Buxton festival (a4 8pp festival & friends news may 2015) 3

Festival and Friends 3 The Square, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AZ

Telephone: 01298 70395

friends@buxtonfestival.co.uk

Chairman’s Message Dear Friends, The Buxton Festival is unique.

It is the only high quality opera festival which stages new productions each year with international singers in a beautifully designed and conserved Edwardian opera house.

It is a great honour to have been asked to chair the team to which you all entrust the job of working this annual musical magic.

Buxton Friends are pivotal to the success of the Festival. You have helped build it to national and international success while keeping it fi rmly rooted in its local community. Friends live all over the country but it is the annual pilgrimage to Buxton which binds us all together and I can promise you that this year you will be entranced by another set of stunning performances conjured up by our artistic director, Stephen Barlow.

Thank you all for your continuing support. The Festival goes from strength to strength and works tirelessly to provide audiences with an ever wider range of exceptionally high quality music and, in recent years, literary events. This is not a once a year festival any longer. In the autumn, 13–15 November, there will be a major literary and music Festival Weekend. Throughout the year Friends events include concerts, visits, talks and many opportunities for convivial

company! Our commitment to the wider community grows increasingly strong with outreach work in the schools and local communities bringing the magic of high quality music to a much wider and more diverse audience. The economic impact of the Festival on the town is playing a major role in helping to fuel its renaissance.

The Buxton Festival could not exist without your support. No matter how many tickets are sold, the hard reality is that sponsorship and personal giving remain our lifeblood. A number of you have recently enhanced your friendship by becoming Patrons or Benefactors.

We recognise that donating large lump sums is not always possible for many enthusiastic supporters. We are working on the introduction of a monthly direct debit scheme to enable those who would like to give a little more overall to do so in smaller instalments.

Patrons and Benefactors play a key role in enabling the Festival to secure the best possible talent for our productions and have the fun of meeting those they have helped to entice. If you would like to consider becoming a Patron or a Benefactor simply ring Lee Barnes the Festival Administrator who would be delighted to help you decide.

To all my fellow Friends, my thanks for all you do. We cannot succeed without you and I look forward to welcoming you all to the Buxton Festival this July.

Felicity Goodey Chairman

www.buxtonfestival.co.uk

Have your say on how the Friends is run in the future The Friends Committee would like to hear from you with regard to what you wish the Friends to offer in the future.

You can email your comments to friends@buxtonfestival.co.uk Some questions you may like to give your feedback to: ◾ Would you like the option to renew your subscription online in the future? ◾ If you pay your subscription at either the Patron or Benefactor level would you like the option to pay monthly? ◾ Would you like to pay your subscription by Direct Debit in future rather than Standing Order, which is what is currently offered? ◾ Would you like the opportunity to book Festival tickets online or by telephone during the priority booking period? Currently only a postal booking option is available. ◾ The Friends organise various fundraising events throughout the year both locally to Buxton and further afield—in London for example. What type of fundraising events would you like to see us do in the future?

An Evening with Kathy Lette, Ronni Ancona, Maureen Lipman and Meera Syal Sunday, 19 July, 7.30pm at Buxton Opera House Tickets £16 & £20 Festival Box Office: 01298 72190

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Artists in preparation—opera spotlight

Russell Craig’s costume designs for Giovanna d’Arco

Artists’ preparations begin long before all of us meet for the Festival and individual methods differ greatly.

Stuart Stratford is a very experienced and dynamic conductor of Verdian repertoire and well known now to Buxton audiences. Stephen Gadd returns to the Festival, and his mastery of a wide repertoire is ubiquitous. A rising young star, Elin Pritchard’s debut in the iconic role of Lucia is an exciting moment for a soprano and any audience. Russell Craig’s pedigree and vast experience gives all his work enormous perception and gravitas.

Here, they present some of their more intimate thoughts before we begin rehearsal.

For many months now I have been brooding in the icy and dark world of Janácˇek’s Jenu˚fa at Scottish Opera and felt I needed to refresh my taste of the early Verdi years before I honed in on very specific decisions which have to be made about Giovanna d’Arco. I immediately started to feast on Ernani and I due Foscari which proceed Giovanna and then Attila which comes shortly after—four fabulous different courses cooked clearly by the same master chef!

