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Winter Wonderland – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Musical Director: David Le Page Reviewer: Ron Simpson There are many different types of Christmas celebration concert and Winter Wonderland was the sort that provides more breadth than depth, 15 named...
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Orchestra of Opera North: Viennese Whirl – Huddersfield Town Hall
Conductor: Aleksandar Markovic Soloists: Ellie Laugharne (soprano) & Heather Lowe (mezzo soprano) Reviewer: Ron Simpson As with Opera North’s Christmas Concert at Dewsbury, the company’s Viennese...
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Ensemble 360: Music in the Round – Sheffield Crucible Studio
Reviewer: Ron Simpson Ensemble 360’s opening concert of the Spring season of Music in the Round deployed nearly all the group’s musical forces, only the piano being missing from its 11 members. The...
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The Magic of Motown: 10th Anniversary Tour – The Lowry, Salford
Reviewer: Rebecca Cohen The Magic of Motown has come to The Lowry, ready to thrill music lovers with some of their most loved tracks from the past. But unfortunately the only Wonder they are going to...
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Roberto Fonseca – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Reviewer: Ron Simpson This exhilarating concert by Roberto Fonseca was the first in a short UK leg of a European tour – and how lucky we were to get it when only the Midlands and London, apart from...
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Orchestra of Opera North: Sibelius, Bruch and Strauss – Town Hall, Leeds
Conductor: Adrian Leaper Soloist: Jack Liebeck (violin) Reviewer: Ron Simpson The final concert of the Orchestra of Opera North’s Kirklees season was repeated at Leeds Town Hall as part of the Leeds...
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Audra McDonald – Leicester Square Theatre, London
Performers: Audra McDonald, Seth Rudetsky, Will Swenson Reviewer: Scott Matthewman If your knowledge of Audra McDonald is limited to her role as the opera singer-cum-wardrobe, Madame de Garderobe, in...
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The Sons of Pitches: SOP TV -The Lowry, Salford
Reviewer: Dave Cunningham Although The Sons of Pitches shot to fame as a cappella singers on TV’s The Naked Choir they seem determined to expand their range from being simply vocalists. SOP TV sees the...
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Sounds of Palestine – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Performers: Mohamed Najem & Friends Performers: Nai Barghouti and band Reviewer: Ron Simpson The Howard Assembly Room continues to punch above its size in its programming, with this inspiring...
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Back to the Future in Concert – Millennium Square, Leeds
Conductor: Jessica Cottis Reviewer: Mark Clegg Well done to Leeds City Council for organising their Summer Series: a programme of live events and film screenings held in the beautiful open air...
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Ladysmith Black Mambazo – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Reviewer: Ron Simpson Ladysmith Black Mambazo seems to have solved the problem all successful groups have of renewing themselves over a period of time. The 2017 version manages to be full of youthful...
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Little Mix: Glory Days Tour – Echo Arena, Liverpool
Reviewer Helen Patrick The return of all-girl group Little Mix (Perrie Edwards, Jesy Nelson, Jade Thirlwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock) to Merseyside with their Glory Days Tour, ensure once again that the...
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Marc Almond: Shadows & Reflections – Town Hall, Leeds
Reviewer: Rich Jevons Some two years on since Marc Almond came to Leeds Town Hall to celebrate the release of The Velvet Trail which was followed by a recital of torch songs with the pop orchestra of...
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Keith Jack: Movie Nights – Wild Cabaret, Glasgow
Reviewer: Lauren Humphreys Astonishingly, it’s a decade since Dalkeith native Keith Jack was runner up in the BBC’s search for a ‘Joseph’ in Any Dream Will Do. Only 19 years old at the time, much has...
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Nothing like the Sun – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Performers: The Gavin Bryars Ensemble Reviewer: Ron Simpson Nothing like the Sun was commissioned by Opera North and the Royal Shakespeare Company some ten years ago. Now the Gavin Bryars Ensemble has...
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Battleship Potemkin – Howard Assembly Room, Leeds
Director: Sergei Eisenstein (1925) Music: Jan Bang, Matt Calvert Reviewer: Ron Simpson Strictly speaking, the appropriate film by Sergei Eisenstein to commemorate the centenary of the October...
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The Rat Pack Live From Las Vegas – King’s Theatre, Glasgow
Director: Mitch Sebastian Choreographer: Mitch Sebastian Designer: Sean Cavanagh Musical Supervisor: Matthew Freeman Reviewer: Lauren Humphreys Aiming to recreate the heyday of Frank Sinatra, Dean...
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The Wandering Hearts – Broadcast, Glasgow
Having spent weeks at the top of the Country Artist Album chart, the talent and quality of London-based ‘country, folk-pop’ group The Wandering Hearts won’t be confined to intimate venues like...
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An Evening with Jason Robert Brown – London Palladium
Composer/Musical Director: Jason Robert Brown Reviewer: Ava Eldred Probably best known for his cult musicals The Last 5 Years and Songs for a New World, Jason Robert Brown has been contemporary musical...
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Jarrod Dickenson – King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow
Reviewer: Lauren Humphreys It seems silly to label Nashville based, Texan troubadour Jarrod Dickenson a new, rising star, he’s an artist who’s been on the scene since 2010. However, now that the...
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