We often present events in partnership with Harberton Folk and the Arts at Dartington, and these events have special booking arrangements.
Please read our bookings page carefully.

Billy Elliot July 2010


musical		KEVICC & Coombeshead College present Billy Elliot At KEVICC on Friday 9 & Saturday 10 July at 7.30pm At Coombeshead on Tuesday 13 & Wednesday 14 July at 7.30pm There may still be a few tickets available for Billy Elliot on the door. If you want to phone to check for KEVICC tickets, please phone 01803 869200 ext 287, but please note that on both Friday & Saturday, no phone calls will be listened to after 4pm on either day. After that time you will need to come in person. Tickets £10 OAPs & 18s & under £6 (some restricted view tickets at cheaper prices at KEVICC only)

Forthcoming Events Autumn 2010


music	South West Music School's Graduate Showcase Friday 10 September at 7.30pm This event is an opportunity for graduates from South West Music School to perform to you before they disappear off into the sunset of Higher Education and the world of Professional Music! The concert will feature a collection of solos ranging from avant-garde saxophone pieces to well known violin concertos, and everything in between, as well as some live performances taken from Kaleidoscope, the newly released SWMS album. This will be an exciting and unique programme of the up-and-coming musicians of tomorrow, playing for you today! South West Music School is part of a national network of Centres of Advanced Training, supported by the Department for Children, Schools & Families Music and Dance Scheme, for exceptionally talented young musicians aged between 8 and 18. Their programme is inclusive, open to all regardless of musical or personal background. South West Music School is also musically inclusive – designed to identify and nurture exceptional instrumental and vocal talent from all areas of music. The only restriction to their programme is the need to possess very high levels of musicianship and commitment. It provides a package of specialist educational support consisting of mentoring, individual tuition and development and residential projects, plus the opportunity to be involved in programmes and projects delivered by the partnership. An Arts at Dartington event. Tickets (from Dartington only) £5 concessions £3 students/under 16s £1


music/ theatre	Solitary – a play for four musicians and one actor Wednesday 15 September at 8.00pm Hazel is locked in a police cell. She is 19. She has been arrested at a demonstration. She wasn't really part of the demonstration. She isn't really part of anything. All she has is her music, but that's been taken away. She's alone in her silent cell, except for the mysterious person asleep on the bed. She has got to have music, and she makes it in her head. She makes it out of all the things she knows and all the people she knows. She makes it out of the disasters of her life. Will the music save her life? Music by Hugh Nankivell. Written by Peter Oswald. Performed by Alfie Weedon, Harry Smith, Tobie Tripp, Nathan Bawden (musicians) and Louise Waterfall as Hazel. Solitary is a new music theatre production. Produced by Peninsula Arts in partnership with South West Music School and supported by the Dorset Foundation. An Arts at Dartington event. Tickets (from Dartington only) £5 concessions £3	Hugh Nankivell


folk	Harberton Folk present John Spiers & Jon Boden Saturday 2 October at 7.30pm Winners of a three BBC Folk Awards, and founders of the folk super-group Bellowhead, John Spiers (melodeon, concertina) and Jon Boden (singer, fiddle, guitar, stomp-box) are known for their energetic performances and powerful reinterpretations of traditional English material. They have rapidly become central figures in the new folk revival. Support is from Unstrung Heroes – Geoff Lakeman (duet concertina & vocals), Steve Potter (fiddle) and Pete Acty (guitar & banjo). Folk songs, grand jigs and reels, ragtime, blues, jazz – a great pot-pourri by three experienced performers! See www.unstrungheroes.net for sound samples. The concert is presented in conjunction with the assistance of Harberton Cricket Club. A Harberton Folk event. Tickets (from Harberton Folk only) £12.50 students/under 18s £8

