Week 1 : 3rd-7th June
Main events have an event number (EN) which corresponds with the event number on the booking form. Fringe events are free.
| Wednesday 3 June | 7.00pm Northgate Brewery £10.00 | EN1 |
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WADWORTH BREWERY TOUR
A good opportunity to see how beer is hand-made inDevizes and to sample the latest brew.
Limited to 20
| Wednesday 3 June | 8.00pm Corn Exchange £14.00 | EN2 |
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COMEDY NIGHT: MARK STEEL
Taking the theme of his brilliant new book 'What's
Going On?' BAFTA award nominated comedian Mark
Steel is back on tour with a brand new show.
Mark Steel has performed as a stand-up comedian on
the British comedy circuit since 1983. He has also
written and performed four series of The Mark Steel
Solution and The Mark Steel Lectures (both Radio 4) -
a collection of absorbing, half-hour profiles of
historical figures. The television version of The Mark
Steel Lectures ran for three series on BBC4 and was
nominated for both a BAFTA Television Award and a
Royal Television Society Award. Subversive, witty and
erudite, Steel is also an acclaimed author and regular
columnist for the Independent.
Mark's new show goes right to the heart of Britain
and the problems it suffers today. Topics discussed
and dissected in his inimitable style include; why over
a million people marching in London couldn't stop
the war in Iraq, and why supermarkets are killing the
small town centres of Britain. In the confusion of
modern times, Mark asks 'What exactly are we
supposed to do about it?' Bitingly funny, poignant,
sharply observed and very much of the moment, this
is Mark Steel at his brilliantly intelligent best. This show will be in two parts with an interval.
'He's a man with a passionate desire to communicate his ideas, who is also very funny'
The Guardian
Sponsored by Macqueen Vetinary Clinic
| Thursday 4 June | 8.00pm Town Hall £12.00 | EN3 |
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THE HEATH QUARTET
| Oliver Heath | violin |
| Rebecca Eves | violin |
| Gary Pomeroy | viola |
| Christopher Murray | cello |
Formed at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2002 the Heath Quartet won major ensemble prizes and on graduating in 2005 received the prestigious Sir John Barbirolli Memorial Prize. In 2006 the Quartet was made a laureate of the Geneva International String Quartet Competition and it has given recitals throughout the UK, including a broadcast from the BBC Proms. In November it won the 2008 Tromp International Music Competition held in Eindhoven, leading to a European tour and a visit to Canada.
| HAYDN | String Quartet in D, Op.50 No.6 The Frog |
| JANACEK | String Quartet No.1 in E minor, Kreutzer Sonata |
| Interval | |
| MENDELSSOHN | String Quartet No.6 in F minor, Op.80 |
The Quartet appears under the auspices of the Young Concert Artists Trust
'The music's potency and bravura were conveyed
with thrilling conviction.'
The Guardian
Sponsored by Wansbroughs
Festival Fringe
| Thursday 4 June | 9.00pm Cellar Bar, Bear Hotel | FREE |
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GABBY YOUNG AND OTHER ANIMALS
Gabby Young and Other Animals is an exciting new band that performs a new music genre called ‘Circus Swing’. Gabby and her band of musicians are stunning and delighting audiences with music that ranges from folk to antifolk, acoustic trip to jazz.
Sponsored by The Bear Hotel
| Friday 5 June | Doors open 8pm Corn Exchange £15 | EN4 |
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BLUES NIGHT
CHRIS FARLOWE and the NORMAN BEAKER BAND
RED-EYED FLY
Chris Farlowe and the Norman Beaker Band on stage 9.45pm
Red-Eyed Fly on stage 8.15pm
No history of Blues music would be complete without reference to Chris Farlowe, who after over 50 years in the business is still performing at the peak of his power. Chris Farlowe needs no introduction, his classic chart topping hit ‘Out of Time’ was written for him by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards and is still high on radio playlists.
His first band was the John Henry Skiffle Group, which eventually became Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds. This early band featured future rock giants Dave Greenslade, Carl Palmer and Albert Lee. He went on to perform with various bands, including progressive rockers, Colosseum, and later Atomic Rooster and has continued to tour extensively in the UK and Europe as well as recording new albums. Chris Farlowe has performed with the Norman Beaker band for over ten years and remains one of the blues acts most in demand on the live circuit.
