Upcoming Events coming to Spring Bank Arts in May 2023

Events coming soon

May delivers a variety of live music events, music that can transcend you to another place and time all in the comfort of Spring Bank Arts.

Please be aware that there will be no coffee morning this month due to the King’s Coronation but it will resume on Saturday 3rd June.

Cinema@SpringBankArts has finished for the summer until it resumes in September 2023.

Saturday 13th May 7:30pm 
Touki

Brought to you in association with Live & Local, Touki is a tour de force in multi-instrumental musical exultation, during which the musicians joyously switch between koras, banjos, guitars, percussion and other instruments, deploying powerful beats, driving grooves, and silky voices that leap from East to West Africa and across to America.

Who would have guessed that a chance encounter between buskers in the streets of Bath, England over a decade ago would lead to a new musical adventure?

Amadou Diagne from Senegal and French-American Cory Seznec hit it off that Spring day, planting the seeds of a future collaboration in their minds. Life embarked them on different touki (signifying voyage in the Wolof language), but with the support of Arts Council of England and SACEM grants, Amadou and Cory have been able to see their seedling shoot up into the light.

Rehearsals in Paris led to a recording at Real World Studios in Wiltshire. 13 tracks were recorded in two long studio days, followed by two additional days putting final touches on the album at producer Oscar Cainer’s studio in north London. The result is their beautiful debut album ‘Right of Passage’.

The influences are many, and rather than remaining in any one tradition, the Touki – the musical voyage itself – is the destination. Fancy a listen click here.

‘Honey-smoked vocals … Plaintive, acoustic and brimming with an unhurried assurance.’ Jamie Renton, Roots Magazine

‘A subtle and fresh fusion that is further boosted by Seznec’s voice, a dextrous, resonant drawl that brings out the colour of his songs.’ Songlines

‘A creole-swamp style that Alan Lomax would have loved.’ UK Folk Radio

Tickets £12
Available from Spring Bank Arts Mon to Fri 9:30-12:30 01663 308202, on the door and online.
WeGotTickets | Simple, honest ticketing | Touki
Doors and Bar open at 7pm.

Sunday 28th May 2:30pm
Northern Reeds – Afternoon Tea Concert 

Northern Reeds was founded in 2019 by five graduates of the Royal Northern College of Music, and is the UK’s first established reed quintet. This new and exciting chamber music format comprises five reeded instruments of the woodwind family: the oboe (Hannah Seymour) , saxophone (Nathan Holroyd), clarinet (Chris Hardy), bass clarinet (Beth Machell) and bassoon (Alice Wriglesworth).

Northern Reeds are the winners of the Royal Philharmonic Society Henderson Chamber Ensemble Award 2022, RNCM Fewkes Prize 2022, the June Emerson Wind Music Launchpad Prize 2022, and the RNCM Christopher Rowland Prize Audience Vote 2022. The group has performed in venues across the country including Hallé St Peters, Ambleside Parish Centre, Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Central Library. They are the first UK group to be admitted into Calefax’s International Reed Quintet Network and recently had the pleasure of working alongside the group in judging their annual Calefax Composers Competition. Alongside this, Northern Reeds has commissioned new works for reed quintet by composers such as Kev Wong and Dominic Wills. The quintet was recently the subject of articles in magazines by CASSGB and the British Double Reed Society.

“A vibrant and exciting sound. You played in a lively and confident manner, with a very good sense of ensemble and well-matched articulation within the group. You demonstrate a wide range of styles and colours.” Royal Philharmonic Society

“Every once in a while a new group emerges from our chamber music programme at the RNCM that really catches the attention, promises a new energy and a change of direction. Northern Reeds very much fits that bill. They have all had a real energy for this ensemble, and are professionally organised and dedicated to their work with this exciting group.” Rob Buckland

Tickets £10 – Including tea and cake served after the performance.
Available from Spring Bank Arts Mon to Fri 9:30-12:30 01663 308202, on the door and online.
WeGotTickets | Simple, honest ticketing | Northern Reeds
Doors open 2pm