Like most conductors, most of my preparatory work is done at the piano— fi rstly playing and singing the score, then more playing and then even more singing.

With works from this period, the very core of the work is always to be found in the vocal parts at all times and the more one can digest these lines and have them in your body the better. From this, the choice of tempi and direction of a scene proceeds naturally without having to make too many ‘cold’ decisions.

Of course this is only half the picture.

The real excitement for a conductor is when you meet with the soloists for the fi rst time and their ideas and their artistry can combine better than you thought possible with your own feelings about a character or specific passage or indeed can even completely change the way you view something. This is the magic of a collaboration—when the result is far greater than the sum of its parts!

Stuart Stratford will be conducting Giovanna d’Arco

It was with considerable disappointment that after blowing the dust from my score of Lucia di Lammermoor in February, I opened it to fi nd that I had almost no memory of having last performed it some 10 years ago. There seem to be an awful lot of words and far too many black dots, the obsolete stage directions in what must be my own scrawl

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being the biggest clue to my having once before crammed this delightful opera into an increasingly spongy lobe. ‘Enrico is an abusive misogynist’, I wrote, but not without some redeeming charms, I hope.

This, then, is a journey of rediscovery, begun fi rst by bashing through it on our long-suffering piano, and then by sampling a number of recordings. I’m reminded that Donizetti wrote some cracking good tunes, but I generally fi nd opera recordings rather lifeless, and so I’m quite excited by the prospect of our Team Steve reunion: together with Stephens Barlow and Unwin I also worked on Intermezzo for the Festival in 2012, and I love Buxton’s gem of an Opera House.

Barlow has a particular talent for crisp, fresh bel canto, while Unwin’s direction is deeply rooted in honest credibility. Don’t miss it!

Stephen Gadd will play the role of Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor

I have had to acquaint myself again with Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Bride of Lammermoor in order to refresh the story and background information. There are so many small details that are easily forgotten which hold vital clues to Lucia and her relationship with the other characters.

I try to avoid listening to recordings when I’m learning a role, however I do feel Lucia is in a very different category as there are so many varied recordings.

I have listened to at least 10 recordings in order to understand which choices the conductor and singers have agreed upon.

I have enjoyed and learnt a great deal from listening to the numerous talented sopranos who have undertaken this demanding role. I must confess that I most defi nitely have a favourite soprano singing this role as her performance is simply glorious, effortless and spine tingling.

I studied the role of Lucia when I was at the National Opera Studio in London and therefore only need to remind myself of the music and double check all the notes, rhythms and text. I will work a lot with

a vocal coach in order to ‘sing in’ the role and to slowly build on my personal choices for the coloratura etc. I will also be practising as much as possible due to the technical demands of this particular role in order to have every single note in my muscle memory so that it hopefully will sound as effortless as possible!

There’s only so much preparation I can do before needing to work with the creative team. It’s so important to start rehearsals with a fairly blank canvas and to gradually build and fi nd the correct emotional path. I would have to say that I am beyond excited for Lucia’s ‘Mad Scene’ however I know that I need to fi nd my own path through her emotional journey before I can attempt to enter her thoughts in this famous scene. I am so very excited to be working with such a talented team and to be singing this role for my debut for Buxton Festival Opera, and quite frankly the rehearsals can’t start soon enough.

Elin Pritchard will play the role of Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor

As in many of his works Verdi is concerned with the relationships between the three main protagonists—the father, daughter and lover. I am fortunate to be working with Elijah Moshinsky, renowned for his interpretations of Verdi.

We have decided to enclose Giovanna in an oppressive reflecting space and have her rarely leave the stage. Most of what occurs we see from her point of view.

She is haunted by devils and angels and people appear either military as war weary soldiers or ecclesiastical as figures of church authority.

I have tried to make the costumes appear timeless; a few contemporary touches, general war references and a few nods to nineteenth century medievalism. A nineteenth century opera commenting on a fi fteenth century topic performed in the twenty-fi rst century Russell Craig is the designer of Giovanna d’Arco

New Festival Chairman, Felicity Goodey CBE DL Buxton Festival is pleased to announce the appointment of Felicity Goodey as its new Chairman.