Recent events that were well received at the Ariel Centre

music	Recent event … siga la SALSA lead this evening's Cameroon benefit event This Salsa Dance Charity event helped to raise money which will go to projects benefiting children in the Cameroon. With a bar, a local live band siga la SALSA and a D.J inbetween sets, it was a great night out. It was especially pleasing that some KEVICC International Baccalaureate students were involved in setting up the event. Cameroon Projects is a small charity working to support a number of children in need and their communities in ndian Province, south-west Cameroon. The charity has strong links with the area, and these are being developed and maintained through regular visits to the area. Your support for this local initiative will be much appreciated, and there is more information on their blog: cameroonprojects.blogspot.com

music	Recent event … SaMS & KEVICC bands perform together to raise money for Shelterbox Shelterbox is an International disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide. Lewis Riley lead his bands from SaMS and KEVICC, performing separately and together, in a jazz evening that gave pleasure to all.

dance	Recent event … EDge the postgraduate performance company of the London Contemporary Dance School EDge made their welcome annual visit to the Ariel Centre, featuring ten exceptional dancers on the cusp of their professional careers. The diverse selection of work, especially created for EDge, included full length works by international artists Wally Cardona (USA), Frauke Requardt (Germany) and Rick Nodine (USA), alongside shorter pieces by up and coming choreographers Darren Ellis (Richard Alston Dance Company), Lucy Suggate (Place Prize 2006 Finalist) and Nicholas Quinn (collaborator with MIKS, Etta Ermini and Superlative Arts). EDge offers postgraduate performers the chance to work across media and styles as contemporary dancers, offering an experience accurately reflecting the breadth of the industry and their futures within it.	photo Nuno Santos

music	Recent event … National Youth Jazz Collective present a FREE family concert with Pete Churchill Award-winning singer/pianist Pete Churchill was joined by two of the nation's most in demand rhythm section players, bassist Mark Hodgson and drummer Andrew Bain, plus leading Devon members of the National Youth Jazz Collective for this free family concert.	A Dartington event

drama	Recent event … Great Expectations by Charles Dickens presented by The Playgoers Society of Dartington Hall, directed by Mavis Jones Dickens' Great Expectations excites the audience through the rich tapestry of mystery which lies at the heart of this exciting play. Originally performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company, this adaptation was devised by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod. The opening of the play presents Pip, as a frightened child, being relentlessly bullied by his sister Mrs Joe after being terrified by an encounter with a convict called Magwitch. He is later taken in by Miss Havisham, a bitter and disappointed woman, and her cold-hearted foster child, Estella. Pip finds both hope and despair in his dealings with them. Various colourful characters influence Pip along the way, but when he inherits his fortune he believes Miss Havisham is responsible for his luck. However, as the true benefactor is revealed, Pip finds himself a changed man. The Playgoers Society of Dartington Hall (registered charity no: 295546) was founded by Dorothy Elmhirst in 1946. Playgoers have been performing at Dartington since 1948.	Pip at the Gate A Dartington event

folk	Recent event … Harberton Folk present Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham Aly Bain is Scotland's supreme traditional style fiddler. His playing is unique – driving, impassioned and pure – with vibrant, unmistakable tone that has earned him a following of ardent fans throughout the world. Phil Cunningham is a superb, innovative instrumentalist, with not simply the fastest fingers in the West but some of the most sensitive ones, too! The man who, in Scotland at least, made the accordion respectable again and who also plays fine keyboard and whistle. Aly and Phil teaming up in 1988 has added yet another dimension of appreciation for audiences everywhere – it's a partnership that's endured until this day. They have recorded and toured together tirelessly since then, mainly in Scotland, but also throughout Europe and the US, and to date they have recorded four albums, released on Aly's own record label Whirlie Records. They were back here after two massive sell-out concerts in 2006 and 2008, and this made a third!

