City updates

Geoff Rich, Managing Partner at Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios in Bath, has been appointed a Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture and Environment at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). Geoff will be working with the University to help inspire the next generation of architects, sharing his expertise through masterclasses, lectures, and reviews of student work.

At Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios, Geoff takes a leading role in creative reuse work. He is passionate about the benefits of retaining and reusing historic and existing buildings, conserving and celebrating heritage, and weaving new with old to make sustainable, joyful buildings for contemporary life. He is interested in international heritage issues, having worked on projects and initiatives in Africa, China, USA and the Middle East. He lectures on sustainable design, conservation and reuse at a number of universities, and sits on the Historic England Historic Places Panel, the Design West Review Panel, and is a Design Council Expert.

Geoff said: “I look forward to getting involved with the UWE Bristol architecture courses and working with students and staff to help deliver relevant, exciting and contemporary degree programmes and future-ready graduates.” uwe.ac.uk

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, CitySound Voices is holding an Anniversary Concert on 22 April. This small, dynamic, mixed-voice choir entertains its audiences with a wide variety of traditional and modern music, sacred and secular, classical, folk and pop. The concert includes music by Verdi, Fauré, Lauridsen, Billy Joel and Queen as well as a medley from Les Misérables CitySound Voices sings mainly in and around Bath, but it has also sung at Wells Cathedral, the Aldeburgh Maltings, and the Minack Theatre in Cornwall. A talented and enthusiastic Musical Director, William Stevens, has recently joined them. Performing with the choir will be two choirs from King Edward’s School –KES Senior Singers and KES 24 Chamber Choir. Anniversary Concert, 22 April, 7.30pm at St. Stephen’s Church, Lansdown. Tickets from Eventbrite, via the website, or at the door. citysound.org.uk; eventbrite.co.uk

Painter and printmaker Fiona McIntyre will be giving a talk at BRLSI on 10 May, called ‘Dreaming The Land’.

Fiona recently finished a six-month residency at the Sidney Nolan Trust and a solo exhibition at The Rodd called Dreaming The Land. Fiona will talk about her residency and the inspiration behind this unique body of work which includes Sidney Nolan’s paintings, the landscape of borderland Wales and England, and Nolan’s fascinating collection of objects and books. Fiona is interested in the idea of wilderness and anamorphic forms within nature which express underlying ideas about mortality and mass extinction of species.

McIntyre trained in Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art followed by an MA in Barcelona at Winchester School of Art studios. She is an elected member of the Royal Society of PainterPrintmakers, and a founding member of The Arborealists. Fiona has exhibited in more than 40 exhibitions in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Gibraltar and France. Fiona is represented by sandrahiggins.art. Tickets £2–£5. 7.30pm. brlsi.org

The cultural jewel in Bath’s crown, The Bath Festival, is poised to take over the city next month with ten days and more than 130 events celebrating music and books. Between Friday 12 May and Sunday 21 May, discover the rising stars of classical music with a series of sublime concerts, hear the Bath Festival Orchestra and Bath Camarata in Bath Abbey performing Mozart’s Requiem, and classicist Natalie Haynes (Stone Blind) talking about Medusa against the backdrop of the Roman Baths.

There will be guided walks, including one which explores William Beckford’s legacy led by Dr Amy Frost of the Bath Preservation Trust, and No.1 Royal Crescent will host the Jane Austen Dancers as part of a Party Like It’s 1779 evening. Visiting big names include Booker prize judge and author Tan Twan Eng, designer Kaffe Fassett, journalist Jeremy Bowen, author Joanne Harris, comedians Fern Brady and Cariad Lloyd and politician Vince Cable. Memoirist Cathy Renzenbrink and campaigner Dr Rachel Clarke return by popular demand.

The annual Concert for the People of Bath at The Forum will see Bath Philharmonia joined by violinist Esther Yoo and Schools’ Voices, a choir of singers from 11 local secondary schools. To buy tickets visit: thebathfestival.org.uk