Felicity replaces Dame Sandra Burslem, who has been Interim Chairman since the retirement of Dame Janet Smith who stood down at the end of the 2014 Festival after seven successful years as Chairman.

For those members who don’t know Felicity Goodey, she is the person who shaped and led the project which has relocated a major part of the BBC from London to Salford and the North of England. She headed the team which won a fiercely contested bid for the BBC and created ‘Media City’, the biggest purposebuilt digital media centre in the UK. She led the team which designed, built and ran The Lowry, an international theatre and arts complex which contributes more than £29 million to Greater Manchester annually. She set up and chaired the UKs largest urban regeneration company,

Central Salford, which secured a further £2.5 billion of private sector investment in 5 years and advised Government on regional economic development. She was a founder director of the North West Development Agency, chairing the Tourism team which helped turn the region into a £14.5 billion tourism destination; founded and chaired the successful North West Cultural Consortium and was awarded a CBE for services to regeneration and the arts.

Thank you Thank you to all those who sent a donation when booking Festival tickets.

The total amount raised with Gift Aid was £3,755. Your kind donations are helping the Festival develop. We have also recently received a very generous donation from a member of £30,000 helping to secure the long-term future of the Festival. As always we are very grateful to our Members for the fi nancial support you give us.

Her career began with the BBC. Experience as a senior correspondent specialising in industry and politics, together with a business career in media and education services, provided the foundations for developing and leading major public/private projects.

Felicity Joined the Board of the Buxton Festival in 2014 and took over as Chairman last month. She is also a Board member of the Royal Northern College of Music.

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Festival Team picks already sold out, so make sure you grab your tickets for these select gatherings soon!

I particularly like the sound of Peter Moore’s talk on the history of weather forecasting and Lewis Dartnell’s predictions on how to rebuild society following an apocalypse.

In the regular From left to right: Liz Mackenzie, Randall Shannon, Lee Barnes, Stephen Barlow, Robbie Carnegie, David Heugh and Claire Barlow talks, I’m also looking forward to Christopher We asked members of the Festival Frayling’s examination of arch-villain Executive team to share with us Dr Fu Manchu (I’m old enough to some of the events they are most remember the old Christopher Lee looking forward to at the Festival fi lms of his adventures before they were this summer and here are their considered too un-PC for transmission!) and Kathy Lette’s evening with her ‘Love choices: Goddesses’—having enjoyed Kathy’s Lee Barnes—Administrator company at last year’s Literary Weekend, I’ve no doubt it promises to be full of I am very much looking forward to our sparky conversation. Finally there’s the production of Lucia di Lammermoor Scenes from an Opera—original and this year. The Festival has a rich history inventive re-workings of the main Festival of producing world-class Donizetti operas featuring the performers covering operas, winning many accolades for past the principal roles directed by their productions. Lucia was the very fi rst Assistant Directors—always an exciting opera Buxton Festival staged all those presentation that really shows off the years ago back in 1979. When you read wealth of talent on offer.

Michael Kennedy’s book on the history of the Festival you get a sense of the Liz Mackenzie—PR and Press excitement there was in Buxton at that Manager fi rst Festival, now 37 years on a new The 2015 programme offers a superb generation of festival-goers will be able choice of performances and talks but what to share a little of what those attending I look forward to most is when the artists the fi rst Festival must have felt when they and audience arrive and generate such took their seats for Lucia. a great atmosphere in venues, cafés and Looking at the Music and Literary Series hotels across this much loved town. As I it is difficult to choose just one event, as look through our brochure I realise how the programme has so much to offer. I am spoilt for choice we all are. I am looking looking forward to hearing Tony Little, forward to the fi rst night performance by the Head Master of Eton, speak on the the English Chamber Orchestra and the subject of education. The Huddersfield thrill as the fi rst note of the Festival is Choral Society had their debut at the played. I will be taking friends who have Festival last year and I’m pleased that they never experienced opera to Giovanna will be returning this year with a lovely d’Arco and am interested to see their programme which will be given in the reaction! I hope to have the opportunity delightful parish church of St John’s. to hear Stephen Hough perform some of my favourite pieces by Liszt and Debussy Robbie Carnegie—Marketing & Web and as a fan of classical guitar hope to Manager catch Laura Snowden’s performance. The Last year, I was very excited to be part 9am talks offer great food for thought of the early morning talks, and we’re and I can assure you the early start will continuing this new enterprise in 2015 be worth it. I am delighted by the success in their new home upstairs at the Old of the Jazz events and won’t miss 100 Clubhouse. One of the 9am talks has Years of Jazz in 99 minutes and hope to

