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Festival fans: plan ahead for 2012
Europeans never need much of an excuse to throw a party, so when the gloom of winter makes way for spring, the Art and Music festivals in every region kick into high gear.
The cultural calendar for 2012 is busier than ever because England is ramping up with a Cultural Olympiad and Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee.
Starting on June 2, celebrations for the Jubilee will include a concert at Buckingham Palace, a Pageant on the Thames, the Spring Sounds International Music Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, the Bath International Music Festival and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London playing a Diamond Celebration Gala with leading violin virtuoso, Nigel Kennedy. Numerous exhibitions are also planned.
From May 17 - Oct. 21, 2012 the National Portrait Gallery will stage an exhibition that explores the evolution of the way the Queen has been portrayed during the 60 years of her reign featuring artists as diverse as Cecil Beaton to Lucien Freud.
The Palace of Holyroodhouse will display Royal Treasures: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration from March 16 to mid-September, while the largest ever exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci's studies of the human body will be shown at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace from May 7 - Oct. 7.
Since 1912, the Olympic Games have highlighted art and culture in an accompanying Cultural Olympiad. One hundred years later, London's Olympiad will culminate in the 12-week London Festival starting on June 21. Confirmed are jazz trumpeter extraordinaire, Wynton Marsalis with the London Symphony, the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and Doctor Dee, a new opera by Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn.
The theatre program will include the World Shakespeare Festival and star, Cate Blanchett, appearing in a Sydney Theatre Company production.
Between these two events, there are no shortages of Arts Festivals on the continent.
Canadian tour company, Great Expeditions, has put together a tour that gives guests a week in London to experience Diamond Jubilee events and concerts and then follows it up with another 12 days of enchanting Music Festivals.
First stop is the Holland Festival - the original Arts Festival in the Netherlands. From there it's an easy transfer to Heidelberg and the Schwetzinger Festpiele where the 250-yearold theatre in the former Palace of Elector Carl Theodor hosts opera and chamber music concerts. The tour also includes visits to Strasbourg with its Festival de Musique. Great Expeditions has been organizing music and culture tours for over 20 years. The Arts Festival Tour is hosted by Vancouver Symphony musician, Angela Schneider.
For more information on the Spring Music Festivals of Europe tour contact Great Expeditions at 604-257-2040 or 1-800-663-3364 or go to http://www.greatexpeditions.com/ |
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發表於 2011-11-4 06:54
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