Never mind the Festival, feel the Fringe!

PRESS RELEASE: June 8th 2009

At the Buxton Festival Fringe, music events of the highest quality complement those taking place in the Buxton Festival itself and never more so than in 2009 with a bumper programme featuring everything from classical and opera to calypso and reggae.

Classical music is represented by stirring orchestral concerts from the likes of High Peak Orchestra, the Orchestra of KEMS Macclesfield and the Amaretti Chamber Orchestra, as well as smaller groups such as Quatuor Deconet or Partita. Many of the concerts specialise in specific instrumental works, whether it's classical guitar from James Rippingale, pianist David Schofield, oboe and guitar from Marios Argiros & Dimitris Dekavallas, strings and oboe from the Bright String Trio and Simon Beesley, harpist Liath Hollins, the Music for Cello Ensemble or the Manchester Recorder Orchestra. Meanwhile, Accordes once again produce a programme of Renaissance and Baroque lute songs, an era of music also presented by Partita in their concert. There's also a chance to see younger orchestral talent in the Youth Orchestra and Youth Chorale Concert from the Derbyshire City & County Music Partnership.

Operatic and vocal works also come to the fore in a wide range of concerts and recitals. There's a full concert performance of La Traviata from City of Manchester Opera, as well as recitals from Angela Rowley, Nicholas Bennett and 'Africa's Lady of Song' Margaret Ferguson and choral works from Manchester Chamber Choir and Tideswell Male Voice Choir. There's a light-hearted introduction to opera from Operatastic, and Opera Larks revice their entertaining mixture of operatic and popular song, Are We There Yet? There's a maritime flavour in two concerts: Susie Self & Michael Christie's Songs of the Sea and Richard Parry's Pirates in the Caribbean. There's a tribute to the Bronte Sisters in Keeping the Flame Alive and even music underground in Poole's Cavern from Bright Cecilia.

But it's not just classical music on display at this year's Fringe. You can find jazz and blues from Helen & The Lovenotes, Eastern jazz fusion from Critical Mass, baroque music meeting modern jazz from The Buxton Minstrels, singer-songwriter duo Dulcinea, quirky electro-pop from Project Adorno, as well as solo performers such Martin Hall, Men Diamler, Sam Dunkley, young local singer Emma Hopkins and, after 11 years away from the Fringe, the return of calypso and reggae star Antigua Joe.

This year's Buxton Festival Fringe runs from Wednesday 8 to Saturday 26 July and details of all events are available online now at http://www.buxtonfringe.org.uk. The full brochure of events is also now widely available.

The Fringe is hugely grateful to its many supporters including its main sponsor The University of Derby Buxton as well as The Osborne Group, High Peak Borough Council and The Old Hall Hotel.

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