Brighton Festival 2014: 3-25 May
Ticket Office: 01273 709709
Website: brightonfestival.org
Twitter: @brightfest
Brighton Festival 2014 announces contemporary music
programme
Brighton Festival 2014, with critically acclaimed choreographer, dancer, musician, composer and
performer Hofesh Shechter as Guest Director, has launched three weeks of unrivalled arts celebration
which includes contemporary music performances and events from Emmylou Harris, Cat Power, Peaches and
more.
Hofesh Shechter said, 'Brighton has a magic to it that no one can explain. Finding a place where one
can develop and grow artistically is a delicate thing, an important thing. Brighton Dome and Brighton
Festival have been an inspiring, energising and encouraging place for my company and me in the last 5
years. We've enjoyed the buzz, the lightness, energy, and the unexplainable essence of Brighton. We
have resided in its cultural heart - Brighton Dome, and the pulsating artistic heart of Brighton Dome
is the annual Brighton Festival. It's been a privilege to have been part of the planning for this
inspiring event and I feel a rush of excitement about sharing our programme with audiences in Brighton
and beyond.'
This year's Brighton Festival features a feast of music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, literature
and debate from a wide range of national and international companies and artists. 448 performances
across 147 events will take place in 34 venues throughout the city and beyond. In total, the Festival
will play host to 37 premieres, exclusives and co-commissions and 26 free events.
Brighton Festival 2014 - Contemporary music programme
Friday 23 May, 8pm
Brighton Dome Concert Hall
Emmylou Harris
She may be an icon of country music, but Emmylou Harris transcends genres in her status as one of the
great figures of contemporary American song. Fresh from receiving her 13th Grammy Award (for Old
Yellow Moon, which was named Best Americana Album in January), she mines 26 albums and four decades of
singing and songwriting for this standout concert. ‘Most of my career, I've been a finder of songs, a
gatherer of songs,'says Harris. Yet in recent years she has gained admiration as much for her
eloquently straightforward songwriting as for her famously expressive singing: heartfelt, visionary
and vital, her songs touch on autobiography, reach for the universal and reflect the wisdom and
maturity of an artist in her prime. Emmylou Harris performs with her regular collaborators Daniel
Lanois, who produced her Grammy Award-winning album Wrecking Ball, Steven Nistor and Jim Wilson.
Sunday 18 May, 8pm
Brighton Dome Concert Hall
Cat Power
Returning to solo performance for the first time in years, the American singer-songwriter Chan
Marshall (AKA Cat Power) presents music from her hit album Sun. ‘It is don't look back, pick up, and
go confidently into your own future, to personal power and fulfilment,'she says of Sun, which she
wrote, recorded and produced herself. This affirmation of confidence and independence embraces a wide
palette of styles: the classic Cat Power haunting guitar and provocative vocals; the Latin-influenced
nine-piano loop; the upbeat electronica. This is defiantly modern and global music that sums up the
optimism and humour of today's solo Cat Power after years of collaborations and performing with her
Dirty Delta Blues Band.
Mon 19 May, 8pm
Theatre Royal Brighton
Peaches Christ Superstar
Peaches
Mathias Halvorsen piano
An unlikely scenario: the whole of Andrew Lloyd Webber's rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar performed
by one woman accompanied by a single piano. Even more unlikely when that woman is Peaches, the
electro-rock provocateuse who has made sexual frankness her calling-card. Yet this is no irreverent
mash-up, of either the score or the story it tells. Wholehearted in its reverence, it's a performance
that brings out Peaches'extraordinary emotional and dramatic power as she sings each of the nine
principal roles. Shedding her usual in-your-face antics and provocative props, Peaches reveals her
formidable vocal talents along with her humour in a show that will come as a revelation to anyone who
saw her her film Peaches Does Herself and subsequent live gig at Brighton Dome last December. Building
on the work's own brand of subtle subversiveness, Peaches'tribute to a score she has loved since she
was a teenager is a chance to see the star and the musical in an entirely new light.
