Royal Albert Hall Announces March 2009 Listings

ROYAL Albert Hall announces March 2009 Listings
Box Office: +44 (0)20 7589 8212 Open 7 days a week 9:00am - 9:00pm
Online booking is available for most events. Please visit the website: www.royalalberthall.com

CARMEN
Thursday 26 February - Sunday 8 March, 7.30pm
Saturday 28 February, Saturday 7 March and Sunday 8 March at 2.30pm

From the very first note of the much-loved overture to the final tragic chords, the very essence of Spain is brought to life in this acclaimed in-the-round production of the world's most popular opera. The dusty atmosphere of the town square, the cool night air of the smugglers' mountain hideout and the festivities outside the bullring in Seville are all vividly recreated in this powerful tale of lust, superstition and murder slowly unraveling with fatal consequences.

Bizet's rich and timeless score contains some of opera's finest arias and best-loved music. Escamillo's rousing Song of the Toreador, Carmen's bewitching Seguidilla and tantalizing Habanera and Don José's heartfelt Flower Song never fail to captivate audiences, seducing them with the sensual music and sultry rhythms of Spain.

There will be an audio-described performance of Carmen on Sunday 8 March 2009 at 2.30pm. For further information, please call 020 7838 3110.

Tickets: £60- £21
Presented by: Raymond Gubbay and Royal Albert Hall

ignite Brunch - JONTY FISHER, CRAIG SCHNEIDER, DAVE BLENKHORN TRIO
Sunday 1 March, 11.30am
Café Consort- Door 12

With 'a bass, a guitar and the man on the little white keys', this talented jazz trio combine virtuosity, swinging rhythms and smooth vocals with an infectious joie de vivre.

Tickets: £25 (includes a two-course meal)
Presented by: Royal Albert Hall

ignite- SOUTHERN TENANT FOLK UNION
Friday 6 March, 12.00 noon
Café Consort- Door 12

Enjoy music by skilled and experienced purveyors of folk, bluegrass and country, led by the formidable playing of Pat McGarvey.

Tickets: Free Entry
Presented by: Royal Albert Hall

ignite- BREABACH
Friday 13 March, 12.00 noon

Café Consort- Door 12

Enjoy a unique combination of traditional and contemporary Scottish music featuring bagpipes, whistle, fiddle, song and Scottish step-dance.

Tickets: Free Entry

Presented by: Royal Albert Hall

HERTFORDSHIRE SING UP!
Tuesday 17 March, 1.30pm and 7.15pm

Hertfordshire Music Service promotes all kinds of music for all young people in the county.

Tickets: £25 - £8
Presented by: Hertfordshire Music Service
ECHOES 3 - SEA SONGS AND SPIRALS

Wednesday 18 March, 7.30pm

This choral musical extravaganza features 1,600 children from Buckinghamshire Schools and includes Howard Goodall's setting of Psalm 23, Jane Smith's cantata 'The Sea' and 'Song Spiral', a sequence of songs circling the globe.

Tickets: £28- £9
Presented by: Aylesbury Music Centre Parents and Teachers Association

CLASSICAL SPECTACULAR
Thursday 19- Sunday 22 March, 7.30pm
Saturday 21 and Sunday 22, 3pm

Enjoy the world's most popular classical music as over 200 performers fill the stage, culminating in a spectacular display of thundering cannons, laser lights and indoor fireworks for the 1812 overture.

Tickets: £51- £13
Presented by: Raymond Gubbay Ltd
ignite- ZIG

Friday 27 March, 12.00 noon
Café Consort- Door 12

Zig take their audience on a voyage of discovery through Eastern Europe and the Balkans with enchanting wild rhythms and deeply touching melodies.

Tickets: Free Entry
Presented by: Royal Albert Hall

ignite Brunch- ERIC GILCHRIST JAZZ QUINTET
Sunday 29 March, 11.30am
Café Consort- Door 12

Led by alto saxophonist, Eric Gilchrist, this quintet plays swing and blues as well as mellow and sophisticated jazz standards from the great American songwriters.

Tickets: £25 (includes a two-course meal)
Presented by: Royal Albert Hall

MUSIC IS FOR LIFE
Monday 30 March, 7.30pm

Experience the power and joy of music-making by 1,450 young musicians from the London Borough of Merton in a dazzling display of music and performance from around the world and the world premiere of 'The Journey' by Pete Churchill.

This event has been generously supported by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the London Borough of Merton.

Tickets: £25- £8
Presented by: Merton Music Foundation
ignite- MYSTERY STRING QUARTET
Tuesday 31 March, 12.00 noon
Café Consort- Door 12

This concert will be given by one of the string quartets from the prestigious London International String Quartet Competition 2009. Don't miss hearing these talented stars of the future!

Tickets: Free Entry
Presented by: Royal Albert Hall

James Morrison
Tuesday 31 March, 7.30pm

James Morrison will be appearing at the Hall as part of his fantastic 'The Songs and Truths Tour'. After his debut album sold over two million copies worldwide he became the biggest selling British male solo artist of 2006.

Tickets: £28.87- £18.11
Presented by: SJM Concerts
reflect - Free Exhibition Series

Free Entry when attending a performance or on the open days listed. Enter through Door 1.

CARMEN REVISED
As part of the Royal Albert Hall's Learning and Participation programme, the Traveller Women's Group from Ealing and students from the Purcell School are working alongside one another to create their own modern day version of the opera, Carmen.

The Travellers have been working with playwright Darren Rapier and poet, Ian McMillan in a series of writing workshops whilst students from the Purcell School have created five new pieces of music. The script receives a rehearsed reading by a cast of leading TV and stage actors on Monday 2 March 2009 at the Royal Albert Hall accompanied by the specially composed music performed by the Hall's newly created Learning and Participation resident ensemble, Albert's Band.

The photographic exhibition, Carmen Revised, documents this unique collaboration which brings together two very diverse groups in an attempt to fully engage with all sectors of the community. The vibrancy and passion of the participants is captured perfectly by photographer Sheila Burnett and by the writers and composers themselves.

'Projects like this give the participants a genuine voice, not an imposed one' Darren Rapier, playwright

Free open days:
Friday 27 February 10am - 2pm
Presented by: Royal Albert Hall