The Chrysalis Club Announces Spring 2015 Lineup at Wilton's

Wilton's Music Hall has announced events for March and April at The Chrysalis Club, an eclectic interim arts programme of events, gigs, screenings, classes and performances which will run until September 2015, as the world's last surviving Grand Music Hall in London's East End enters the second phase of vital building works.

The Montecristos Rock 'n' Roll Circus will celebrate the release of their Kickstarter-funded debut album Born to Rock 'n' Roll on 26 March with an evening of thrills, spills, magic and music. The Montecristos are a glam, trash, surf punk 21st Century rock 'n' roll band who were founded by Neal "X" Whitmore.

On 30 March and 20 April, Tom Carradine returns to Wilton's Music Hall for good old-fashioned knees up in Carradine's Cockney Sing-A-Long in an evening of timeless songs. Following this, Wilton's resident magician, Katherine Rhodes, returns with Wilton's Magic Show on 8 April and 5 May for a selection of evenings full of ingenuity and baffling feats. A talented and versatile member of the renowned Inner Magic Circle, Katherine has done everything from levitating Wilton's Director to reading the minds of audience members.

11 April sees the winners of The Vintage Guide to London's "Best London Vintage Fair" award in 2013 & 2014, Pop Up Vintage Fairs London bring together vintage traders from all over the UK and Europe for a day long market which will also feature live music from My Favourite Things and Swing Dance demos.

Wilton's welcomes back The Destroyers on 15 May, the 13 piece mega folk mentalism band who know no musical boundaries. Fusing Balkan, gypsy, folk, punk, ska and jazz, The Destroyers will be showcasing some of their new tracks during their one-night only residence at Wilton's.

On 15 April, Wilton's will be hosting a Gala Dinner to raise funds for the new artistic season. This exclusive evening will offer a sneak preview of the new season and includes drinks, canapés, dinner, special guests, entertainment, dancing and a fundraising auction. Wilton's will be raising funds to enable a year round artistic programme to flourish, presenting theatre, opera, dance, music, cabaret, magic and more.

Wilton's is also launching a local history project to unearth the hidden treasures of Wilton's history. If you have a story to share about Wilton's, contact Halema: memories@wiltons.org.uk.

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THE CHRYSALIS CLUB AT WILTON'S

History Tours
Dates: Mondays (ongoing)
Times: Mondays 6pm - 7pm and occasional Saturdays
Prices: £6.00
N/B: We recommend checking the website before planning your visit as some Mondays may not have tours scheduled. Wilton's is not open on Bank Holidays. Please call the Box Office on 020 7702 2789 for more information
Hear how a Victorian sailors' pub became a famous music hall, how it was transformed into a Methodist Mission, survived the London Blitz, stood forgotten for decades and reopened as the exciting theatre venue it is today. These tours have been devised by Wilton's researcher and historian and last approximately one hour. Providing a glimpse into the life of the last surviving building of its kind, these tours are perfect for students, researchers and everyone who would like to learn more about this historic venue. Where possible, private tours are available for groups of 15-50. Call the box office for information on availability.

MARCH 2015:

Yoga Nights... and Relax
Dates: 19th March 2015 & 9th April 2015
Times: 7:30pm - 8.30pm
Prices: £12 (advanced booking recommended)
Join us for these exclusive classes, suitable for all abilities. Yoga puts us into challenging positions (sort of like the tube in rush hour) and then teaches us to breathe our way through it. So many of today's illnesses result from a build up of stress and, as we know, there are very good reasons why London life is never characterised as leisurely. We want to help you stretch and ease away those winter blues. The class will be run by Sarah Hunt, the founder of Fresh Living Yoga + Nutrition, an exclusive health and wellness company based in London. Her classes are designed to boost your energy levels, improve your core strength, minimise stress and help you take steps towards finding your inner balance.