Tuesday 20 May, 8pm
Theatre Royal Brighton
Toumani Diabaté and Sidiki Diabaté
‘Born a griot, die a griot!'says Toumani Diabaté. Griots are the musical repositories of Mali's
customs and culture, and Diabaté — born into a leading griot family — has elevated traditional Malian
music into a major force in world music through his genius on the kora, the 21-stringed West African
harp. Acclaimed as Africa's finest instrumentalist and the winner of two Grammy Awards, Diabaté now
teams up with his 22 year-old son Sidiki for a programme of kora duets based on their new album
‘Toumani & Sidike' (released on World Circuit Records in April 2014). Sidiki is the 72nd successive
generation of his family to continue the griot tradition; in this stunning display of instrumental
virtuosity, you can see the griot baton being handed down the generations, as it has for centuries.
Sunday 4 May, 4pm
The Old Market
Viv Albertine in conversation with Simon Price
One of punk's true originals, Viv Albertine talks to award-winning journalist Simon Price about a life
lived on the frontiers of experience. From forming the band The Flowers of Romance with Sid Vicious to
iconic status as a member of the female punk group The Slits, Viv's new memoir, Clothes, Clothes,
Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys, reveals what it was like to be a girl at the height of
punk — the sex, the drugs, the guys, the tours — through the eyes of one of the most glamorous,
uncompromising
and
iconic
figures
of
the
time.
Tuesday 6 May, 8pm
Brighton Dome Studio Theatre
Martin Creed Band - Mind Trap
The Turner Prize-winning artist and musician Martin Creed performs work from his second and newly
released album Mind Trap. Over the past two-and-a-half decades, Creed has cut an extraordinary path
through the arts with his non-conformist approach and meditations on the invisible structures that
shape our lives. As with Martin's art work, his music is minimalist and hard-hitting, yet full of wit
and surprise. Accompanied by gospel singers Dee Alexander and Yvonne Gage, Martin brings a range of
work including a Neapolitan folk song and three instrumental pieces originally composed for the
Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Hiroshima Symphony Orchestra and the London Sinfonietta.
Wed 7 May, 8pm
Brighton Dome Studio Theatre
Ben Watt
Romany and Tom
Ben Watt talks about his new book Romany and Tom, a moving memoir that chronicles his parents'lives,
their marriage and their decline into old age. Romany and Tom were divorcees who came together like
colliding trains in 1957. Their story is a journey through post-war Britain, ambition and stardom,
family roots and secrets, life in clubs and in care homes. Perhaps best known for his 20-year career
in the altpop duo Everything But The Girl, Ben Watt mines his family history to consider where we come
from and how we love and live with each other. Ben will be in conversation with Thomas H Green from
The Arts Desk.
Wednesday 7 May, 8.30pm
Brighton Dome Concert Hall
Talvin Singh's Bombay Talkies
In association with Asian Arts Agency
Talvin Singh tabla, percussion
Roopa Panesar sitar
Flora Curzon violin
Francesca Ter-Berg cello
Jatanil Banejee vocals
One of the most influential figures in British Asian music, Talvin Singh, celebrates 100 years of
Indian cinema with this blend of film and live music. The Mercury Prize-winner and master of the tabla
has assembled a cross-cultural line-up of superb musicians to improvise new scores for two film
classics, Raja Harishchandra (1913) and Devi (1960). Exploring and extending key elements of the
films'original scores, the musicians riff and reinvent the scores in a potent mix of classical Indian
and Western sounds. The silent Raja Harishchandra, directed by the legendary Dadasaheb Phalke, was one
of the first full-length Indian feature films, while Devi is a seminal work by Satyajit Ray, who has
achieved iconic status in India and is acknowledged as one of the most significant film-makers of the
20th century.
