Latest news on Cheltenham's Festivals for 2010
Cheltenham Festivals in 2010: A preview of our summer season
- Cheltenham Jazz Festival: 28 April - 3 May 2010
- The Times Cheltenham Science Festival: 9-13 June 2010
- Cheltenham Music Festival: 2-17 July 2010
2010 promises to be another fantastic year for Cheltenham Festivals. The Jazz, Science and Music Festivals are already taking shape – promising more star names and unique festival events than ever before. With so many star-studded events to look forward to, Cheltenham Festivals Membership is the best way to ensure front-row seats! Offering priority booking and discounts across all four festivals, with extra last minute offers, regular news from our Festival Directors and exclusive Member events, Cheltenham Festivals Membership is the perfect way to enjoy the festivals.
Here is just a taster of what to look forward to over the next festival-filled months…
Cheltenham Jazz Festival 28 April – 3 May 2010
Members’ priority booking 15-21 February / Public booking opens 22 February
The festival year kicks off in party style with the hugely popular Cheltenham Jazz Festival. It’s a vast and varied festival – with something for true jazz aficionados as well as those just starting out on their jazz journey.
For the first time Festival Director Tony Dudley Evans has invited a Guest Director to join him at the helm. Jazz superstar Jamie Cullum joins the team to bring some of his favourite acts to Cheltenham. Performing in a headline slot, Jamie has regularly declared his love for the festival since his Cheltenham debut in 2003, and we can’t wait to see what he brings to the programme! Don’t miss a unique Jamie-programmed club night – combining drums, beat boxing and turntables – the beautiful vocals of Norwegian band Beady Belle, and of course Jamie’s own sure-to-sell-out gig on the Sunday night…
And Jamie isn’t the only star name in this exciting programme… the ever brilliant Elaine Paige is also set to light up the Town Hall stage with a celebration of her love of classic jazz. The first lady of musical theatre performs in two showcase events – not just at the Town Hall – but also in a gala performance at the Daffodil Restaurant. Also, look out for some stellar sounds from guitar legend John Scofield who will play a headline set over the Bank Holiday Weekend. Having collaborated with some of the world's greatest performers, including Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Charles Mingus and Bill Frisell, Scofield is a masterful jazz improviser not to be missed.
The finest young British and international talent will be celebrated in the ever popular Pillar Room programme. This includes trioVD, Troyka, Empirical, Liam Noble & Christine Tobin (performing their Tapestry Unravelled project), Tom Cawley’s Curios, and FLY Trio. In a brand new partnership, the festival has joined forces with the Norwegian Embassy to showcase the best up-and-coming Norwegian talent, with unique collaborations and education projects.
The Jazz Festival organisers promise the best festival experience ever as the action branches out into Imperial Gardens with Jazz on the Square. A new 650 seat arena, food and drink stalls, jazz market and free outdoor music will all make sure that for six days Cheltenham truly becomes a jazz town! Plus don’t miss Cheltenham Untapped, an unprecedented celebration of regional talent on Bank Holiday Monday…
The Times Cheltenham Science Festival 9 –13 June 2010
Members’ priority booking 22-28 March / Public booking opens 29 March
From 9-13 June Cheltenham becomes a melting pot of discovery, debate and adventure as The Times Cheltenham Science Festival takes over the town. With ingenious experiments, cutting edge comment from the world’s leading thinkers and hands on interactive fun in the free Discover Zone – the festival is everything they didn’t teach you at school!
This year the festival welcomes two very special Guest Directors – Three-Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal and Professor of Particle Physics Brian Cox. Each will entertain audiences with a series of unique events, specially programmed for Cheltenham. Look out for Heston’s take on a ‘Sweet Shop’ event involving a neuroscientist, Heston himself and some exquisite confectionary, and the inside story of Brian’s forthcoming BBC 2 show The Seven Wonders of the Solar System.
The five day festival promises a mix of serious debate, live experiments and surprising discoveries for absolutely all ages. Just a few of the hot topics to come under the microscope in 2010 include the challenges facing the natural world, the future of technology and the secret science of chocolate. This year’s festival theme of Decadence will inspire a programme bursting with the finer things in life – and how science has made them all possible.
Festival speakers are all being lined up right now – but you can be sure to expect a mix of leading scientists, personalities, comedians, writers and broadcasters in a series of mind-expanding events. Pick up the full programme in March and get ready for an explosive five days of pure festival fun.
Cheltenham Music Festival 2-17 July 2010
Members’ priority booking 7-18 April / Public booking opens 19 April
One of the most vibrant and widely-admired Music Festivals in the country, Cheltenham attracts the world’s finest musicians. From established artists to brilliant young performers, from the magnificence of Tewkesbury Abbey to the regency splendour of Pittville Pump Room – it offers a huge range of musical adventures from around the world and across the centuries. With over 80 events in 16 days, 2010 promises much more than just music in a programme of readings, talks, Tibetan monks and of course, sublime concerts…
2010 marks 200 years since Robert Schumann’s birth. Cellist Steven Isserlis, one of the world’s most celebrated Schumann enthusiasts, will Guest Direct a series of events based around Schumann's music. He will be joined in a wide range of chamber, orchestral and song repertoire by performers such as mezzo Sarah Connolly, clarinettist Michael Collins and actor Simon Callow. Other artists performing Schumann, as well as the other 1810 anniversary composer Chopin, include pianists Imogen Cooper and Freddy Kempf, and violinist Alina Ibragimova. Anniversaries of Robert Schumann, Carlo Gesualdo and Hugo Wolf also feature as the inspiration for the Sound Mind series, which will explore the neuroscience of music through a rich programme of performances, associated talks, debates and films.
Don’t miss some hugely popular classical music throughout the festival. In a blend of words and music, Alina Ibragimova will also give a special performance of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, with newly commissioned poems written and read by Andrew Motion. The partnership of Rodgers & Hammerstein provided some of the world’s most enduring musical hits, and these will be celebrated in a gala evening with the CBSO. Following the huge success of his Cheltenham and Proms appearances in 2009, John Wilson returns with musicals diva Kim Criswell and the CBSO to perform hits from Oklahoma, South Pacific, The King and I, Carousel and The Sound of Music.
The programme is full of music that is sure to excite, inspire and delight. Look out for Featured Artist and Composer Brett Dean; the new rush-hour series of concerts designed to head to straight after work; and the Tibetan Monks of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in workshops, performances and as they create an incredible Sand Mandala… pick up the full programme from April for further details of this and much, much more.
Explore Gloucestershire
18 January 2010
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