Seven Decades: Tiger Stripes, Flames & Killer Tops
Dates: 20th March - 21st March 2015
Times: Doors 7pm, show 7:30pm - 10:30pm (approx.)
Prices: £10 - £20
The perfect night out for guitar and popular music fans - musical storytelling at its very best. Written and Directed by Phil Hylander and Michael John Ross, with visuals from Matt Posner and Yuli Levtov. These talented musicians behind Seven Decades are returning to Wilton's, promising another night of a fascinating, inspirational and humorous musical journey through the last 70 years, guided by the Fender Telecaster, the Gibson Les Paul, the Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson ES 335.

BBT Wednesday at Wilton's: Sean Shibe
Date: 25 March 2015
Time: 8pm
Price: £15
Sean Shibe was the youngest ever musician to enter the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (graduating with first class honours) and is a trailblazer for his instrument, being the first guitarist to be admitted the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme and the only solo guitarist to receive a BBT Fellowship (2012). He has won numerous other awards and first prizes including the Royal Over-Seas League and Ivor Mairants Guitar awards.

The Montecristos Rock 'n' Roll Circus
Dates: 26th March 2015
Times: Doors 7pm, Entertainment 7:30pm - 9:30pm (approx.)
Prices: £12.50 advance tickets, £15 on the door
The "fabulous" Montecristos celebrate the release of their debut album Born to Rock 'n' Roll with an extravaganza of thrills, spills, magic and music. The Montecristos are the only mostly all-girl glam, trash, surf punk 21st Century rock 'n roll band you'll ever need and, as if that were not enough, they bring jugglers, magicians and a contortionist to move amongst you, up close and personal.

Cole Porter Cabaret & Cocktails
Dates: 27th March - 28th March 2015
Times: 7pm Doors, music from 9pm - 11pm
Prices: Free
Providing all the romance and faded glamour you could wish for, Wilton's auditorium is open for two special cocktail nights. Have a classic cocktail in the gentle lighting of Wilton's as Rachael Pennell and Gladstone Wilson serenade you with music from Cole Porter and his era. Conjuring up the essence of the 20s and 30s, the music will be interspersed with images from the movie De-Lovely, an original musical portrait of Cole Porter, filmed partly at Wilton's.

Carradine's Cockney Sing-A-Long
Dates: 30th March 2015 & 20th April 2015
Times: 8pm - 10:30pm
Prices: Pay what you can (minimum £1)
Join Mr. Tom Carradine on the 'Ol Johanna as he presents an evening of timeless songs. After an uproarious series of sing-a-long sessions in the Mahogany Bar and a festive spectacular in the hall, our piano playing host is back. Leading you in a traditional sing-a-long, music includes ditties from the Music Hall era, WWI and II, the West End stage and traditional popular songs from across the decades. It's a good old-fashioned knees-up!

APRIL 2015:

Saint Saviour Plus Special Guests
Dates: 1st April 2015
Times: Doors 7pm
Prices: £15
Sculpting lush, pastoral arrangements around her songs, Saint Saviour's new album 'In The Seams' is a remarkably honest, direct and poetic document. At times recalling Vashti Bunyan or Anne Briggs in its folk simplicity, there's also a distinct sense of the North - of a particular place, a particular attitude. Saint Saviour is from Teeside and sings, writes and produces music. Formerly of Groove Armada, most notably collaborating on the Grammy Nominated 'Black Light' she moved on to a solo career in 2012, self-releasing 2 EP's and a debut album 'Union'.

Wilton's Magic Show
Dates: 8th April 2015 & 5th May
Times: 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Prices: £12.50 full price, £6 under 16s
Wilton's resident magician, Katherine Rhodes, returns for a night of ingenuity and baffling feats that will keep you guessing. A talented and versatile member of the renowned Inner Magic Circle, Katherine Rhodes has done everything from levitating Wilton's Director to reading minds. A good old fashioned family show, everyone is welcome and be warned, we promise she'll catch out even the most skeptical amongst you. Always with a healthy dollop of humour, she returns for an evening filled with audience favourites alongside specially designed new tricks.

