamburg & Siena) at the massive @cheltfestivals Jazz Festival.
A packed audience too - and later today our RBC Salsa Orchestra also took to the free stage in the park. Fantastic exposure for our talented jazz students.
A great way to celebrate my 3rd anniversary at RBC @mybcu today!
Brilliant night yesterday at the open dress rehearsal of the latest @birminghamoperaco show. No photos from me as we had to put our phones in special pouches and concentrate on the action.
In yet another superb warehouse in Digbeth (how does Richard Willacy find them all?) six outstanding singer-director pairings told stories of Birmingham’s past, present and future. Especially touching was the final show, a lament for the currently closed Electric Cinema. Do get there tomorrow or Thursday if you can.
Lovely to have so much involvement from @royalbirmcons students and alumni too.
Such a joy to be at the @southbankcentre RFH last night to hear the glorious @nyo_gb with Birmingham’s @alpeshconductor play a HUGE programme - Joe Hisaishi, Warner’s Prelude & Liebestod, and an hour of music from Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet. To hear 160 teenage musicians playing that quietly - as well as with immense power when it’s needed - for their new Chief Conductor was an exceptional experience for us and, I hope, for all of them.
Congratulations to all!
Massive congrats to @royalbirmcons Composition student @jamielou.music for the first night of your choose-your-own-adventure musical tonight. Hope the other two shows go as well and that the audience make different choices!
Wonderful concert last night in Derby Cathedral.
@sinfonia_viva played (beautifully) string pieces by Elgar (Introduction & Allegro), Britten (Simple Symphony), Holst (St Paul’s Suite) and Imogen Holst. Then they were joined by @royalbirmcons Chamber Choir in the first public performance of the orchestral version of Imogen’s Festival Anthem (from 1946). It’s a cracking piece that had sat in a drawer for decades before being recorded a few years by @alice.farnham.14 , who conducted yesterday’s concert with so much energy and joy.
Congratulations to @julianjwilkins for preparing the choir so well - they sounded fantastic!
Congratulations to the @royalbirmcons cast of Little Women the Musical on a great first show at @crescenttheatre this afternoon.
You really brought the March family to life - and we could all do with a little more Concord in our lives right now.
Three more shows - hurry to get tickets!
Great double bill from @royalbirmcons Yr 3 BA Acting students today
This afternoon it was Nina Raine’s taut and thought-provoking Consent at @crescenttheatre , full of gripping performances
Then this evening to The Old Rep for the phantasmagoria of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven, in a quirky and physically arresting version devised by the cast, and hugely enhanced by music from @daniblancoalbert
Final shows tomorrow - do go if you can!
(Photos: Kayden Lucas & Katja Ogrin)
Wonderful night at the @royalphilsoc Awards at the the QEH (to which I hadn’t been for decades!).
Loads of great nominees, and some really deserved winners including John Wilson, Orchestras for All, Turnage’s Festen, Louise Alder and the RSNO. Disappointed that Birmingham Ooera didn’t win, but Jonathan Dove’s Uprising was another brilliant choice in the Opera category.
Plus we all got to join in with the incredible Jacob Collier at the end.
Such a delight to see so many friends and colleagues for quickfire updates in the bar!
