Olivier Award-winning touring opera company, OperaUpClose, is bringing live opera back to Guernsey with a staged production of its critically-acclaimed La Bohème. One of the most accessible and moving operas ever written, this modern staging will appeal to both existing opera lovers and younger audiences who have never been to a live opera performance. Sung in English, and with a story that is highly relevant to the burning issues facing young people today, it is aimed at music lovers of all ages.

This clever English translation of La Bohème brings relevant issues such as immigration and the aspirations of youth to the forefront as a group of idealistic graduates bicker, party and try to make ends meet as they follow their dreams. And all this set to Puccini’s glorious music, which can never fail to uplift all who hear it.

Set within the vibrant streets of London’s hugely creative Soho, this was OperaUpClose’s first production, opening in 2009. Since then the company has won numerous awards and accolades for its innovatively staged, accessible, affordable and high-quality English re-imaginings of well-known works, as well as premieres of new operas.

This production of La Bohème has been revived for OperaUpClose’s 10th Anniversary.

kindly sponsored by Kleinwort Hambros.

After a short stint as an actress in the Royal Shakespeare Company Nina Conti became a ventriloquist and hasn’t looked back since.

Last year she won a British Comedy Award for her appearances on ‘Live at the Apollo’. Other television credits include QI, Russell Howard’s Good News, Sunday Night at the Palladium, The John Bishop Show and Christopher Guest’s HBO series Family Tree.

Nina is also a regular in Clare and the Community – the long running BBC Radio 4 comedy. In addition, Nina has turned her hand to documentary film-making with her most recent exploit ‘Clowning Around’ (in which she trained as a children’s hospital clown) airing to great critical acclaim. Her directorial debut’ Her Master’s Voice’ in which she took the bereaved puppets of her mentor, Ken Campbell, to a puppet graveyard in Kentucky won her a BAFTA nomination and a Grierson Award.

Doors/Bar 6.30PM | Show: 7.30PM

WaterColour Matchbox present a night of heavy rock with a twist. Bringing together the likes of award-winning and local composer Lydia Pugh, with a choral and orchestral ensemble, they plan on bridging the gap between classical instrumentation and modern heavy rock, in a way that has never been done before on the island. Doubling up as the launch date for their upcoming album ‘Pathways’, you can prepare for an evening of powerful riffs blended with precise orchestral arrangements written especially for the occasion. The night will be one not to be missed. Support from local acts to be confirmed.

Rob Burton, saxophone

Hailing from a farming family in Cambridgeshire, saxophonist Rob Burton won the Woodwind Category Final of BBC Young Musician 2018 at the age of eighteen. He went on to secure a place in the Grand Final at Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, where he performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra conducted by Mark Wigglesworth, broadcast live on BBC 4 and BBC Radio 3.

Christine Zerafa, Piano

London-based Maltese pianist Christine Zerafa has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in various venues and festivals in Malta, the United States and across the United Kingdom. She has frequently appeared at major London venues including Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall, Cadogan Hall, St John Smith Square, St Martin in the Fields, and she has performed live on BBC Radio 3.

Programme to follow

Dr Devra Davis, world leading American scientist on the environment and health, multiple award winner, former US presidential appointee and senior US government health advisor to US government, WHO, World Bank, and senior lead scientist and lead author on Al Gore’s 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Team, has agreed to come to Guernsey on 2nd October 2019 to speak and take questions about the health and environmental hazards of 5G and wireless radiation.

GRAMMY nominated musician Dr. Martin Taylor, MBE, is a virtuoso guitarist, composer, educator and musical innovator whom Acoustic Guitar magazine calls ‘THE Acoustic Guitarist of his Generation’.
Martin will dazzle audiences with his signature style that artfully combines virtuosity, emotion and humor with his strong, engaging stage presence.

Local support from Bordeaux Blue

The audience will be seated at large round tables in the main hall.

St James presents a Hip Hop night of epic proportions, featuring legendary Rodney P, with Hip Hop Producer Skitz and Dr Syntax, already known to Guernsey audiences from his performances with The Mouse Outfit at the Vale Earth Fair a few years ago. Performing with Dr Syntax is producer Pete Cannon, together the two will bring their own brand of irreverent, often comedic hip hop (with a touch of bass music and jungle for good measure). Support by local outfit Asylum Seekas.

RODNEY P & SKITZ

Rodney P is widely acknowledged as the Godfather of UK Rap. Inspiring a whole generation of British emcees and producers by being the first to rap in his authentic London accent and produce a home-grown Hip Hop reggae vibe that is distinctly rooted in the UK. Following the international success of London Posse, Rodney P has enjoyed one of the most esteemed and perpetual careers in UK hip hop to date. Recognised as Britain’s most eligible candidate for Hip-Hop ambassador; indeed for many his name is synonymous with UK Hip-Hop.Skitz gained recognition as a homegrown Hip Hop producer fusing the rawness of UK emcees with solid production and distinctively jamaican influenced basslines. His first album Countryman won Hip Hop album of the year and catapaulted rappers such as Est’elle, Roots Manuva and Skinnyman into the limelight.

DR SYNTAX & PETE CANNON

Dr Syntax first appeared as a regular collaborator and guest with the legendary Foreign Beggars crew, featuring on their first three albums and performing with them at countless live shows worldwide. He embarked on a solo path in 2007, releasing his acclaimed debut ‘Self Taught’, beginning a prolific run of releases over the next decade. Songs such as ‘My House’, ‘Middle Class Problems’ and ‘Hire Me’ showcase his trademark humour and creativity to a tee.

1st Prize winner and Audience Prize winner at the Trondheim (Norway)International Chamber Music Competition in 2017, the Maxwell Quartet has been hailed for “great communication” by The Strad Magazine and as “brilliantly fresh, unexpected and exhilarating” by The Scottish Herald.
The Maxwell Quartet is now firmly regarded as one of Britain’s finest string quartets, with a strong connection to their folk music heritage and a commitment to bringing together wide-ranging projects and programmes to expand the string quartet repertoire.

“The Maxwells played with verve and confidence. Each movement – from the arresting opening five fortissimo chords to the exuberant energy of the final Vivace, the Quartet played with wit and passion. the Maxwell Quartet’s energetic but precise rendition . . . had the audience stamping their feet, and
applauding not one but multiple encores.”
The Oxford Daily Info

Programme:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: String Quartet No.17 in B flat K458 (“Hunt”)

Claude Debussy: String Quartet in G minor, Op.10

Franz Schubert: String Quartet No. 14 in D minor D.810 “Death and the Maiden”

Event finishes at approx. 9.30pm