Pop Up Vintage Fairs London
Dates: 11th April 2015
Times: 12 noon - 6pm
Prices: £3 adults on the door, £2 with NUS card (no advance bookings)
Wilton's is transforming into a vintage paradise, brimming with fashion from the 1920s to the 1980s, jewellery, accessories, mid-century homeware, collectables, curiosities and more. Make a day of it and immerse yourself in the atmosphere with live music from My Favourite Things, whose songs will whisk you back to a bygone era. You can even treat yourself to a makeover as Pretty Me Vintage will be recreating the hairstyles and makeup from your favourite decades and, as an added bonus, Swing Patrol's Brat Pack will have you dancing in the aisles with their Swing Dance demos. We will also be running a tea room with hot drinks, sandwiches and cakes as well as opening the cocktail bar at the earlier time of midday.

Robin Windsor's Same Sex Ballroom for Beginners
Dates: 13th April 2015
Times: Doors 6.30pm, classes begin at 7pm
Prices: £30 (£5 of every ticket will be donated to the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation)
Following his phenomenal success in the BBC's Strictly Come Dancing and The Peoples' Strictly, ballroom and latin sensation Robin Windsor is offering you the chance to learn to dance like the stars. Personally hosted and taught by Robin, you will be guided through an entire evening of beginners ballroom and latin.

The Perfume Salon
Dates: 14th April 2015
Times: Doors 7.30pm; Event begins at 8pm
Prices: £15
Perfumista Anna Katz presents a fragrant evening for the senses with an opportunity to sample the creations of top perfumer, Haeckels, and hear live music from The Ottermen. First launched in 2014 and now firmly established after three successful London salons, The Perfume Salon offers both established and emerging perfumers and musicians an opportunity to showcase their wares. This Salon will feature a presentation by Perfumer Dom Bridges, founder of the Margate based wild fragrance brand Haeckels, followed by live music from English blues and swing artists The Ottermen.

Wilton's Music Hall Gala Dinner
Dates: 15th April 2015
Times: 7:30pm
Prices: Tickets £100 (£50 to cover event costs and £50 suggested voluntary donation)
Tables of 10 are available
This exclusive Gala Dinner will offer a sneak preview of the new season and includes drinks, canapés, dinner, special guests, entertainment, dancing and a fundraising auction.

Tom Brosseau
Dates: 16th April 2015
Times: Doors 7:30pm, music 8pm
Prices: £10
Tom Brosseau is a prolific country-folk singer/songwriter from North Dakota whose quietly beautiful storytelling edges towards indie rock. Having learned acoustic guitar from his grandmother, Tom grew up with music in the church, in the school and at home, developing a deep appreciation of hymnal and folk songs both traditional and contemporary. His music summons the close harmonies and soul of earlier American music - simple, strikingly unadorned songs with high, lonesome vocals that could come from any time or place.

Siliva the Zulu - part of 'South Africa at 20: The Freedom Tour'
Dates: 17th April 2015
Times: 7:30pm (64min)
Prices: £10
A remarkable silent film by explorer & filmmaker, Attilio Gatti, with live score by the talented British-Nigerian musician Juwon Ogungbe, using traditional African and western instruments. Directed by Attilio Gatti (1927) this rare screening will be accompanied by live music from composer-performer Juwon Ogungbe.

Step Out with Swing Patrol
Dates: 18 April, 28 May, 20 June, 4 July 2015
Times: Dance class 7pm, music from 7:30pm
Prices: £15 (class included)
Following a fantastic series of 2014 events, we are delighted to announce that Swing Patrol will be back in 2015. Featuring a taster class at 7pm, there will be social dancing until 10.30pm, including performances by the pros and all sorts of fun shenanigans!

BBT Wednesday at Wilton's: Erik Bosgraaf
Date: 29 April 2015
Time: 8pm
Price: £15
Erik Bosgraaf is hailed as one of the most gifted and versatile recorder players of the new generation. He has a colourful past in a rock band and as an oboe player, believes that good music is irrespective of style and feels equally at home in early and contemporary music. He is a winner of the Dutch Music Prize (2011), has recorded an eclectic mix of critically acclaimed CDs and performed as soloist with some of the world's leading orchestras, chamber groups and jazz musicians. He received his BBT award in 2009 and has used it to commission new works and have new instruments made for him.