Sunday 11 May, 8pm
The Old Market
Zara McFarlane - If You Knew Her
Rising star Zara McFarlane has been making a big impact on the UK jazz scene since the release of her
debut album, Until Tomorrow, in 2011. Now the MOBO Award-nominated vocalist performs songs from her
second album, If You Knew Her: a heady mix of modern jazz and stealthy swing with an undercurrent of
nu-soul, delivered with a power and depth reminiscent of Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald. Zara
describes her latest collection as ‘representing a journey through a woman's life'; others have
decscribed it as the arrival of a songwriter and performer of true stature.
Tuesday 13 May, 8pm
Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
Hauschka - Piano-Automat Trio
Three pianos, 264 keys — but only two hands: the German pianist and composer Hauschka has devised a
new performance for grand piano and two player pianos especially for Brighton Festival. Inspired by
innovators such as John Cage and Aphex Twin, Hauschka is noted for his compelling live shows that
reimagine the expressive possibilities of the piano through an array of imaginative ‘preparations'on
its internal mechanisms. Applying a range of objects and materials to the strings — anything from
paper to ping-pong balls, necklaces to bottle tops — transforms the piano's sound; as they are added
or removed, we are encouraged to re-evaluate the instrument's sonic properties and our own perceptions
of what piano music can be. In this concert Hauschka will be backed by two self-playing Disklavier
pianos (a contemporary incarnation of the pianola) to form a disembodied trio that will bend to his
will, performing pieces from his new album, Abandoned City, alongside improvised material. This is a
rare opportunity to explore the imaginary landscapes and spontaneous lyricism of a unique composer,
and share in his ongoing romance with the piano.
Thursday 15 May, 9pm
All Saints Church
Will Gregory Moog Ensemble
UK Premiere
As one half of the electronic music sensation Goldfrapp, the keyboard-player and composer Will Gregory
is one of the UK's leading advocates of using synthesizers and electronic instruments to create new
sounds and reinvent old ones. Now he has formed a unique ensemble around eight Moog synthesizers, the
technology that elevates music into an exhilarating wave of complex sound. Operatic one moment and
computer-game technical the next, Gregory spins the Moog vocabulary of squelches and plops into a
hypnotic and relentless sonic sensation to create fresh, intoxicating soundscapes. This concert
features Gregory's live score to Rick Holbrook's poignant film The Service of Tim Henman.
Friday 16 May, 8pm
Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
Gruff Rhys - American Interior
Two men. Two quests. Two centuries apart. Experience the search for a lost tribe. In 1792 John Evans,
a farmhand from Snowdonia, set out to find the Madogwys, the mythical Welsh-speaking Native Americans
of the Great Plains. He wrestled reptiles in the Mississippi, hunted bison in Nebraska and discovered
imaginary volcanoes in Missouri. Over 200 years later, his distant relative Gruff Rhys retraced the
route in an ‘Investigative Concert Tour'– a series of solo gigs accompanied by a PowerPoint
presentation and a three-foot avatar of Evans. The tour resulted in an album, featuring songs inspired
by Evans's epic adventure, and it those songs that Rhys performs in this multi-sensory retelling of
two men's extraordinary odysseys.
Sat 17 May, 8pm
Brighton Dome Studio Theatre
Bob Stanley in conversation with Alexis Petridis
As the founder of the influential band Saint Etienne, whose brand of collage pop draws on numerous
musical styles, Bob Stanley has an insider's view of the music industry – a view that makes his latest
book, Yeah, Yeah,Yeah: A History of Modern Pop, such an authoritative and passionate account. In
conversation with The Guardian music critic Alexis Petridis, he talks about the development, the
genres and the artists that made pop between 1950 and 2000.
Saturday 17 May, 9pm - 2am
Brighton Dome Corn Exchange
African Dance Party
Featuring Ibibio Sound Machine, Batida DJ set & Ye Ye Fever - African Dance Party
London's calling, Nigeria's speaking – in the voice of Eno Williams, who retells traditional Nigerian
tales in a clash of African and electro elements. A fresh new force on the music scene, Ibibio Sound
Machine, fronted by Williams, released its first album in February. Now that album bursts into life in
this late-night club special. The folk stories that provide the fabric of the band's lyrics, told to
Williams in her mother's Nigerian Ibibio language, are remixed in a rich musical tapestry that
combines West African highlife, disco, post-punk and psychedelic electro soul. Batida's inspired
African urban street music combines samples from old 1970's Angolan tracks with modern electronic
dance music described by Songlines as 'a game changing 21st century electronic African dance album'.