drama	Recent event … O-Region presented Superstition Mountain The company that brought you Laughing Gas, and featuring members of Kneehigh Theatre, performed the inspired writing of Carl Grose Three Brothers. One last chance. No hope in hell… Please note this performance contains strong language and is recommended for everyone aged 12+ The Gunwallow brothers are in deep trouble. Slim's scrapyard has gone belly-up. Dwayne owes money to some bad people. And Mark's in love with dodgy Tina from down the pub. As if that's not enough, their Dad's just popped his clogs and left them on the brink of bankruptcy. This once great Cornish family has lost everything, but there's one faint glimmer of hope that might save them from disaster… a legendary gold mine lost somewhere in the sun-baked wastes of the Arizona desert. Only trouble is, no one who's ever ventured onto Superstition Mountain has lived to tell the tale… Blending the high-concept spirit of Hollywood blockbusters with an epic musical score, innovative use of film and powerful performances from three real Cornish brothers, SUPERSTITION MOUNTAIN is a dark comedy adventure exploring the intimate bonds and savage divides of brotherly love.

musical	Recent event … KEVICC presented West Side Story The timeless story of star-crossed lovers inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Set amongst the gangs of New York in the late 1950s, the fierce rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks features classic songs such as Maria, America and Somewhere. This was another KEVICC Performing Arts extravanganza… Music by Leonard Bernstein Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim Performance by arrangement with JOSEF WEINBERGER LTD.

music	Recent event … DrumCrazy with their 10th Anniversary free drum circle! Having played with thousands of people all over the UK and Europe during the past ten years, DrumCrazy created this event so they could play with local friends, family & community.

folk	Recent event … Harberton Folk present St Agnes Fountain St Agnes Fountain is the labour of love of four of modern acoustic music's brightest (Christmas) lights – singer/songwriter David Hughes, Fairport Convention's Chris Leslie and respected female duo Chris While and Julie Matthews.

music	Recent event … Baka Beyond return with Beyond the Forest If you have never heard Baka Beyond before prepare for something of unique and unusual beauty; if you know Baka Beyond you will no doubt agree that Beyond The Forest is their best work yet. The haunting, mystical vocals on the album were recorded on a solar-powered 8-track machine in the middle of the Cameroon rainforest which has been inhabited by the Baka Pygmies, an ethnic group of hunter-gatherers, for thousands of years. At night time the Baka Pygmy women perform powerful ritual singing (yelli) to ensure a successful hunt. Back in the UK, Baka Beyond leader Martin Cradick deconstructed the original interwoven vocal lines and replaced some voices with bass and acoustic guitar. The result is a stunningly beautiful, other-worldly album. As well as offering a rare glimpse into an exquisite disappearing musical culture, buying this album also directly supports the Baka who face various problems such as being disenfranchised from the forest. Baka Beyond will be touring to promote the new album during 2009, joined by special guest singer Molara, Fela Kuti's niece, and the original voice of dub dance pioneers Zion Train. For people who want to hear the original singing unadorned, a companion album, Baka In The Forest, was released on 18 May 2009.	www.baka.co.uk

folk	Recent event … Harberton Folk present Hoover the Dog This Welsh borders trio are purveyors of inventive, intelligent music, featuring the virtuoso combination of John Hymas' strings, the athletic accordion of Paul Hutchinson (one half of Belshazzar's Feast) and guitar/bouzouki man Tony Harris' light, fluid fingerings. Exhibiting bags of technical brilliance and the gift of making music clever and funny at the same time, the music ranges from stylish and understated to gutsy and gleeful. If you like original, quirky music full of flair, inventiveness and fun, you'll love them BBC Radio 2 See Harberton Folk details for booking on the Booking page.

drama	Recent event … Forkbeard Fantasy return with The Colour of Nonsense Set in a futuristic sci-fi art world, The Colour of Nonsense explores the never-ending puzzle of how and why we see the way we see and the miraculous sensation of colour. Inspired by The Emporer's New Clothes, The Nonsense Poems of Edward Lear and current research into the science of sight (especially Charles Bonnet Syndrome) The Colour of Nonsense takes us on a journey through the wild and ever-shifting borderlands between Sense and Non-Sense. A spectacular escapist mystery adventure set in the art world, Forkbeard's legendary delight in blurring art-forms and mixing media reaches new heights of comic invention. Celebrating 2000 years of Egg Tempera, Forkbeard hurl forth their latest boundary-blurring battery of inventions in stage trickery, film, visuals and sound. And, as escapees from cave-paintings to comic-strips drive us all into animated confusion, only the Dong with a Luminous Nose seems able to shed light on this chiaroscuro of chaos.