MAY 2015:

Faster, Monsanto! Die! Die! Reverend Billy and The Stop Shopping Choir
Dates: 2th May 2015
Times: 7:30pm
Prices: Pay what you can, minimum £1
Over the last year, Reverend Billy & The Stop Shopping Choir have applied their signature musical activism to counteracting big corporations' role in climate disruption and mass extinction. By turns attracting critical and popular acclaim and threats of serious jail time. The Faster, Monsanto! Die! Die! tour comes to London from The Live Ideas festival in New York and Vienna's Donau Festival. A 90-minute show with 12 singers and a 3 piece band, on its surface the show resembles a church service but its brand of wild punk gospel will comfort even the staunchest secularist.

London Festival of Cabaret Presents Xara Vaughan
Dates: 7th May 2015
Times: 8pm - 9pm
Prices: £15
N/B: In the cocktail bar upstairs. This room is not currently wheelchair accessible.
Xara Vaughan performs an intimate set of songs inspired by her life and loves. Xara's debut show received five star reviews after a sellout run at the Edinburgh Festival. Her show talks about her many life experiences from teenage rebellion as a dancer at Stringfellows to becoming a fully ordained Buddhist nun living in the Himalayas with her own orphanage. Her musical arrangements are of modern and pop classics and are by Mark Aspinall, Musical Director for the Donmar Warehouse's production of City of Angels.

London Festival of Cabaret Presents Kate Garner
Dates: 8th May 2015
Times: 8pm - 9pm
Prices: £15
N/B: In the cocktail bar upstairs. This room is not currently wheelchair accessible.
An intimate evening with Kate Garner on piano who performs songs by her favourite writers. Kate Garner will singing the songs of Coward, Berlin, Weill and Porter, along with her own original songs inspired by them. Her previous live performances include The Royal Albert Hall, The London Palladium and Wayne Hemingway's Vintage Festival at The Royal Festival Hall.

The Destroyers
Dates: 15th May 2015
Times: Doors 7:30pm
Prices: Tickets £12.50 advanced; £15 on the door
Unique is a word that is over-used and abused but it was never more aptly employed than to describe The Destroyers. Self-billed as 'mega folk mentalism', The Destroyers know no musical boundaries and are a refreshing antidote to today's manufactured, mass-market acts.

Anatomy of the Piano
Dates: 20th, 21st & 22nd May 2015
Times: 8pm - 9pm
Prices: £15
N/B: In the cocktail bar upstairs. This room is not currently wheelchair accessible.
Part piano recital, part fantasy lecture, British entertainer Will Pickvance presents a series of genre-defying shows that has charm in abundance. Best described as a pianist and piano in conversation with the audience, Pickvance uncovers the physical, emotional and spiritual anatomy of the piano, revealing his own story as a musician and the relationship between a pianist and piano. A must-see, Anatomy of the Piano is a chance to experience a pianistic expression alongside Power Point, live animation and a piano post-mortem that promises both thrill and laughter from the audience.

BBT Wednesday at Wilton's: Bram van Sambeek
Date: 27 May 2015
Time: 8pm
Price: £15
Bram van Sambeek was the first bassoonist ever to win the Dutch Music Prize. He sees no boundaries in his music making and is keen to commission new work as well as collaborate with musicians from other musical genres such as jazz and rock music. He regularly performs with some of the world's leading orchestras and conductors; Valery Gergiev complimented him as being "artistically involved, motivated...gifted...a very nice person and also being a little bit unusual!" He won his BBT Award in 2011 and has used part of it to co-commission a new concerto from Finnish composer Sebastian Fagerlund which he world premieres in December 2014.

JUNE 2015:

BBT Wednesday at Wilton's: Alec Frank-Gemmill
Date: 24 June 2015
Time: 8pm
Price: £15
Alec Frank-Gemmill is highly sought after as a soloist and a chamber musician (the Financial Times recently referred to him as "a phenomenon with a tone of golden purity, wraparound warmth and ecstatic afterglow") and plays with leading orchestras and at prestigious festivals throughout Europe and the UK. As well as being principal horn with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra he also plays regularly with the London Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. This year he received a BBT Fellowship and also entered the BBC New Generation Artists scheme.

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