Ye Ye Fever has been bringing deadly African rhythms to dancefloors for over 3 years. Playing vinyl
still flecked with dust from sunnier climes and times expect Afrobeat, Soukous and everything in
between. Lights down low, vibes up high, dancefloor ablaze.
-ENDSFor further enquiries, please contact our press team:
Emma Robertson, Head of Press and PR – emma.robertson@brightondome.org I 01273 260 803
Chris Challis, Senior Press Officer – chris.challis@brightondome.org | 01273 260838
Anna Whelan, Digital and Admin Officer – anna.whelan@brightondome.org | 01273 260825
Ticket Office - 01273 709709 | brightondome.org
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Notes To Editors:
About Brighton Festival:
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Brighton Festival is an annual mixed arts festival which takes place across three weeks in the city each
May. The festival’s total audience reach in 2013 was 470,000, including public visual art installations
experienced by over 300,000 people.
Full programme details will be announced on Tuesday 25 February 2014.
Brighton Festival attracts inspiring and internationally significant Guest Director’s who bring cohesion to
the artistic programme with British sculptor Anish Kapoor as inaugural curator in 2009 followed by the
Godfather of modern music Brian Eno in 2010, the Burmese Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2011, actress
and Human Rights campaigner Vanessa Redgrave in 2012 and poet, author and former Children’s Laureate Michael
Rosen in 2013.
Brighton Festival 2013 featured 370 performances, 154 events and 28 commissions and premieres across 33
venues in and around the city, reaching 470,000 people.
Brighton Festival is an innovative commissioning and producing arts festival, offering an ambitious
programme that makes the most of the city’s distinctive atmosphere.
Brighton Festival is England’s most established mixed arts Festival and a major milestone in the
international cultural calendar
Brighton Festival includes visual art, theatre, music, dance, books and debates, family friendly events and
outdoor performances throughout the city including site-specific and unusual locations.
Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival produces the annual Brighton Festival and also manages the three venues of
Brighton Dome year round. It aims to champion the power of the arts, to enrich and change lives and inspire
and enable artists to be their most creative.
The first Brighton Festival in 1967 controversially included the first ever exhibition of Concrete Poetry in
the UK, alongside performances by Lawrence Olivier, Anthony Hopkins and Yehudi Menuhin
Hofesh Shechter Company is a Resident Company of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival since 2008.
The UK premiere of Hofesh Shechter’s new work Sun takes place at Sadler’s Wells on Wednesday 30 October
2013.
Sun is produced by Hofesh Shechter Company with generous support from Bruno Wang and The Columbia Foundation
fund of the London Community Foundation.
Sun is co-commissioned by Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival, Sadler’s Wells London, Melbourne Festival, Les
Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Théâtre de la Ville - Paris, Festspielhaus St Pölten (including a
working residency), Berliner Festspiele - Foreign Affairs, Roma Europa, with co-production support from
Mercat de les Flors and the Theatre Royal Plymouth.
Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival manages a year round programme of arts at Brighton Dome – a three space,
Grade 1 listed building made up of the Concert Hall, Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre - and produces the
annual Brighton Festival in May.
It aims to champion the power of the arts, to enrich and change lives, and to inspire and enable artists to
be their most creative.
Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival are a registered arts charity
Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival are working with the Royal Pavilion & Museums on a joint masterplan to
realize a future vision for the Royal Pavilion Estate. For updates and news please visit
www.brightondome.org or contact royalpavilionestate@brightondome.org to be added to our mailing list.
About Hofesh Shechter:
Hofesh Shechter is recognised as one of the UK’s most exciting artists and is renowned for composing the musical
scores for his dance creations with his raw, atmospheric music complimenting his Company’s unique physicality.
