Major International Classical Music Festival comes to Haddenham
Professional Viola player, Mark Chivers who lives in Haddenham, has organised the Carwithen Music Festival to celebrate the centenary of Doreen Carwithen. The festival will take place at St Mary's Church in the village (30th June-3rd July 2022).
Doreen is the world's first female film composer and was born in Haddenham in 1922 (the building is now Paul Wilkinson's Photographic studio).
The festival will consist of 6 concerts, 2 cinema screenings, a multimedia exhibition in the birthplace and the unveiling of a blue plaque on the front of the birthplace.
President of the festival, film composer Debbie Wiseman OBE, will be in attendance for the whole weekend and will unveil the blue plaque. She will also perform her award-winning score for the BBC's Wolf Hall, with the actual players on the soundtrack, alongside the Bafta award winning actor Anton Lesser, of Wolf Hall, The Crown, and Game of Thrones fame, reading extracts from Hilary Mantel's novel.
Other highlights will include, Mike Moran, the composer of Barcelona for Freddie Mercury and Monserrat Caballe and composer of all the Taggart soundtracks for ITV, giving the late-night jazz concert at the Village Hall.
Mark's own String Quartet, Masquerade, who performed in Haddenham a few years ago at the Feast Festival with the West End star Alice Fearn, will open the festival. You can also catch international soloists Fenella Humphreys (Violin) and the incredible Clare Hammond (Piano) each with their own recitals.
Mark has also commissioned a new work for Fenella Humphreys, by the film composer Christopher Gunning who wrote the Poirot theme for David Suchet (ITV). Christopher used to live in the old school building, where Doreen Carwithen went to school in Monks Risborough.
Classic FM have already indicated that they will be branding and covering the festival and tickets are now live.
You can buy tickets from the festival website listed below. Prices are £15 for individual tickets and £65 for a festival pass to all 6 concerts. There will be ample opportunity to meet and chat to all the players and composers during the festival, whether it be by pre-concert talk or after show drinks.
www.carwithenmusicfestival.co.uk
It should be an amazing weekend with the Haddenham Beer Festival and local food markets taking place that weekend as well.
Roll on next summer.
