John Paul Jones, celebrated bassist and keyboard player with heavy metal pioneers, Led Zeppelin, is the star attraction of this year’s New Music Series of concerts; to be held at the art gallery, Kettle’s Yard, in the centre of Cambridge.
Jones will appear in a one-off show on 20th May in which he performs his own compositions, alongside the Cambridge University New Music Ensemble. He will also be interviewed during the show by composer Stephen Montague.
The inaugural performance of the new Kettle’s Yard season, however, already took place yesterday, Sunday 29th January, when a surreal story, Tuba Bears’ Picnic, by Radio Three presenter and poet, Ian McMillan, concerning four tubas that become friends after meeting in a wood, was set against some of the world’s best-loved classical pieces.
If you missed this first event, then don’t worry. Following on from this, other highlights of the New Music Series include:
• Acclaimed violinist, Darragh Morgan and celebrated pianist, Mary Dullea, performing a series of duets, on 12th February
• Musical theatrical show, Flam, by Orlando Gough; realised through the virtuoso singing and acting talents of Rebecca Askew and Melanie Pappenheim, on 26th February
• Powerful Women, a special concert by top Chinese American pianist, Jessica Zhu, on 11th March
• Amplified, modernist music for strings from The Smith Quartet, on 24th April
• Ensemble Bash: a percussive group described by The Times as musicians ‘who make playing percussion the coolest, noisiest and funniest occupation on earth’, on 6th May
There are also several shows in The New Music Series featuring the talents of celebrated local singers and musicians.