folk	Recent event … Harberton Folk present The Oysterband Oysterband is a British electric folk or folk rock band playing since 1976. Renowned hard touring band with songs that make you want to dance, laugh, cry or even just jump for joy. It could be classed as folk music, it could be indie rock or maybe it's just good music.

rock	Recent event … Totnes Festival event… Mother People Mick Green, Harry Fulcher – saxophones/vocals; Dave Holdsworth – trumpet; Bob Martin – trombone; Andy Christie – guitar; Lewis Riley – keyboards/director; Pat Butterly – bass; Harriet Riley – vibes/marimba; Dave Sheen – drums/vocals Formed in 2008 by keyboard player Lewis Riley, this 9 piece band helps to keep the music of Frank Zappa (1940–93) and his band The Mother of Invention alive. Considered by some to be a controversial figure, there is no doubt that his music was unique in 20th Century American music and covered a wide range of influences, from rock and roll and 1950s 'doo-wop', through jazz to 20th Century 'classical' masters such as Stravinsky and Varese. The current band leans towards the instrumental and jazz element of Zappa's extensive oeuvre with classic compositions such as Peaches en Regalia and Blessed Relief, although songs like Mr Green Genes and I'm The Slime also feature. The idea of forming this band has been with Mick Green and Lewis for some years, but with Lewis's daughter becoming a talented percussionist and able to provide an essential element of Zappa's sound, the time was right to make the idea into a reality. Bristol based Andy Christie was also a key choice as an experienced rock and jazz musician to interpret complex guitar parts but also play solos in the spirit of Zappa. Dave Sheen, Harry Fulcher and Pat Butterly are also long time Zappa fans and were keen to be involved, whilst Dave Holdsworth and Bob Martin bring the essential brass sound to much of this repertoire.

folk	Recent event … ++ Fairport Convention Acoustic Tour An intimate evening with Fairport's acoustic take on folk-rock music. All five members of Fairport Convention played as an acoustic ensemble: Simon Nicol (guitar, vocal), Chris Leslie (fiddle, mandolin, vocal), Ric Sanders (violin), Dave Pegg (bass) and Gerry Conway (percussion). The show was a mellow mix of old and new. Songs from the band's latest albums featured alongside favourites from the extensive Fairport Convention back catalogue. A Dartington event.

folk	Recent event … Old Dance School Acclaimed for their uplifting, grooving show, The Old Dance School bring together thrilling arrangements of European folk music and self-penned tracks to craft a diverse and explosive set. Fiddles, whistles, guitar, vocals, bass and percussion combine to show their folk, jazz, soul and world music influences with a clarity and maturity that has brought this lively group of young musicians a proliferative following. The six-piece band come from across England, and share a wealth of musical experience – from European opera tours and international jazz festivals, to early music recitals, rock clubs and green festivals – each member's musical journey so far is of a breadth and scale quite remarkable, given that none is older than 25. The Old Dance School have just released their debut studio album Based on a True Story.

cabaret	Recent event … The Wondermentalists Cabaret An evening of poetry, music and comedy incorporating the Dead Poets' Slam – where living poets champion favourites from the past, and the Audience Poem – where audiences amaze themselves with how damn good their combined efforts are. Well established in Totnes, the Wondermentalists will perform here, with a full bar, on a regular basis.

cabaret	Recent event … John Hegley & Friends We were delighted to have John Hegley, plus Wondermentalist friends, at the Ariel Centre. John is widely known as one of the country's most innovative comic poets with several best-selling volumes of poetry to his name. He is a regular sell-out at The Edinburgh Festival. He has performed at the Montreal Comedy Festival, the USA Comedy Festival in Aspen, with Ulrika Jonsson & Anita Dobson in The Pyjama Game and on BBC R4's Hearing With Hegley. John performed selected highlights from the Edinburgh show Beyond our Kennelin the evening, as well as performing to a family audience in the afternoon.