Hofesh graduated from the Jerusalem Academy for Dance and Music before moving to Tel Aviv to join the world
renowned Batsheva Dance Company, where he worked with artistic director Ohad Naharin and other choreographers
including Wim Vandekeybus, Paul Selwyn-Norton, Tero Saarinen, and Inbal Pinto. Hofesh began drum and percussion
studies whilst in Tel Aviv and continued later in Paris at the Agostiny College of Rhythm. Subsequently, he began
experimenting and developing his own music while participating in various projects in Europe involving dance,
theatre and body-percussion. In 2002 Hofesh arrived in the UK.
His choreographic debut, Fragments, for which he also created the score, immediately attracted international
attention and in 2004 Hofesh was commissioned by The Place Prize to create the sextet, Cult. The work was one of
five selected finalists and was announced winner of the Audience Choice Award. From 2004 to 2006 Hofesh was
Associate Artist at The Place and was commissioned by the Robin Howard Foundation to create Uprising. The three
works formed the triple bill deGENERATION, Hofesh’s first full evening of work.
In 2007 London’s three major dance venues, The Place, Southbank
producing venture, commissioning Hofesh to create In your rooms
culminated in sell-out shows at Sadler’s Wells Theatre. In your
won the Critics’ Circle Award for best choreography (modern) in
Centre and Sadler’s Wells, collaborated on a unique
which was presented at all three venues in 2007 and
rooms was nominated for a South Bank Show Award and
2008.
In 2008, in response to popular demand Hofesh formed Hofesh Shechter Company and the Company embarked on its first
world tour and became resident at Brighton Dome. Since then the Company can be found performing throughout Europe,
Asia, North America and Australia and reaching audiences in many of the world’s leading dance venues. Recent tours
have included South America and the Middle East with the global appetite for Shechter’s work continuing with his
later creations.
Now under the banner of Hofesh Shechter Company, in 2009 Hofesh produced his first The Choreographer’s Cut–
commissioned by Sadler’s Wells and performed at The Roundhouse. He reworked his acclaimed double bill Uprising/In
your rooms to feature a band of 20 musicians alongside a company of 17 dancers. Also in 2009 Hofesh was
commissioned by Brighton Festival in 2009 to create the “exquisitely acrimonious” The Art of Not Looking Back (The
Observer, 2009) which was inspired by and made for six female dancers alongside a major new youth work called
Bangers and Mash. In May 2010 his first full-length work Political Mother, commissioned by Brighton Festival and
premiered at the Brighton Festival, winning 5 star reviews from all the major national press and subsequently
embarking on an extensive international tour, further cementing the Company’s reputation.
2011 saw the second time Hofesh created a ‘Choreographer’s Cut’ of his work, this time for Political Mother – the
result was‘a howling beast of a dance show’ (Metro), featuring over 40 performers and which returns to Sadler’s
Wells in July 2013. Shechter collaborated with Antony Gormley on Survivor commissioned by the Barbican and reaching
sell-out audiences for its run in January 2012. In October 2013, Hofesh unveiled his next major creation coproduced by partners around the world and co-commissioned by Brighton Festival and on worldwide tour until the
summer of 2014.
Alongside his work for Hofesh Shechter Company, Hofesh’s works have been taken into the repertory of many UK and
international dance companies including Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet (New York), Carte Blanche Dance Company
(Norway), Bern Ballett (Switzerland), Scottish Dance Theatre (UK) and CandoCo (UK).
He has also worked as a choreographer in theatre, television and opera notably at The Royal Court Theatre for
Motortown by Simon Stephens (2006), The Arsonists (2007), and for the National Theatre’s award winning production
of Saint Joan (2007) directed by Marianne Elliot and starring Anne Marie Duff. In television, Hofesh choreographed
the hit dance sequence ‘Maxxie’s Dance’ for the opening of the second series of Channel 4’s popular drama Skins.
In 2013 Hofesh will collaborate with Metropolitan Opera, New York.
Hofesh is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells and Hofesh Shechter Company is Resident Company at Brighton Dome.