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fi nd a spare hour to take my young sons to The Magical Storytelling Yurt. Finally I recommend my father Philip Holland’s poetry reading! I look forward to welcoming you to Buxton and am sure we will all have another memorable Festival.

Claire Barlow—Literary and Outreach Manager This year at the Festival I am going to be managing our literary series so my highlights are focussed there. I am most looking forward to two Helens who appear in our series—Helen Macdonald (as I am half-way through her book H is for Hawk) and Helen Mort (who is the judge of the poetry competition that I run for the Festival). I’m also hoping to be able to go to The Oldie Literary Lunch on the last day of the Festival, as I am a big fan of Kate Mosse’s books (and I like a nice lunch!).

David Heugh—Director of Fundraising As well as being a great opportunity to hear some of our fi nest authors the Literary Series allows me to meet many of our corporate sponsors and their guests.

Many of them are not familiar with Buxton or the Festival but they certainly leave with warm memories and wanting to return next year.

Talks I want to catch include David Crane’s Went The Day Well? Witnessing Waterloo, Miriam Margolyes’ Dickens’ Women, Louis de Bernières’ The Dust That Falls From Dreams and An Evening with Kathy, Ronni, Maureen and Meera on Saturday 18 July promises to be great fun. My favourite opera is La bohème so I am looking forward to Charpentier’s Louise which has many similarities, being French verismo, set in Montmartre and a heroine who is also a seamstress.

My ex-wife was a very talented amateur opera singer and many years ago sang the role of Lucia in a Sheffield production.

Unfortunately, the makeup team had gone overboard and when she came out to do the mad scene she was covered in so much blood that two chorus members actually fainted!

I do look forward to seeing it again though and sure that Lucia will be an artistic and commercial success for the Festival. It’s good to see that the James Pearson Trio and the wonderful Lizzie Ball are back with us for two nights of jazz and I certainly don’t want to miss that. The weather has been fabulous the last two years so fi ngers crossed…!

Celebrating anniversaries in the Literary series Among the many talks on offer at this year’s Buxton Festival literary series, we are celebrating three momentous anniversaries.

2015 sees the 150th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. On Saturday 11 July, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst illuminates the tangled history of two lives and two books, examining the peculiar friendship between Oxford mathematician Charles Dodgson—Lewis Carroll—and Alice Liddell, the child for whom he invented the Alice stories. He analyses how their relationship influenced the creation of Wonderland, how the two Alice books took on an unstoppable cultural momentum in the Victorian era, and why 150 years later they continue to enthral and delight us. He provides a keyhole through which to observe a larger, shifting cultural landscape: the birth of photography, changing defi nitions of childhood and murky questions about sex and sexuality.

This year is also the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta. To coincide with this, on 21 July, Dr Marc Morris presents a brilliantly compelling new biography of the treacherous and tyrannical King John. Ambitious and formidable, John was tireless in his desire to be acknowledged as Richard the Lion Heart’s heir. A young man whose early adult life was full of plots and intrigues, he was driven by his hunger for the crown. Yet when he did eventually become King, it was against a backdrop of great uncertainty. Despite gaining the

throne that he had always coveted, John quickly lost the great Continental empire assembled by his ancestors. This gave the remainder of his reign its dominant, urgent narrative: it was imperative that he regain the lands that he has surrendered.

