The Week in Light & Sound
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No release date has been set for the new songs - but one of them, titled I Still Have Faith In You, will be performed in December on a TV special broadcast by the BBC and NBC.
Abba's spokesperson Gorel Hanser told the BBC the atmosphere in the studio was "magic". "It was like no time had passed at all," she said. "It was like the olden days. They were happy, it was easy and warm-hearted, and it was actually quite moving. I wasn't the only one with tears in my eyes." But she said said the group would not perform live, other than as holograms in the forthcoming Abba Avatar tour.
Wedding Songs - A Christian gospel choir and a teenage cellist will provide some of the music at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle later this month. "Both Prince Harry and Ms Markle have taken a great interest and care in choosing the music for their service, which will include a number of well-known hymns and choral works," Kensington Palace said in a statement.
Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir, a gospel group based in southeast England, will be among those performing. Ms Gibson said they were "truly honoured" to have been picked. "It will be a moment that we will always treasure," she said. Teenage cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, a rising star of the classical music world who won the BBC Young Musician 2016 competition, will also perform.
Immersive Space - A new venue dubbed the UK’s first purpose-built “fully flexible performance arts venue” will open in London, offering a home to interactive and immersive theatre shows.
Called the Buzz, the venue is being jointly produced by Limelight Productions and EBP, formally known as Emma Brunjes Productions. EBP is the company behind the immersive theatre production, Alice’s Adventures Underground, which previously played in the Vaults at Waterloo. The Buzz will be based in Mercato Metropolitano, a former paper factory that now houses a food market, bars and a cinema in Elephant and Castle, south London.
Urgent Works - Venues including London’s Theatre 503 and the Tron Theatre in Glasgow are among 10 venues to be awarded up to £5,000 each to address urgent building works. The Theatres Protection Fund, managed by the Theatres Trust, comprises the UK Small Grants Scheme and the London Theatres Small Grants Scheme. The schemes are backed by Cameron Mackintosh’s Mackintosh Foundation, the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation, Soho Estates and the Charles Michael Holloway Charitable Trust.
The money will be used by the venues to enhance backstage and front-of-house facilities and improve accessibility. Jon Morgan, director of the Theatres Trust, said: “Theatres need support to repair and improve their buildings and we are delighted that our small grants scheme can help with that. The recipients are all rooted in their local communities and give a broad range of people access to the performing arts.”
(Jim Evans)
1 May 2018
