Lucy Parham and More to Join Piano-Playing Celebrities for WORD/PLAY at Kings Place, 9 Dec.

Pianist Lucy Parham & Kings Place launch 'Word/Play', a new regular Sunday Coffee Concert series starring Henry Goodman, Janie Dee, Edward Fox, Alex Jennings, Alan Rusbridger and a host of piano-playing celebrities.

Acknowledged as one of Britain's finest pianists, Lucy Parham is renowned not only for her concertos and recitals, but also her portraits in words and music of such composers as Schumann, Chopin, Liszt and Debussy. Now Lucy has joined forces with Kings Place to produce a series of Sunday morning coffee concerts.

Lucy Parham says of the Coffee Concert series....."I have always loved the combination of words and music and wanted to bring an exciting series to Kings Place, which would make it a new Sunday morning destination."

The series starts on the 9 December with Celebrity Carnival when Lucy will be joined by Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger and other piano-playing celebrities for a morning of fun at the piano. Thirteen pianists will each play a movement from Schumann's enchanting Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood). This will be followed by a star studded performance of Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals.

In January acclaimed actor Martin Jarvis will be joined by ex-Kit and the Widow pianist Richard Sisson for Just William a selection of stories about the irrepressible William, the star of Richmal Crompton's hugely popular Just William books.

February sees Alex Jennings join tenor Andrew Kennedy and pianist Iain Burnside for The Dark Pastoral, a celebration of composers and poets' responses to the First World War.

This programme draws on a wealth of words and music, from the well known to the unpublished, including poetry by Charlotte Mew and Edward Thomas, and songs by composers including Ivor Gurney and William Denis Browne. Devised by Dr Kate Kennedy of Cambridge University.

Janie Dee, one of the most versatile performers on the British stage, brings her Sunday Morning Cabaret to Kings Place in March. Her show will include a wide range of vocal styles embracing jazz, pop and ballads, Broadway and musical theatre. Winner of two Olivier Awards and The Evening Standard and Critics Circle Best Actress Award, Janie has a parallel career as a star of intimate cabaret performing at all the best cabaret rooms. "Is there a more enchanting actress on the British stage than Janie Dee?" Benedict Nightingale, The Times.

In April there will be a special concert, of Enoch Arden, Richard Strauss's melodrama based on Tennyson's epic poem for narrator and solo piano. Narrated by acclaimed West End actor, Henry Goodman with solo pianist Lucy Parham.

The final event of the season is Solo Inspiration with Tim Hugh, principal cellist of the LSO and winner of the Bach Prize in the Tchaikovsky Competition and actor EdWard Fox, star of numerous films, including Day of the Jackal, The Shooting Party and A Bridge too Far. Tim Hugh will perform a selection from the Bach Cello Suites, combined with readings by EdWard Fox, including poems by TS Eliot and Robert Browning.

WORD/PLAY COFFEE CONCERT SERIES:
Monday, 9 December 2013 - 11:30am

Celebrity Carnival: Lucy Parham and Friends

Schumann Kinderscenen
Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals

Pianists to include: Oliver Condy, EdWard Fox, Richard Godwin, Richard Ingrams, Alistair McGowan, Lucy Parham, Alan Rusbridger, Simon Russell Beale, Juliet Stevenson, Sarah Walker, David Whelton

Sean Rafferty host
Martin Jarvis narrator
Joanna David narrator

Hosted by Radio 3's Sean Rafferty.

Presented by Lucy Parham.

Sunday, 26 January 2014 - 11:30am

Just William: Martin Jarvis & Richard Sisson

Sunday, 16 February 2014 - 11:30am

The Dark Pastoral: Alex Jennings, Andrew Kennedy & Iain Burnside

Sunday, 23 March 2014 - 11:30am

Sunday Morning Cabaret with Janie Dee

Sunday, 27 April 2014 - 11:30am

Enoch Arden: Henry Goodman & Lucy Parham

Sunday, 25 May 2014 - 11:30am

Solo Inspiration: EdWard Fox and Tim Hugh

Performances run at Hall One, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9AG. Time: 11.30am. Tickets: Online £14.50 (incl Coffee/tea). Savers £9.50. Box Office: 020 7520 1490 / www.kingsplace.co.uk

Lucy Parham: Her life-long passion for the music of Schumann inspired the original concept of the words and music evening, Beloved Clara. The CD of Beloved Clara (ASV) was released to critical acclaim. Two further evenings, Liszt - An Odyssey of Love and Nocturne - The Romantic Life of Frédéric Chopin also premiered in the London Pianoforte Series at the Wigmore Hall. These musical portraits have toured the UK and abroad, also making their US debuts in Los Angeles and subsequently broadcast on NPR across the USA. The CDs of Nocturne and Odyssey of Love will be released in 2012. Celebrated actors who appear in these programmes include Dame Harriet Walter, Samuel West, Martin Jarvis, Dominic West, Joanna David, EdWard Fox, Henry Goodman, Timothy West, Juliet Stevenson, Alex Jennings, Rosamund Pike and Charles Dance.

Lucy Parham has made numerous recordings including Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue (RPO/EMI Gold), concertos by Ravel, Fauré and Franck (RPO records) and a solo Schumann CD (ASV). Her CD of Clara and Robert Schumann Concertos (BBC CO/Sanctuary) won the BBC Music Magazine "Critics' Choice of the Year"

Lucy Parham first came to public attention as the Piano Winner of the 1984 BBC Young Musician of the Year. Since her Royal Festival Hall concerto debut at the age of 16, she has played throughout the UK as concerto soloist with most of the major British orchestras and is a frequent recitalist at the Wigmore Hall. She has also toured the USA with the BBC Concert Orchestra on their 50th anniversary, as well as Mexico and Turkey with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Abroad, she has toured with the Russian State Symphony, Sofia Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic, Polish National Radio SO and L'Orchestre National de Lille. www.lucyparham.com