Well…what a wonderful day that was!
There was absolutely nothing I could criticise about it…
News
Beowulf Diary, 30 October 2017, Final post, future thoughts
It is with sadness that I came to the end of the Beowulf project. As a musician, it is always such a privilege to be part of the creation of something new, and to nurture it as it begins its fragile journey into the world.
To spend a week in the company of such incredible professional musicians and almost 1000 young people from different AC Academy projects, building and rebuilding the performances on each of the four days, was a tremendous privilege and one I will never forget.
Read more…Beowulf Diary, 30 October 2017, Final post, future thoughts
Beowulf Diary, 11 October 2017, performance no 2 at Bushell Hall Solihull
Rise up! Rise up!
Rise up, rise up for the King.
Read more…Beowulf Diary, 11 October 2017, performance no 2 at Bushell Hall Solihull
Beowulf Diary, 9 October 2017, First Rehearsal with the Chorus & Elin Manahan Thomas
We are all very excited at the Armonico Consort’s headquarters today as our artistic director, Christopher Monks leads the first rehearsal with the pro singers and the soloists, soprano Elin Manahan Thomas, harpist Catrin Finch, composer Toby Young on keyboards and Harry Potter actor Mark Williams in the title role.
Read more…Beowulf Diary, 9 October 2017, First Rehearsal with the Chorus & Elin Manahan Thomas
Beowulf Diary, 4 October 2017, AC Academy Coventry
During a break from the last session before next week’s concerts, Maame from AC Academy Coventry tells us why she loves Beowulf.
Read more…Beowulf Diary, 4 October 2017, AC Academy Coventry
Beowulf Diary, 18 September 2017, script writer Danny Coleman-Cooke talks about the project
It’s fair to say I’m not the first person to have sat wondering how best to interpret Beowulf. Since it was written over a thousand years ago, it has inspired films, comic books, video games and even board games.
Beowulf Diary, 14 September 2017, Mark Williams joins the cast
We are thrilled to announce that Mark Williams, better known for his roles as Mr Arthur Weasley in the Harry Potter movies, Doctor Who and Father Brown for BBC TV, will be our special guest narrator in the forthcoming tour of Toby Young’s epic musical tale, Beowulf.
Read more…Beowulf Diary, 14 September 2017, Mark Williams joins the cast
Beowulf Diary, 21 July 2017, Christopher Monks, conductor
About two years ago the soprano Elin Manahan Thomas came to me having just worked on another project elsewhere with our composer in residence, Toby Young. She, like I was really taken by his music and his ability to work proactively and inspiringly with the musicians he was writing for. Elin convinced me that the epic story of Beowulf was the right starting point for a collaboration.
Read more…Beowulf Diary, 21 July 2017, Christopher Monks, conductor
Beowulf Diary, 12 July 2017, AJ & Chloe from Strictly join us for a dance workshop
We’re working hard on our big creative project of the autumn, a new musical adaptation of the fantasy saga Beowulf. So we were thrilled when Strictly Come Dancing’s newest stars AJ Pritchard and Chloe Hewitt agreed to lead a dance workshop for 15 pupils of St Elizabeth’s Primary School in Coventry. AJ and Chloe reached … Read more…
Tony Hadley at Oz & Armonico
We’ve just returned from our summer festivals tour of Oz & Armonico Drink to Music which included the privilege of being artists-in-residence at Harrogate Festival and a trip to beautiful Buxton. Our final concert before the summer break was at Lichfield Festival where we found we had a surprise visitor: the Spandau Ballet and I’m A Celebrity star, Tony Hadley, was at the Swinfen Hall Hotel event having recently become a patron of the Lichfield Festival. He thoroughly enjoyed the evening of music, wine and anecdotes.