Two hundred years ago, Britain celebrated Wellington’s historic victory over Napoleon at Waterloo. We have two talks to commemorate this event. On Sunday 12 July, Andrew Roberts presents a true portrait of the mind, the life, and the military and, above all, political genius of Napoleon—a fundamentally constructive ruler whose peacetime activity produced countless indispensable civic innovations—and whose Napoleonic Code provided the blueprint for civil law systems still in use around the world today. Then, on Saturday 25 July, David Crane talks about his in-depth portrait of Waterloo, Went the Day Well?, which moves from England to the battle and back again in a vivid, stunning freezeframe of a country on the single most celebrated day in its modern history.

Other speakers at the Festival include Helen Macdonald (H is for Hawk), AN Wilson on Victoria, Antonia Fraser on her early life, Penny Junor on Prince Harry, artists Ken Howard and Harold Riley, Helen Castor on Joan of Arc, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, former Cabinet minister William Waldegrave and Bill Oddie. Also, don’t miss our Literary Lunch (in association with The Oldie) and our unique Evening with Kathy Lette, Ronni Ancona, Maureen Lipman and Meera Syal.

New Literary event Sadly, due to medical reasons, Christopher Simon Sykes has been forced to cancel his scheduled talk on David Hockney.

However, we have been able to secure a suitable replacement in the form of photographer Sarah Quill, talking about her book Ruskin’s Venice: The Stones Revisited.

As Venice’s architectural heritage continues to be threatened by the twin onslaughts of flooding and mass tourism, Sarah Quill’s fascinating book highlights the extent to which the city’s buildings have survived or deteriorated since Ruskin studied them over 150 years ago. Sarah Quill has selected passages from Ruskin’s The Stones of Venice, together with some of his Notebook drawings and rediscovered daguerreotype photographs of Venice, and has linked them to her own photographs of Venetian architecture, so creating a fascinating guide that fuses and contrasts Ruskin’s vision of the city in the nineteenth century with images of the buildings today.

Sarah Quill has worked as a photographer between Venice and London for over 40 years and has created an extensive photographic archive of Venetian architecture, environment and daily life. Her photographs are used widely in publications on Venice, and are regularly exhibited in London.

The talk, which is sponsored by NADFAS, will take place at Buxton Opera House on Monday 13 July at 10.15am.

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Welcoming new musical talent to Buxton Festival Buxton Festival’s concert series continues to attract big names, including baritone Roderick Williams, pianist Stephen Hough, harpist Eleanor Turner and ensembles including the Schubert Ensemble, the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, Halle Soloists, the Elias String Quartet, the Frith Piano Quartet, Psappha and La Serenissima. However, we are also excited to welcome young performers making a name for themselves on the concert platform.

Among the singers taking to the Festival stage are sopranos Soraya Mafi and Rosalind Coad, tenor Ben Johnson, pianists Eudald Buch, Samson Tsoy and Pavel Kolesnikov, guitarists Maria Camahort and Laura Snowden, violinist Benjamin Baker and brass quartet Inner City Brass as well as BBC Young Musician Jazz Award winner, saxophonist Alexander Bone and his band, the Chetham’s Jazz Ensemble.

We also like to bring you the unusual from time to time, this year exemplified by Lutes & Ukes, a musical mash-up of the mediaeval sounds of the lute and the pizzicato plucking of the ukulele. There’s also our popular late night jazz series in the Pavilion Café, with artists including Lizzie Ball and the James Pearson Trio, violinist Alex Yellowlees and his band, and the multi-talented Jazz Repertory Company, alongside food critic and One Show favourite Jay Rayner with his own jazz quartet.

Sponsorship News

Buxton Launch

Sponsorship and advertising is on target for this year and our friends Investec Wealth and Investment will be sponsoring a literary talk and a performance of Lucia di Lammermoor so the Investec Zebra will make a welcome return to the Opera House forecourt.

Over 100 contacts from local businesses and organisations, sponsors, media contacts, Festival Friends and volunteers attended the Buxton Festival Launch on the Opera House Stage on March 24th.

We are also delighted that the Old Hall Hotel has confi rmed their longstanding sponsorship of the Festival by way of advertising and sponsoring the opening night performance of Lucia di Lammermoor, servicing the Cavendish Lammermoor Bar for Benefactors and Patrons and arranging numerous hospitality events for our sponsors, artists and literary speakers.

