BillyOcean
Upton House Music Festival in Poole, is back on Thursday 8 to Saturday 10 June 2017 with a host of star names.
Details of the first two sensational nights have now been revealed – with the identity of Saturday’s headliner being kept strictly under wraps for the time being.
The three-night festival is held at the idyllic Upton House and Country Park in Poole, Dorset with a Classical Spectacular followed by an 80s Extravaganza and a final night starring a top international artist.
Thursday, 8 June is Classical Spectacular night with world renowned bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, Australian soprano Lauren Fagan, the celebrated BSO Concert Orchestra conducted by the acclaimed Gareth Jones and exciting all female electric string quarter Escala.
Bryn Terfel
Friday, 9 June is 80s Extravaganza party night starring incomparable R’n’B superstar Billy Ocean, hugely successful singer Kim Wilde and punk princess Toyah.
A spokesman said: “We have a wonderful selection of quality entertainment to suit all tastes with three nights of open air concerts to be staged on the beautiful lawns of Upton House.
“There will be a special blend of fabulous music, an electric atmosphere, and fine dining food. Guests can either picnic on the lawns, purchase a Gold Circle reserved seat or enjoy Pre-Concert dining / VIP hospitality.”
Tickets for the event are available now, with various hospitality packages available. See the website www.uptonhousemusicfestival.co.uk for details or call 01202 255161.
Early bird tickets available until December 31 are: Adults £35, Children (5-14) £27.50; Family (2 adults + 2 children) £120; Gold Circle £43.
Pre-Concert Dining tickets, including a three-course meal and a Gold Circle Seat, are £95 inc vat while VIP Hospitality tickets at £165 plus vat., include a gourmet served dinner, champagne, a private lawn in the arena, complimentary programmes, VIP parking and VIP Gold Circle Seating.
Saturday tickets will go on sale when the headliner is announced.
Award-winning Upton Country Park, home of the Grade II Listed Georgian mansion Upton House, has more than 130 acres of parkland, shoreline and formal estate gardens – and is just three miles from Poole bus and railway stations. Buses run along Poole Road which is the road next to the venue.
Last year’s Upton House Music Festival featuring Jools Holland, Katherine Jenkins and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra proved to be a runaway success which the promoters are hoping to emulate next year.
See the website www.uptonhousemusicfestival.co.uk for details or call 01202 255161 for hospitality bookings.
Upton House Music Festival
THE ARTISTES
Bryn Terfel, who has performed in all the great opera houses of the world, is also known for his versatility as a concert performer with highlights ranging from the ceremony of the Wales Millennium Centre, BBC Last Night of the Proms, to the Royal Variety Show. He will be performing several of his classical pieces as well as a popular programme of music from some of the most celebrated shows.
In 2003 he received a CBE or his services to Opera and in 2006 was awarded the Queen’s Medal for Music. He is a Grammy, Classical Brit and Gramophone Award winner. He also starred in the commemorative Aberfan Memorial Charity Concert in 2016, which was held in Cardiff for the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster.
Australian soprano Lauren Fagan is a recent graduate of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden where she has attracted significant attention over the past two seasons in her main stage performances.
Specially selected to accompany Bryn Terfel is the BSO Concert Orchestra. The BSO has made more than 300 recordings since pioneering beginnings in 1914 and in 2013 became Classic FM’s Orchestra in the South of England and continues to give regular live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3.
Gareth Jones began his conducting career in 1990 as a member of the Music Staff at Welsh National Opera. Highlights of his achievements in 2015 included the BBC Proms in the Park with the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, and a semi-staged concert performance of Tosca at the Wales Millennium Centre with Bryn Terfel and the Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera.
Special guests Escala, who appeal to a wide ranging audience with their mix of classical and popular music, formed in 2005 when they were part of the string section on an arena tour with McFly. They reached the final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2008 and signed a major contract with Simon Cowell for their first album Escala.
Billy Ocean is a Trinidadian-born English recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits, including When the Going Gets Tough, Suddenly, Love Really Hurts Without You, Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car, Red Light Spells Danger, Caribbean Queen and Love On The Run.
He was the most popular British R&B singer-songwriter of the early to mid-1980s. In 1985, Billy won the Grammy award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and in 1987 was nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist. In 2002 the University of Westminster awarded Billy an honorary doctorate of music and in 2010 he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the MOBO Awards.
Kim Wilde’s first single release, Kids In America in 1981, was a worldwide hit and launched a career which has so far
yielded thirteen studio albums and more than 30 singles, bringing sales of more than 20 million records. In 1983 she was voted Best British Female Singer at the BPI Awards. She continues to perform on tours and festivals all over the world and was the recipient of a British Academy Of Songwriters Composers & Authors Gold Badge Award in October 2015.
From punk princess to cult stage actress and high priestess of TV, Toyah is a uniquely gifted performer and an inextinguishable flame. In a career spanning over 35 years she has amassed 13 top 40 singles, recorded 29 albums and toured live across the world. Expect to hear hit singles, Thunder In The Mountains, It’s A Mystery, I Want To Be Free, Echo Beach and many more.
Notes to editors:
More news releases on this festival will be issued in due course, such as when the Saturday, June 10 headliner is announced or when there is more activity to report.
Competitions for tickets can be arranged. This will be in the New Year. Please drop me an email if you wish to be put on the competition list.
News release issued by:
Cliff Moore, Account Director
Deep South Media
Mobile: 07469 158458 Office: 01202 534487
E-mail: cliff.moore@deepsouthmedia.co.uk
Website: www.deepsouthmedia.co.uk
Twitter: @DeepSouthMedia
Deep South Media is the 24/7 press office, multi-media content provider to 50 companies and organisations.
Website: www.deepsouthmedia.co.uk
Twitter: @DeepSouthMedia
