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George Vass |
Festival mix promises to be best ever
Birthday treat for opening night
THE programme for the ninth annual Hampstead and Highgate Festival has been unveiled – with one of the highlights a birthday treat for artistic director George Vass.
He will celebrate his 50th birthday on opening night by conducting the festival’s orchestra in a concert whose proceeds will be donated to the Royal Free Hospital’s charitable trust.
Mr Vass said: “I have chosen the music for this and it is a wonderful way to spend my birthday.”
The concert boasts music composed by Hugh Wood, who lives in Hampstead, and features a performance by Kentish Town-based pianist John Lill.
Mr Vass said that the festival programme, which for the first time includes a series of art exhibitions, had been the hardest to put together during his time as artistic director.
He added: “It is a real problem trying to fit everything into just 10 days. Sometimes when I am choosing the concerts I feel like a kid in a sweetshop.
“It has got a great mix of events and has to be the best programme so far.”
Other highlights include a concert by Czech string quartet Wihan, which will be attended by the Czech Republic ambassador, and a youth concert where choirs from Highgate primaries Brookfield and St Michael’s will perform.
New Journal contributor and BBC broadcaster Piers Plowright will stage interviews with authors, including novelist Tracy Chevalier and design historian Deborah Jaffe.
Chairwoman of the board of trustees Helen Lawrence said the festival programme was growing each year.
She added: “It expands each time and that is a mark of its success. We get great audience feedback and there is such a buzz about the festival.”
She added that the area lent itself to an arts festival of this type.
Ms Lawrence said: “Hampstead and Highgate, linked by the beautiful Hampstead Heath, share an extraordinary artistic heritage which makes them two of the most interesting and vibrant of London’s many villages.
“The beauty of their location on the slopes of Hampstead Heath has for centuries drawn writers, musicians, painters and architects to live here. They are unique in their wealth of cultural history and in the remarkable community of artists who still make the area their home. What better place for a festival of the arts.”
She is particularly looking forward to the opening night concert at St John’s in Church Row, Hampstead. She said: “Not only will we be celebrating George Vass’s birthday in some style, we will be hearing a new composition for the first time, which is always a big deal.”
For more information about the festival and tickets, call 0870 033 2733. |
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