The Old Hall will also be the venue for the fi nal Festival event, The Oldie Literary Lunch on Sunday 26 July with Kate Mosse, Jonathan Fryer and Prue Leith as guest speakers. The University of Derby has increased their sponsorship this year and you will note their advertising on the back pages of the Festival brochure and programme book. We are forging closer links with the University and looking at new ways to offer placements and work experience opportunities to their students.

In the last two weeks valuable sponsorship confi rmation has come in from Virgin Trains, East Midland Trains and Northern Rail with the latter agreeing to

display large Festival posters during June and July at 20 stations in the commuter belt between Buxton and Manchester Piccadilly—so keep your eyes open!

We are grateful to our regular sponsors No 6 Tearooms, NADFAS, Haddon Hall Care Home, The Fox and Goose, Irwin Mitchell, Double Tree Hilton Hotels, Thornbridge Brewery, Banner Jones Solicitors, Lafarge Tarmac, Longcliffe Refractories, Grant Thornton and the East Midlands Chamber of Commerce.

Our IT provider Central Technology is kindly sponsoring prestige Festival Launches at The Quad in Derby and the Cutlers Hall Sheffield in April and May respectively. The Launches are an ideal platform for getting our artistic message and sponsorship opportunities across to a wide range of corporate sector organisations and companies.

New sponsors resulting from last year’s Launches are Nabarro Solicitors, the Academy of Chief Executives and the Yorkshire Bank. The prestige Midland Hotel in the centre of Manchester is also a new sponsor and they will be hosting our Festival Launch there on 23 April, so fi ngers crossed for yet more new sponsors.

Last but not least, for the third year we welcome back our Literary Sponsors Waterstones who have promised us a new bright Festival Bookshop on the Promenade. Roll on July!

David Heugh, Director of Fundraising

Felicity Goodey and Randall Shannon thanked guests for their support and Stephen Barlow provided an insight into the operas and packed programme for 2015. Professor Rod Dubrow-Marshall of Derby University, a valued sponsor and supporter of the Festival, spoke about the partnership between the organisations.

The event was fi lmed by BBC North West Tonight and featured seven times on regional news during the next day. The enjoyable evening which was supported

by Waitrose and Buxton Opera House, generated great interest in the Festival.

Festival Launches will also take place in Manchester, Sheffield and Derby in April and May.

Cavendish Bar for Patrons and Benefactors Members of the Friends who are Benefactors and Patrons will have received an invitation to join the Chairman of the Festival and other VIP guests for an interval drink during evening performances at the Opera House. If you would like to upgrade your membership

This is a new venture for the Festival and will include morning, afternoon and evening events plus a literary lunch on the fi nal day.

The lines are now open for those who wish to book by telephone and internet.

The programme will be announced during this year’s Festival and we hope to have booking available for all Festival Friends during this period. We plan to announce further details of the Festival Weekend on the Festival website as they are confi rmed. Please make a note in your diary and we very much hope you will be able to join us.

0845 127 2190 or 01298 72190 www.buxtonfestival.co.uk The Box Office is open 10am—8pm.

Internet booking is available around the clock.

Please note lines are at their busiest in the mornings.

Trevor Osborne with the Investec zebra

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13–15 November 2015 Exciting news for all those who enjoy the Festival and particularly the literary and music strands of the programme is that we are planning a Festival Weekend in Buxton on 13–15 November.

Telephone and internet booking now open

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to become a Benefactor or Patron and receive this benefit please contact Lee at the Festival office who will be happy to give you all the details. Full details of the levels of membership are available on the Festival website.

Buxton Festival Weekend

Cavendish Bar

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Have you signed a Gift Aid declaration?

If you are a UK tax payer and have not already signed a Gift Aid declaration in favour of Friends of Buxton Festival please could you consider doing so?

This would help the Friends raise even more funds for the Festival. Some questions about Gift Aid answered.

