SUSAN PORRETT writer and narrator
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Wednesday 4 December 2024Doors: 6.30pm
Concert: 7.30pm (approx. 75 min, no interval) Post concert Q&A (approx. 15 min) then meet the artists in the bar after the performance Tickets: £35 |
Presented by 7 Star Arts in support of the ENO Benevolent Fund
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The moving story of the life and music of composer George Gershwin brought to life in this mixed-genre production featuring narration, live music and visual projections.
Classic Gershwin weaves the vibrant music of the ever-popular composer with his fascinating life story from birth in the colourful, teeming New York of 1898 to his tragically early death in 1937. With prize-winning pianist and renowned Gershwin interpreter Viv McLean and RSC, National Theatre and TV actress Susan Porrett as narrator, this concert presents an intriguing, eclectic mix of Gershwin’s music from the much-loved Rhapsody in Blue, I got Rhythm Variations, and The Man I Love to the rarely-played Three Preludes. ProgrammeSolo piano works by George Gershwin
Someone to Watch Over Me Three Preludes Rhapsody in Blue Embraceable You I Got Rhythm My One and Only I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise Summertime The Man I Love |
Proudly presented by 7 Star Arts supporting the ENO Benevolent Fund
7 Star Arts presents a diverse range of unique and original productions from the intimate life stories of the great composers to dazzling cutting edge musicians of the younger generation.
7 Star Arts’ popular mixed-genre concerts combine music, words and art to create intriguing and engaging aural and visual experiences. |
When the music stops..."When I was diagnosed with leukaemia life suddenly became fragile and scary, not just for me but for my family. When we needed it most the ENO Benevolent Fund stepped in, giving us help and support so I could concentrate on recovery. I'm now back at work and I've just celebrated 25 years at ENO. Thank you." Everyone who attends English National Opera (ENO) will experience the thrill of being transported by a live performance that lingers long in the memory. At ENO a hugely gifted ensemble on stage, in the pit and behind the scenes, contributes a wide range of skills to the audience's total enjoyment. But what happens when life suddenly changes through illness or accident and a performer or technician loses the ability to earn a living? At a stroke this person faces an uncomfortable reminder of how precarious a profession opera can be.
This is where the ENO Benevolent Fund, a registered charity first established almost 60 years ago, can make a significant difference. The Fund aims to alleviate hardship wherever it can in the form of a grant or loan. This may involve tiding a person (and sometimes his or her dependants) over a difficult patch, or providing longer-term support. Beneficiaries may include singers with throat and chest problems, musicians afflicted by loss of sight or hearing, wig and wardrobe technicians whose eyes or fingers are no longer up to the job, or any of the dedicated team which unites to make the Company what it is. Sometimes a one-off grant is given for a piece of equipment to help overcome a disability, or a loan to secure immediate medical advice or treatment. The Trustees who administer the Fund consider each case with great care. |
Susan Porrett
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Susan Porrett has had a long theatrical career. She played Audrey in As You Like It at Nottingham Playhouse, Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing at the National Theatre and Second Witch in Macbeth and Queen Caroline in The Art of Success (both for the RSC). In 2004 she went to the Hong Kong Festival to play the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet for English Touring Theatre and later appeared in The Good Soul of Szechuan at the Young Vic.
Favourite parts include Miss Pross in A Tale of Two Cities, Betsy Trotwood in David Copperfield (both at Greenwich Theatre) and Matron in Forty Years On (at West Yorkshire Playhouse). Most recent stage appearances: The Heresy of Love (Shakespeare’s Globe, 2015), The Autumn Garden by Lillian Hellman (Jermyn Street Theatre, October 2016) and The Slaves of Solitude at Hampstead Theatre (October-November 2017). Films include Alan Bennett’s A Private Function, in which she played butcher’s wife, Mrs. Medcalf. Her many television credits include: Upstairs, Downstairs (as underhousemaid Alice); three series of Grange Hill (as Mrs.Thomas, the biology teacher) and playing Doris in Absolute Hell with Judi Dench. Her most recent tv appearance was as Withers in the BBC series Mapp and Lucia. Radio work in 2017: BBC Radio 4’s Home Front series. Susan has created a number of words and music productions for 7 Star Arts which she performs with the pianist Viv McLean, Classic Gershwin (the story of George Gershwin), Divine Fire (the story of Fryderyk Chopin and George Sand) and Sweet Harmony, celebrating the genius of Shakespeare. |
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Viv McLean
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Described by Le Monde as "possessing the genius one finds in those who know how to forget themselves", since winning First Prize at the Maria Canals Piano Competition in Barcelona, Viv McLean has performed in all the major UK venues as well as throughout Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA. His concerto work includes appearances with the RPO, Philharmonia, LPO, Hallé, English Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Sinfonia Viva, Orchestra of the Swan, Orchestra of St John’s, Northern Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Concert Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra under such conductors as Daniel Harding, John Wilson, Wayne Marshall, John Lubbock, Philip Hesketh, Christopher Warren-Green, Owain Arwel Hughes, Carl Davis, Rebecca Miller, Chloé van Soeterstède and Marvin Hamlisch.
Viv frequently plays with leading chamber groups such as the Ysaÿe String Quartet, Sacconi String Quartet, members of the Elias, Allegri, Carducci and Tippett String Quartets, Leonore Piano Trio, Ensemble 360 and the Leopold String Trio. He has collaborated with soloists including Natalie Clein, Alice Neary, Marianne Thorsen, Daniel Hope, Adrian Brendel, Lawrence Power, Mary Bevan, David Le Page and Guy Johnston. He has performed at numerous UK festivals including Cheltenham International, Buxton, Music in the Round, Glossop and Harrogate International. Abroad, he has performed at the International Beethoven Festival, Mecklenburg Festival and Kultur Kreis Festival in Germany, the Festival International de Musique Classique d’Aigues-Mortes, Melle Festival and Festival de Saintes in France, the Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden in Norway, and the Musik vid Kattegatt Festival in Sweden. Viv studied with Ruth Nye and, after attending Chetham’s School of Music, went on to study at Royal Academy of Music with Hamish Milne. Whilst at the Academy, he won the piano prize at the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition, was selected as one of the winners of the National Federation of Music Societies Young Artists Competition, and made his Wigmore Hall debut through winning the Royal Academy of Music Wigmore Award. Viv made his BBC Radio 3 recital debut through the BBC Radio 3 Young Artists Forum scheme and has also recorded for Classic FM, WDR Radio in Germany, Radio France, ABC Radio in Australia, NRK Radio in Norway, and for Sky Arts television channel. His commercial releases include recordings for Sony, Signum Classics, Naxos, Nimbus, Lyrita, RPO Records, ICSM Records, and his most recent albums are a Chopin recital and a selection of live recordings for Stone Records. |
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