Latest News at St George's Bristol
Buskaid Soweto String Ensemble
Posted: May 30, 2014
An evening with Buskaid always closes with some heart-warming kwela, the infectious and lilting rhythms of township song and dance. When you hear those kids surrender to the sheer joy of playing the old tunes they grew up on, it’s not difficult to see why they can bring the same deep feeling and exuberance to playing Rameau or Bach.
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Towards Silence – Soul Music
Posted: May 23, 2014
I’m often asked how far in advance I plan our classical music season. It can be anything between 3 months and 2 years, but I can now add that one event has been almost exactly 5 years in the planning: the two performances of Sir John Tavener’s Towards Silence on Thursday 10th July.
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‘It Began With The Music..’ – Taraf de Haidouks Exhibition
Posted: May 20, 2014
In December 2008 the Taraf de Haidouks visited Bristol for the first time and played here at St. George’s. I met some of the musicians on my way in and they were warm and friendly, the evening was amazing and I had an idea… Eight months later on 18th July 2009 they returned to the UK to play at my wedding. Their presence and music made for a joyous and magical day.
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Matthew Halsall – Thursday 29th May, St George’s – Soul Global
Posted: May 19, 2014
Listening to ‘When The World Was One’, the new album by Matthew Halsall (to be released on the Monday following…
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Taraf de Haidouks – Sunday 25th May, St George’s – Soul Global
Posted: May 15, 2014
Taraf de Haidouks seen live are an experience you will remember forever. They’ve played St George’s once before, in late 2008, when they launched our landmark Migrations series, and it was awesome. Arriving later than expected, with the Crypt bar already jam-packed for the sold-out show, the band sat down at a long table for their pre-gig meal surrounded by eager onlookers, like some weird version of Leonardo’s Last Supper. Food attended to, and following an extended fag-break outside the box office door, the band took to the stage looking relatively sedate, even nonchalant, as people who’ve modelled for Yamamoto have a right to. After all, they’ve entranced Johnny Depp, impressed Yehudi Menuhin and the Kronos Quartet, and played most of the world’s larger halls.
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Filmic 2014 Review: Jocelyn Pook Ensemble
Posted: May 13, 2014
Following Cath Rymell’s excellent review of the first Filmic 2014 show, ‘O Bro: A Musical Celebration of the Coen Brothers’, which you can read further down this page, it doesn’t seem fair to let the second go without a brief mention, too. Mainly because it was so awe-inspiringly great.
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An Interview with Leonard Elschenbroich
Posted: April 29, 2014
Earlier this year cellist Leonard Elschenbroich came to St George’s for a few days of recording… We caught up with him during a break for a quick chat about this week’s return visit, which sees him performing Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Bridge’s Oration with Bristol Ensemble as part of our series THE WORLD CHANGED.
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REVIEW: O Bro
Posted: April 28, 2014
This was one of those rare occasions when you have no idea what to expect from a gig. ‘O Bro:…
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Ears wide open
Posted: April 24, 2014
Jocelyn Pook Ensemble – Filmic 2014 – Friday 9 May, St George’s Bristol, 8pm. After receiving an Olivier Award for…
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Soul Global
Posted: March 18, 2014
Along with J S Bach and John Coltrane, my favourite music is soul. I remember as a kid seeing Otis Redding live on ‘Ready Steady Go!’, and I bought the 70s albums of Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin – for me the two greatest singers ever, in any genre – as they came out.
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In search of the perfect piano…
Posted: March 12, 2014
Would I be willing to travel to the ends of the earth in pursuit of ‘just the right’ piano for St George’s? Maybe, just maybe…
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Tord Gustavsen Ensemble
Posted: March 10, 2014
When ‘Changing Places’, the debut album by the trio of Norwegian pianist and composer Tord Gustavsen, came out in 2003, it nearly passed me by. It took a telephone call from David Fraser, ECM’s British press person, who’s the most unpushy PR imaginable, to tactfully advise me that I needed to give it a listen.
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KLEZMER VS. CLASSICAL
Posted: March 6, 2014
What happens when you combine the UK’s most creative and innovative orchestra with “Britain’s best Klezmer and Balkan music band”? “Electric fizz and pungent colours” was the way The Times described the creative collision of two seemingly disparate musical genres – and that’s what makes Aurora Orchestra stand out from the crowd…
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Guitarists…
Posted: February 21, 2014
But Renbourn, who’s close to the nicest musician I’ve met, and – unusually for his calling – interested in music other than his own, kept on developing, adding bluegrass picking and Merle Travis-a-billy to the storehouse of styles. His brilliance is also not without effort, and one of the many pleasures of a Renbourn performance is seeing him dig in and wrestle with his muse.
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Q&A with Christian Wallumrød
Posted: February 20, 2014
Performing as part of the Bristol New Music Festival on Sunday night read on for a feel of the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble concert…
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Christian Wallumrød…
Posted: February 14, 2014
When it comes to music, some things grab you straight from the off, asserting their particular effect immediately. Others take time and familiarity before you even recognise what it is you are listening to, never mind learn to appreciate it. So it was with me and Christian Wallumrød.
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The Royal Academy.. Small ensemble, BIG sound.
Posted: February 10, 2014
The sound coming from the hall during these three days was truly glorious: wave upon wave of full-bodied, passionate playing that made me think there must be at least a symphony orchestra in situ downstairs.
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Police Dog Hogan
Posted: January 27, 2014
The one thing most people know about Police Dog Hogan, if they know anything at all, is that Guardian Weekend columnist Tim Dowling is in it…
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Three Cane Whale
Posted: January 21, 2014
It was probably seeing them in concert on a rain-misted afternoon (Saturday June 2, 2012, I checked) in the beautiful setting of the small but perfectly formed 11th century church of Partrishow in the Black Mountains that did it for me.
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O Brother… Music for the Coen’s
Posted: January 10, 2014
It was the Coen Brothers’ debut, ‘Blood Simple’, seen at Watershed (and didn’t we call it ‘The Watershed’ then?) on its first run. After the opening sequence plays out, a black bartender in a redneck tavern puts a record on the jukebox and we hear ‘It’s The Same Old Song’ by The Four Tops, a solid-gold Tamla Motown classic.
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Olivia Chaney
Posted: January 6, 2014
Since I booked her for the gig on the strength of great word of mouth and a few youtube clips that showed beyond doubt that she was a fantastic new talent, Olivia has been signed to a prestigious contract by classy Nonesuch Records and been nominated for two BBC Folk Awards.
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