What is Gift Aid? Gift Aid increases the value of all your charity donations allowing charities to reclaim basic rate tax on your gift. If you are paying higher rate tax you can claim extra relief on your donations. If you claim higher Personal Allowances or tax credits, Gift Aid donations can sometimes increase your entitlement.

How it works For those who pay UK tax and give to charities (including voluntary contributions) the Gift Aid scheme is for you. Gift Aid donations are regarded as having basic rate tax deducted by the donor. Charities take your donation—which is money you’ve already paid tax on—and reclaim the basic rate tax from HMRC. Basic rate tax is 20 percent, so this means that if you give £10 using Gift Aid, it’s worth £12.50 to the charity.

For your donations to be eligible for Gift Aid you must pay an amount of income tax and/or capital gains tax for each tax year (6 April one year to 5 April the following year) that is at least equal to the tax that all charities reclaim on your donations in the same year.

If you have not sent us a Gift Aid declaration please could you? To request a declaration form to be emailed to you please email friends@ buxtonfestival.co.uk

Friends’ Holidays Two excellent autumn festival holidays are available to the Friends this year.

are Saul and Don Pasquale. Dates are 23 October for two nights, with an optional extension to see Die Entführung aus dem Serail. Based at the popular fourstar Cavendish Hotel on the Eastbourne seafront, our daytime programme has a mediaeval castles theme, visiting Pevensey and Bodiam castles.

The Verdi Festival holiday, 13 October for 4 nights, combines Il corsaro in Parma with Falstaff in the maestro’s home town of Busseto. We also visit Bologna, where you can extend your stay and see Macbeth.

Brochure is enclosed with this newsletter.

For additional information please contact Grosvenor Travel on 01492 547744.

We return to the autumn festival in Glyndebourne where the featured works

Friends’ Events Drinks Reception Old Hall Hotel, Buxton Saturday 11 July at 6.15pm

Come and enjoy a pre-performance drink and nibbles with other members of the Friends and VIP guests before the opening night of Giovanna d’Arco in the historic Old Hall Hotel just opposite the theatre.

Tickets £10 each.

Friends’ Dinner Old Hall Hotel, Buxton Sunday 19 July at 5.45pm

Join us for a Bellini cocktail and threecourse dinner at the delightful Old Hall Hotel, an opportunity to have a break from the busy Festival schedule and relax with other members of the Friends over a convivial dinner before the evening performance. The dinner has been kindly sponsored by an old friend of the Festival meaning that the price you pay goes directly to support the work of the Festival. Tickets £35 each.

Friends’ Party Old Hall Hotel, Buxton Friday 24 July at 9.45pm

This popular event is a nice way to end an evening at the opera. Come and share drinks and your views of the opera with other members of the Friends. We also invite the cast to join us for this post opera soirée. Tickets £20 including drink and fi nger buffet.

Chetham’s School of Music Manchester (opposite Victoria Station) Tuesday 22 September at 12.15pm

We are delighted to be able to offer members an opportunity of joining

Chetham’s School of Music

us for a recital, lunch and tour of this historic school which was founded in 1653. Chetham’s School of Music familiarly known as ‘Chets’, is a specialist independent music school in the heart of Manchester city centre. The site houses the famous Chetham’s Library, the oldest free public reference library in the United Kingdom. Festival Board member and Chair of the Governors at Chetham’s, Dame Sandra Burslem will also join us for this occasion. We are not providing transport as Chet’s is easy to reach by public transport and we appreciate that you may wish to use your time in Manchester to do other things. Places cost £25 each including a two-course lunch, recital and tour.

Date for your diary: Stephen Barlow & Friends Stephen Barlow & Joanna Lumley’s Studio, London Friday 6 November at 7pm

We are pleased to announce the date for this popular event at the Studio of our Artistic Director, Stephen Barlow. Event and booking details will be available in the September newsletter.

Festival Chairman: Felicity Goodey CBE DL Executive Director: Randall Shannon Artistic Director: Stephen Barlow Friends Patron: Donald Maxwell Friends Chairman: Louise Potter DL Buxton Festival Foundation Chairman: Dr Ian Johnston Buxton Arts Festival Limited: Registered Charity No. 276957

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Friends of Buxton Festival: Registered Charity No. 513970