‘Along with Manfred Mann’s Mike d’Abo and Paul Jones, Farlowe remains one of those voices from 1960s England that - with good reason - hasn’t
faded and simply won’t disappear.’
Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
Opening the evening is Red-Eyed Fly, a great up-tempo blues outfit from South Wales. Festivals all over Southern England have been raving about their live performances.
Please note that there will be very limited seating for this event
Sponsored by Trimac Properties Ltd.
Festival Fringe
| Friday 5 June | 8.00pm Wharf Theatre | FREE |
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NIGHT BENCH
Performers: Lily Sykes and Hanna Pyliotis
Director: Michiko Miyazaki Gaulier
Written and Devised by: Lily Sykes, Hanna Pyliotis and Michiko Miyazaki Gaulier
‘The void is always there’
Two old women meet every night to watch the world and to share their experiences of life - their secrets, their stories, their hopes and their fears. Dark, humorous, sometimes tragic and at all times absurd, this is a visual and imaginative piece about loneliness, human contact and memory.
| Saturday 6 June | 12.00 noon St John’s Church £6 | EN5 |
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ORGAN RECITAL - BENJAMIN FROST
Assistant Director of Music at St. Luke’s, Chelsea, Ben studied music at Exeter University, graduating with Distinction in performance. He was Organ Scholar at Exeter Cathedral and became an associate of the Royal College of Organists. After University he studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and trained as a repetiteur at the National Opera Studio. Ben has worked with the BBC, English National Opera and singers such as Lesley Garrett. His experience as an accompanist and chorus master ranges from silent films at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, to musicals and operas. His recital consists of two pieces: a chorale partita by Bach - Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig, BWV 768 and Vierne’s Sixth Symphony.
Festival Fringe
| Thursday 6 June | 12 noon Wharf Theatre | FREE |
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THE WILL BLAKE BAND
Still at school, this local band has rapidly established itself as one of the most exciting in the area. Featuring Will Blake (vocals & piano), Alex McNair (guitar), James Brook (bass) and Aaron Matthews (drums) they play a mixture of boogie woogie, driving blues and original material.
| Saturday 6 June | Doors open 7.00pm Corn Exchange £20 | EN6 |
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AN EVENING WITH RICK WAKEMAN AT THE PIANO
Rick will be on stage at 7.30pm
A key figure in the progressive rock movement Rick Wakeman has become equally well known as a television celebrity. Classically trained, he gained a place at the Royal College of Music, but left to pursue a career in rock.
Rick played in excess of 2000 sessions for stars such as David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Black Sabbath, Elton John, Harry Nilsson and many more, but shortly after joining The Strawbs his extraordinary talent was spotted.
In 1971 Yes were looking for a new keyboard player and after a brief audition he joined the group. Alongside his work on their legendary albums, Rick was also recording enormously successful albums as a solo artist. Among early examples were The Six Wives of Henry the 8th, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and Criminal Record.
These days Rick is almost as famous for his television appearances as his music and he has become a regular face on TV’s Grumpy Old Men. This festival performance will showcase an extraordinarly talented pianist and a very humorous raconteur.
The performance will be in two halves with an interval
| Sunday 7 June | 2.30pm St Mary’s & St John’s Churches £8 | EN7 |
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JON CANNON
Churches as Time Machines
Ancient English churches are not just wonderful works of architecture - they are ‘time machines’ to a lost world. Architectural historian and writer Jon Cannon will use two medieval churches - St Mary’s and St John’s - as a way of rediscovering this world, unpicking the story of each building up to the Reformation, bringing to life the role such buildings played in people’s lives, and giving a sense of their wider
architectural significance.
The event starts with a talk in St Mary’s followed by a tour of St John’s; for practical reasons only 30 tickets are available.. Jon is the author of ‘Cathedral - the great English cathedrals and the world that made them’ (Constable, 2007) and last year he presented BBC TV’s ‘How to build a cathedral’.