Uprising, Commoners’ Comedy Club, Madeleine Peyroux and Adam Kay among Saffron Hall highlights in February and March
A new community opera will unite singers from schools and adult choirs with professional vocalists and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra at Saffron Hall next month.
Jonathan Dove’s Uprising is a unique and inspiring semi-staged experience, with multiple performances at the Saffron Walden venue on Saturday and Sunday, March 15 and 16.
From teenage rebellion to the connective power of the internet, family dynamics to business ethics, this is a music drama that melds the everyday with fantasy, a message for our time laced with humour, honesty and warmth.
Uprising was initiated by Jim Potter, a local philanthropist with a deep commitment to sustainability and a passion for music. Jim and his wife Hilary, who supported the commissioning of this opera, passed away earlier this year and the Saffron Hall performances are dedicated to their memory.
Annie McGrath is the headliner for the Commoners’ Comedy Club show on Friday February 21 (8pm).
Renowned for her joke-writing skills and deadpan style, she has performed internationally and featured on Audible, BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio 4 Extra.
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Madeleine Peyroux will present work from her latest album Let’s Walk on Saturday February 22 (7.30pm).
These unabashedly personal songs are powered by the distinctive, honeyed croon that delivered her from Paris streets to concert halls and deftly interweave jazz, folk and chamber pop.
Vocalist Hannah Hutton and her trio will explore the music of the late Stephen Sondheim for a Foyer Jazz performance on Friday February 28 (8pm).
The project presents some of Sondheim’s well-loved and lesser-known works from the stage, rearranged through the jazz lens by some of the country’s top arrangers.
The Cambridge Philharmonic chorus and orchestra will be joined by the University of East Anglia Choir to perform The Dream of Gerontius on Saturday March 1 (5pm).
Elgar’s setting of Cardinal Newman’s poem about a soul’s migration to his meeting with God showcases the fascinating and moving mixture of glory, self-doubt, yearning and insecurity that makes this greatest of English composers such a firm favourite.
Experience the variety, dynamism and lyrical power of Scottish fiddle music with Blazin’ Fiddles on Sunday March 2 (7pm).
Multiple-time winners of Scotland’s Folk Band of the Year – most recently in 2023 – they blend a wealth of talent and fiddle tradition into a potent brew.
Scottish singer-songwriter Ainsley Hamill is performing her first Foyer Folk show for Saffron Hall on Friday March 7 (8pm).
Her love of Gaelic song was nurtured whilst studying at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and trad roots are close to her heart.
Expect joyful and uplifting 20th-century American music to set your feet tapping at Saffron Walden Choral Society’s concert on Saturday March 22 (7.30pm).
The group, conducted by Quintin Beer, will perform pieces by the likes of Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and Samuel Barber.
Fresh from a record-breaking run at the Edinburgh Fringe and a sell-out season in the West End, Adam Kay stops off at Saffron Hall on his Undoctored tour on Sunday March 23 (7pm).
The show follows on from This is Going to Hurt, which was a literary sensation and became a multi-award-winning BBC series, as Kay leaves audiences laughing and crying with unique tales of life on and off the wards.
Britten Sinfonia presents 1945: A Kind of Haunting on Friday March 28 (7.30pm).
Eighty years after the end of the Second World War, the audience will hear musical responses from then and now with pieces by Martinů, Strauss and Michael Zev Gordon.
For full details on all the shows and to book, see www.saffronhall.com.
