Effingham Area Guide

Bookham Light Operatic Society is delighted to be presenting the enduringly popular musical Fiddler on the Roof. Written by Joseph Stein, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, the original 1964 Broadway production won nine Tony awards including Best Musical and the 1971 film, starring Topol, became the highest grossing movie of that year. The story centres on Tevye, a milkman in the village of Anatevka, who attempts to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural traditions as outside influences encroach upon his family's lives. This show is packed with memorable and uplifting songs, including Tradition, If I Were a Rich Man, Matchmaker and the hauntingly beautiful Sunrise, Sunset.

Join The Lord Chamberlains Men this summer, in their 21st year, for Shakespeares greatest romantic comedy, Twelfth Night. With a history stretching back to William Shakespeares original company, they present this joyous play as he first saw it in the open air, with an all male cast and Elizabethan costumes, music and dance. If music be the food of love play on! Orsino, Duke of Illyria, is desperately in love with Countess Olivia. But she, in mourning for her brother, has sworn off all men. Suddenly Viola, separated from her twin brother in a shipwreck and now disguised as a man, enters Orsinos court as his servant and turns everyones world upside down. Sent to woo Olivia on Orsinos behalf, Viola is stunned to find herself the object of Olivias affections and, as Olivia falls in love with Viola, so Viola falls in love with Orsino. Add Violas twin brother Sebastian into the mix and the scene is set! O time, thou must untangle this, not I. It is too hard a knot for me to untie. Romantic confusion, mistaken identity, infamous cross-gartered yellow stockings and riotous disorder abounds in Shakespeares hilarious and lyrical romantic comedy about love, its many and glorious facets, and the mess it can make of us all. Nothing that is so, is so. Bring a chair and a picnic and prepare to be entertained and transported. Book early to avoid missing out! Authenticity | Excellence | Magic Any enquiries please call 0208 852 5761 or email [email protected] more information about access tickets please visit tlcm.co.uk/carer-tickets [//www.tlcm.co.uk/carer-tickets]. The performance running time is approximately 2 hours and 5 minutes including a 15-minute interval. PLEASE NOTE: Patrons are required to bring a chair/blanket/something to sit on. Seating is NOT provided. Only assistance dogs are permitted at this performance. Doors open 1 hour before the event starts All tickets are non-refundable.

They play with perfect intonation, tremendous attack, and impeccable historical style. All the four instruments work together with such intelligence and imagination that I would happily listen to them every day. - Sir Roger Norrington The first period instrument string quartet to be selected as BBC New Generation Artists, the Consone Quartet are fast making a name for themselves with their honest and expressive interpretations of repertoire, notably from the classical and romantic eras. Formed at the Royal College of Music in London, the Consone Quartet launched their professional career in 2015, shortly after which they were awarded two prizes at the 2015 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition, including the EUBO Development Trust Prize and a place on the EEEmerging Scheme in France. They went on to win the 2016 Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Prize, and in 2022 were awarded a prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust (BBT) fellowship. The quartet has been enthusiastically received at Londons major venues, as well as further afield in Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Bulgaria and Slovenia. Festival invitations include Edinburgh, Cheltenham, Dartington, Two Moors, Buxton, MA Festival in Bruges, Heidelberger Streichquartettfest, and Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in Germany. In 2024 the quartet returned to the English Haydn Festival and the York Early Music Festival, both of which are loyal supporters and regularly host the group. Consone are Artists-in-Residence at Paxton House (2023-2025) and at Saxon Shore Early Music Kenardington (2024-2027). Following tours of South America (2018) and Canada (2023) the quartet will return to North America in 2025 to perform both alone and in collaboration with pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout. 2023 saw the Consone Quartet premiere a new work for string sextet by Gavin Bryars, commissioned by friends of the Quartet, the Borletti-Buitoni Trust and BBC Radio 3. The work, entitled The Bridges of Knigsberg, was broadcast on Radio 3 from St Martin-in-the-Fields in October 2023. They will further their exploration of contemporary music with the premiere of a new work for string quartet by Oliver Leith in summer 2025. Education work remains a core interest to the group, having worked with students at the Royal College of Music in London, Chethams School of Music in Manchester, the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as Hans Keller fellows for 2020-2022. 2024 sees the beginning of a new partnership with the Frost Trust as Visiting Quartet at Sheffields Music in the Round. The quartets debut recording explored music by Haydn and Mendelssohn and was described by The Strad as an album that instantly leaps out of the stereo at you as something special. In Spring 2023 they released the first CD in a complete cycle of Mendelssohns string quartets with Linn Records. The album, featuring both the 1823 and Op. 44 No. 3 quartets, has been described as top-notch (Allmusic) and exquisite (Pizzicato).

Historically-informed solo-voice choir The Queenes Chappell make their return to the Surrey Bach Festival, for a beautiful evening concert of meditative choral music. The Queenes Chappell is a young, versatile vocal consort committed to the performance of 16th, 17th and 18th century repertoire in a bold, vivid, and historically informed style. Founded in 2022 by Artistic Director Matthew Brown, the group has presented concerts across London and beyond, and is fast establishing itself as a fresh and exciting interpreter of Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. The group is now resident at St Marys Church, Stoke dAbernon, a historic church with a long and rich history of historical performance. Previously, The Queenes Chappell were engaged as Artists-in-Residence at St Mary-le-Strand in central London, and have appeared in the Italian Sounds in London and Baroquestock festivals. Its members are drawn from Londons best solo and consort singers, who sing with other premiere ensembles such as Voces8, Monteverdi Choir, Gabrieli Consort, Tenebrae, and The Sixteen.

Join renowned choral conductor Eamonn Dougan (Associate Conductor, The Sixteen), for a workshop day exploring some beloved choral repertoire.

After a highly successful performance at the 2024 Surrey Bach Festival, Istante Opera returns to Stoke d'Abernon to bring their new production of George Frideric Handel's Aci, Galatea e Polifemo . This production premiers at Baroquestock 2024, in Heath St Baptist Church, London. More information about Baroquestock can be foundhere [https://baroquestock.com/]. Istante is a versatile musical collective committed to reaching out to new audiences through innovative concert experiences. Istantes performances, often held in an informal setting, aim to inspire the listener by linking repertoire through historical and narrative threads. Individually, Istantes members perform with prestigious orchestras and ensembles including Royal Opera House Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, La Scala orchestra, English Baroque Soloists/Orchestre Rvolutionnaire et Romantique, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Kings Consort. By combining their diverse experience, they are able to offer a unique breadth of repertoire, both in terms of style and historical period. Istante has performed in a range of venues in the UK and abroad, including the St Stephen's Festival of the Arts in London, the Newbury Festival and Classica Aurora series in Arezzo (Italy), and was selected for the 2017-2018 BREMF Live! Scheme. The ensemble counts a number of collaborations with Opera Vera, performing original arrangements of La Boheme, Gianni Schicchi, and Mozarts da Ponte trilogy. Istante is ensemble in residence at Baroquestock Festival, featuring a unique fusion of historical performance, folk music, community projects and home-cooked food. Baroquestock highlights include a fully staged production of J.Haydns rarely-heard opera Lo Speziale. The ensemble also play various concerts throughout the year, often as part of the church's lunchtime concert series. Istantes debut album, Little things in Odd Shapes, featuring chamber music for mixed string/wind ensemble by Boccherini and M. Haydn, was released by Novantiqua Records in 2018.