Monday, 13 January 2014

Hebden Bridge Piano Festival Launch Party

Hebden Bridge Piano Festival is holding its 2014 programme launch party at the Town Hall on Saturday January 25th. Festival director Dave Nelson and Henry Botham who performed two blues/stride jazz concerts in the 2013 Festival, will be providing live pianistic entertainment for this free event which is open to anyone and starts at 6.30pm. It will also be the first opportunity to buy tickets and passes for the festival weekend which starts on April 11th.

Headlining the Festival, which also takes place in the Town Hall, are top class artists who have performed all over the world. Kathryn Stott, Noriko Ogawa, Paul Roberts and Charles Owen are some of the most distinguished classical pianists in the UK, as indeed are veteran piano duettists Allen Schiller and John Humphreys. Jazz piano is also featured in the shape of the masterful and inventive Gwilym Simcock.

Charles Owen

These high calibre concerts are interspersed with events intended to involve the whole community. Alongside the top-notch concerts, lecture-recitals and masterclasses, the Festival programme also features inexpensive concerts for children and families, “drop-in” recitals by local pianists, free concerts featuring non-classical piano music, the rather wacky Pianotronic project, and on the riverside terrace, a piano available to absolutely anyone who wants to play it.

“We want to make this a delightful and memorable event” said Dave Nelson. “There’ll be a bar and we’ll be doing some party food too. We’re even hoping that there’ll be some jive dancing and Lindy-hopping going on during Henry’s performance! But mainly it’s an opportunity for everyone to see the wonderful programme we’ve managed to put together and to secure those tickets for what will undoubtedly be a sell-out weekend.”

On-line tickets will also become available on January 25th, followed by postal and in-person bookings from the reception desk at the Town Hall from Monday January 27th. Postal bookings can be made via the booking form which can be found tucked inside the programme and also on the Festival website. For in person booking, the Festival box office will be open Monday to Friday between 10 and 4.30 right up to the Festival weekend. There is a quick link for on-line booking and much more information about the recitals and performers at www.hebdenbridgepianofestival.com