A Sculpture Garden featuring the work of twenty five leading sculptors in the gardens of the Odney Club will be a highlight of the Cookham Festival 2009. This new event , by kind permission of the Odney Club, is being curated by Bridget Fraser of the Barn Galleries, Henley on Thames. The Sculpture Garden will feature a collection of twenty five outstanding sculptures from leading local sculptors and others, including Lydia Karpinska, the late Ken Court and Eunice Goodman. Festival visitors will be able to follow the trail under the ancient cedar trees, across the gracious lawns and discover sculptures hidden in the herbaceous borders.
Bridget Fraser said” It is a great pleasure for me to be curating the first ever Sculpture Garden for the Cookham Festival. For me, it is like a homecoming. I lived in Cookham – the Dean, the Rise, the Dean again – from 1972 until 1986. It was in Cookham that my children spent their early years and, like me, forged some of their firmest friendships. Cookham is a community like no other and it is an honour and a pleasure to be associated with the Cookham Festival, to celebrate all that is so vibrant, so wonderful and so welcoming: everything that is Cookham. Some of the sculptors’ names you will recognise, others will be new to you. Enjoy it all as you explore the perfect grounds of the Odney Club. Beautiful gardens, amazing sculpture: what a treat in store.”
Other highlights of the Festival include two concerts, one featuring the Taplow Choir, winners of the Youth section of the BBC Radio 3 Choir of the Year competition. The second concert will be an opportunity for local singing enthusiasts to participate in a community choral event Cookham Sings! Well known conductor, Ralph Allwood (Director of Music at Eton College ) will rehearse from scratch a group of local singers to perform a concert of opera choruses, to be performed the same evening on the first Saturday of the Festival. Participants will include The Incognitos ( Eton College boys close harmony group ) and members of local choirs . The Cookham Festival Committee is interested in hearing from singers interested in getting involved in this event. (Enquiries to John Hedger 01628 523911)
Other highlights include Art Exhibitions featuring the work of Frederick Walker and Ralph Thompson. Workshops on Drumming, clay modelling, charcoal drawings and embroidery workshops. More than twenty local artists will be participating in Artists’Open Studios.
The Festival will close with a Bank Holiday Celebration on The Moor on May 4th.
Issued on behalf of Cookham Festival Committee for more information please contact Judith Diment on 07860 162313
Monday 15 December 2008
Thursday 23 October 2008
A SHOWCASE FOR LOCAL TALENT - 23 October 2008
Cookham Festival 2009 will showcase outstanding local talent in music, comedy, art and literature. Plans announced today include two local acts, Barbershopera and Tom Rosenthal who both took Edinburgh by storm at the Fringe Festival this summer. Other highlights include a new play with music by Michael Johnson commissioned for the Festival and a major Sculpture Exhibition in the grounds of the Odney Club. A record number of twenty six local artists will also be opening their studios for next year’s Festival.
Local stand up comic Tom Rosenthal will appear at the Festival in the Cookham Comedy Club on May 1st with local comedienne Helen Huscroft and others. Twenty year old Tom Rosenthal burst onto the comedy circuit twelve months ago, and with his whimsical, high-energy act, and warm, likeable persona has become a firm audience favourite within a very short space of time. Tom received rave reviews for his Edinburgh Fringe events.The son of sports commentator Jim Rosenthal, Tom was a finalist in the 2008 Laughing Horse new act competition.
Another Edinburgh success Barbershopera is a new four-part harmony musical which is musically inventive, cleverly choreographed and overwhelmingly funny with plenty of laughs, tears and enormous vibratos. Featuring Toni and The Guys they received critical acclaim at Edinburgh this summer. The Scotsman said "Barbershopera is a feast of frenetic ridiculousness and technically superb singing.” They received two Musical Theatre Matters Awards for Best Lyrics and Most Promising New Musical.
Michael Johnson has created a major new work for the Festival Another Cookham Resurrection.This play with music explores how you would react to people returning from their graves. What would the churches say ? What would the Parish Council do ? And the MP ? In a not entirely serious exploration, the people of Cookham may give you some hint – through their words, their recorded contributions, and with beautifully sung music setting the tone and the atmosphere of the occasion.
The Cookham Festival Committee Chairman Mike Copland, said “ The twelve day Art and Music Festival is a celebration of the talent that exists across the community and features many new events for 2009. It provides the opportunity for people of all ages and with a wide range of skills to join in, express themselves and enjoy the work and performances of others in the community. The Cookham Festival is for everyone.”
Issued on behalf of Cookham Festival Committee for more information please contact Judith Diment on 07860 162313 or email Judith@thediments.co.uk
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