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2020 LEAMINGTON MUSIC FESTIVAL GOES VIRTUAL
The 2020 Leamington Music Festival, due to start on Friday 1 May, as with many other festivals throughout the UK, sadly had to be cancelled. The annual Festival, based for the last twenty years in the Royal Pump Rooms, dates back to 1990 and has always been programmed for the first weekend in May.
Leamington Music organizers felt, therefore, that they could not simply break such a long-standing tradition and so, with a loyal audience wishing for concerts in lockdown, the Leamington Music Festival 2020 has gone virtual.
Each day that the Festival was to have been ‘live’, the audience can receive the Festival in their inbox as Leamington Music sends a virtual version of the day’s events, featuring videos of some of the artists who were due to perform along with some rare gems featuring performances from musical giants of the past. For anybody not already receiving email news from Leamington Music, you can sign up at www.leamingtonmusic.org
Festival Director Richard Phillips comments, “If we can’t bring the audience to the Royal Pump Rooms, we will take the music to them in their homes. We aim to capture and convey the wonderful spirit of the Leamington Music Festival in a new way this year.”
One of the highlights of the Festival was to have been the return after an outstanding concert in the 2019 Festival by violinist Tasmin Little, prior to her retirement at the end of the summer. Because of the coronavirus crisis, she has now announced that she will postpone her retirement and has said how much she wants to return for the final time to the Royal Pump Rooms, one of her favourite venues.
Leamington Music is therefore exploring the possibility of putting on a mini festival in the Autumn to feature some of the concerts that have been cancelled and this would include a solo recital by the Russian pianist Andrey Gugnin, Tasmin Little’s accompanist, who was given a standing ovation for his recital at last year’s Festival.
Leamington Music is working with the Warwick District Council box office to find ways of transferring tickets already booked or making refunds. The box office is currently closed, so all enquiries about future Leamington Music events and booking details should be made to the Leamington Music office on 01926 497000 or by email to richard@leamingtonmusic.org.
In the meantime, Leamington Music is grateful for donations to keep the organisation going and to help look after musicians during these difficult times. Visit www.leamingtonmusic.org to see how to make a donation to the appeal