thursday 14 May
Pre-Festival Special
Songs for the Bath Tub and Mostly Toast
This year our special Festival Focus is on our band programme- see the box on page 3. We launch this series tonight with a collaboration between Songs for the Bath Tub and Mostly Toast. Line-up includes To Sophia, Pablo’s Finest Hour, Sam & The Plants, Butler Williams and Kamal Arafa
Wilbraham St Ninian’s | 7.30pm | £4
Classical Launch and Festival Highlight
The Manchester Consort: Dido and Aeneas
The Manchester Consort, one of the most exciting young ensembles around, makes a welcome return to the Festival to launch our classical programme. Following a sell-out concert in 2007, the consort now celebrates the 350th anniversary of the birth of Henry Purcell with a semi-staged production of his ground-breaking opera, Dido and Aeneas. Based on Classical mythology this tragic love story, lasting only 50 minutes, is a pearl in the opera repertoire. Also includes madrigals from the period. Directed by Gregory Batsleer.
St Clement’s Church | 8pm | £6/£4