Between the 1st - 30th of June 2006,  the city of Birmingham will be revelling in the sound of music when it hosts a string of spectacular music events as part of its inaugural New Generation Arts Festival.

With a fine tradition of producing formidable musical talent, this series of events, backed by UCE Birmingham, aims to provide Birmingham’s latest prodigies with a platform to showcase their talents at the highest level.

The festival will feature a fantastic array of musical styles over 11 events which take place at various venues across the city. Ranging from Jekyll & Hyde – The Musical to The Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra and An Evening of World Music, every taste is sure to be catered for.

Each show involves some of Birmingham’s finest musicians, hand picked from the city’s immense pool of musical talent. The extraordinary high standard of musicianship is a testament to the impeccable teaching on offer at UCE Birmingham, and reflects its commitment to the nurturing of creative talent.

The festival is set to pronounce Birmingham as the UK’s cultural epicentre for innovative art and demonstrate the wealth and variety of creative talent that has been garnered within the city. As an important component of the festival, this musical spectacular demonstrates another string to the city’s artistic bow.



NEW GENERATION ARTS MUSIC FESTIVAL 2006 PROGRAMME

WEEK 1:

2nd-3rd June 2006, 7.30pm.
Venue: Vivid.
BEAST: Birmingham Electro Acoustic Sound Theatre and the University of Birmingham New Music Ensemble.


6th June 2006.
Venue: The Crescent Theatre.
Blaze the Musical– Premiére. Written and directed by Stephen Luke Walker.


WEEK 2:

12th-13th June 2006.
Venue: Centenary Square.
Pink House: ‘Siegfried, What Goes On In Your Head’ A reworking of Tchaikovsky’s classic ‘Swan Lake’.

14th June 2006.
Venue: The Conservatoire Recital Hall.
Birmingham Conservatoire Composers’ Ensemble, new works with a focus on technology.
Admission: £2 (£1).

14th June 2006, 7.30pm.
Venue: The CBSO Centre.
Graduate Classical Concert.
Franck, Beethoven, Prokofiev, Schumann, Donaudy, Puccini, Chinese Folk Songs, Strauss, Debussy, Bizet.
Performed by four of Birmingham Conservatoire’s leading graduating students: Yuan Yuan Shen (violin), Di Xiao (piano), Alisa Liubarskaya (cello) & Wei-Chun Lin (voice).
Admission: £5 (£3).

16th June 2006, 1.00pm.
Venue: The Adrian Boult Hall. 
Birmingham Conservatoire Wind Ensemble.
Mozart’s Serenade K361, the ‘Gran Partita’, prefaced by the delightful ‘Notturni’.

17th June 2006. 7.30pm.
Venue: CBSO Centre.
Graduate Contemporary C.20 Concert. 
Gorecki, Shostakovich, Takemitsu, Copland, Zivkovic, Siegel An exciting programme of C.20 works performed by Magdalena Nasidlak (piano), Karin Norlen (viola), Jo Kirkwood (flute) and Maraca2 (percussion).
Admission: £5 (£3).

18th June 2006. 7.30pm.
Venue: Conservatoire Recital Hall.
Evening of World Music. 
Se Teen Trio (Tabla, Guitar, Oud), Kumbengo (West African influence), Acoustic Vibe (Punjabi & Hindi songs with a smattering of jazz). Three ensembles featuring current students and graduates of Birmingham Conservatoire, led by tabla player and composer Manveer Singh.
Admission: £5 (£3).

WEEK 3:

21st June 2006, 7.30pm. 
Venue: Conservatoire Recital Hall.
Jazz Extravaganza: An evening of world class jazz featuring Percy  Pursglove, Mike Fletcher, Mike Adlington, Euan Stevenson, Doug Hough and Simon Walker.
Admission: £5 (£3).

22nd-24th June 2006, 7.30pm & 2.30pm Sat Matinee.
Venue: Crescent Theatre.
Jekyll & Hyde, The Musical.
Both passionate and macabre, this gothic musical tells the story of Henry Jekyll, battling his alter ego Edward Hyde and is presented by Birmingham Conservatoire’s School of Vocal and Operatic Studies.
Admission: £15/10 Buy one get one half price (£3.50 students), Tickets: 0121 643 5858.

25th June 2006, 7.30pm.
Venue: Conservatoire Recital Hall.
Violin & Oboe Recital. 
Poulenc, Britten, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Webern, Schumann. An evening recital given by two outstanding alumni of Birmingham Conservatoire, Adrian Wilson (oboe) and David Chadwick (violin).
Admission: £5 (£3).

WEEK 4:

27th June 2006, 7.30pm.
Venue: Conservatoire Recital Hall.
Alumni Classical Concert. 
Gallay, Schubert, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Carpenter, Hummel, Miguel Yuste, Joseph Horovitz, Piazolla, Rachmaninov, Obradors.  A variety of musical genres by some of musicians, including Anneke Scott (natural horn), Birmingham’s finest Octanphonie (wind octet), Rosa Campos (clarinet) and Caroline Amnéus (voice) Fernández .
Admission: £5 (£3).

29th June 2006, 7.30pm.
Venue: Adrian Boult Hall.
Alumni Early Music Concert.
J S Bach, Szalonik, Telemann, C P E Bach, Marcello, Vivaldi. An evening of vocal and instrumental works from former students of Birmingham Conservatoire’s Early Music
programme, featuring the highly acclaimed Chris Orton on recorder and The Musical & Amicable Society.
Admission: £5 (£3). 


30th June 2006, 4.00pm.
Venue: Adrian Boult Hall.
Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra.
Charlotte Bray, Keiko Abe, Mozart .
John Lubbock conducts the premiere of Charlotte Bray’s ‘Beginnings’, followed by a concerto for marimba, performed by the 2006 Ludlow Concerto Prize winner, and closes with one of
Mozart’s finest choral pieces, the Solemn Vespers.

For more information go to www.newgenerationarts.co.uk.