folk	Recent event … ++ RANDOM Ceilidh with caller Rosie Longhurst The six who are RANDOM, bring their vast experience of all kinds of folk and dance music to this well-established band. Saul Rose, who also plays with Waterson:Carthy and Faustus, joins up with Paul Nye to bring two very exciting melodeon-players together. Add the classy bass guitar of Keith Holloway, the guitar rhythms of Ian Woledge, the matchless bass trombone of Glynn Burch, and the rock-solid drumming of Roger Smith, and you've got the unique Random sound. Their gutsy, melodic, folk-rock ceilidh music made a fantastic ceilidh with experienced caller Rosie Longhurst. A Dartington event.

folk	Recent event … ++ The Lark Rise Band This band was formed by folk legend Ashley Hutchings after he created the music for the BBC adaptation of Lark Rise to Candleford. Back in 1981, the same series of books were the inspiration for two National Theatre stage productions. In his search to find music as quintessentially English as the rural idyll of Flora Thompson's childhood, playwright Keith Dewhurst turned to folk legend Ashley Hutchings, esteemed founder of Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span. Hutchings's Albion Band went on to accompany all performances, also releasing a subsequent soundtrack album. The BBC's adaptation of Flora Thompson's Lark Rise To Candleford delighted millions of Sunday night viewers with its endearingly quaint portrayal of a Victorian rural community, and the Lark Rise Band celebrates the wonderfully evocative music of the plays with a new generation of singers and musicians. A Dartington event.

folk	Recent event … The Conservatoire Folk Ensemble with Joe Broughton From riotous 45-piece group to intimate duos and trios, the shape-shifting Conservatoire Folk Ensemble is a whole festival's entertainment in one show. Funky arrangements, traditional and original tunes, humour and dancing, this performance promises to be a lot of fun! Breathtaking. Never will you have so much fun watching an ensemble play as this. Their diversity ranged from a salsa number to even playing a tune by blowing in bottles. Luke Gessner The Sentinel They lifted the roof off, playing a mixture of British and European Folk with such spirit and energy that people here keep asking for them back. Brilliant. Richard Hawley, Director, The Lichfield Festival This is an evening of breathtaking talent, great variety, and huge energy. It's impossible not to get excited by the exuberance and vitality of the whole thing. Chris Jaeger, Director, Huntingdon Arts

dance	Recent event … ALMA Flamenca Alma Flamenca, the UK's hottest flamenco dance and music ensemble brought their sensational show to Totnes for the last time. Back by popular demand, and before relocating to Spain next year, Felipe de Algeciras returned with his own company of top ranking Andalucian dancers and musicians. Another sensuous, sultry Spanish extravaganza, red-hot rhythms emanate from the lightning-fast feet of the dancers, fabulous costumes fill the senses with light and colour, while the virtuoso musicans transported the audience to the very heart of the flamenco tradition under the direction of the legendary Felipe de Algeciras.

music	Recent event … 6pac jazz sextet 6pac Jazz Sextet have worked extensively throughout the UK since they formed in June 2002. The players met whilst studying at the Royal Northern College of Music and the University of Manchester. In June 2004 6pac were awarded the RNCM Gold Medal, the highest accolade for performance that the college bestows, and the only time in its history that an ensemble received the award. Later in the same year the band received the Peter Whittingham Award for an Innovative Jazz Project from the Musicians Benevolent Fund for their project Last Minute Changes. This included a tour of northern universities and the recording of their debut CD featuring band new music by young people and the band themselves. The band continues to perform new music as well as putting their own distinctive mark on jazz standards. Their second album, Business as Usual, is a collection of their favourite arrangments to date. 6pac perform all over the UK at festivals including Manchester, Isle of Wight and Peterborough, chamber music societies including St Martin In-The-Field, Macclesfield and Saddleworth and various jazz venues. 6pac have also performed twice for BBC Songs of Praise and for the BBC Three documentary Bohemian Rhapsody. Irrefutable evidence that jazz is still a vibrant, creative force. Manchester Evening News May 2007