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Review: Liverpool String Academy at the Tung Auditorium ****
It was the Liverpool String Academy’s inaugural concert at the city’s Tung Auditorium – but if there were any nerves among its youthful members, they certainly weren’t visible in what proved to be an accomplished and hugely impressive performance. Run by Early Music as Education (EMAE), a charity which basically does what it says on the tin by providing specialist music education for young people – irrespective of background or training – across Merseyside, Liverpool String A
Review: Mark Simpson's The Immortal at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall ****
Mark Simpson has revealed what he calls his ‘big and wild’ ambitions were ignited by the performances he watched and music he experienced as a youngster listening to concerts at the Philharmonic Hall. But while he may have dreamed a dream, one wonders if the Liverpool schoolboy really imagined he’d one day be feted as the orchestra that so influenced his youth premiered his own compositions in the same concert hall. Over the two decades and counting of his professional career
Review: From Classical to Romantic at the Tung Auditorium ****
There’s a scene in Amadeus where the impish composer and musician is welcomed by Emperor Joseph II who plays a somewhat ponderous little piece composed specially by Salieri. A giggling Mozart (Tom Hulce) proceeds to take the melody and improvise wildly and gleefully, showcasing his genius but guilelessly ridiculing the furious court composer’s effort at the same time. It was an era when soloists were expected to extemporise and ornament their performances. Mozart is said to h
Review: Come Together at Liverpool's Royal Court ****1/2
The Beatles juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down, seven decades after it first set off on the road to stardom and immortality. Since Come Together – Tom Connor and Mark Newnham’s homage to Lennon and McCartney - was last staged at the Royal Court two years ago, Ian Leslie’s fab, and unexpectedly moving, book John and Paul: A Love Story in Songs has been published (if you haven’t read it, you really should). Meanwhile, in the last few weeks, Sam Mendes has started filming
May announced as Liverpool Music Month with events across the city
May has been designated Liverpool Music Month with a host of live performances and other events planned across the city. The new initiative, a collaboration between Culture Liverpool and Sound City, will celebrate Liverpool’s world-famous music scene – with the programme also twinned with New York Music Month which has taken place annually in the American metropolis since 2017. Music lovers will be able to enjoy performances, cultural events and community activities, highlig
Review: Tabakova Accordion Concerto at the Liverpool Philharmonic ****1/2
While this Thursday night concert on a chill January evening was officially billed as 'Rachmaninov Symphony No.3', it was really all about the accordion with the UK premiere of a new concerto from the ebullient Bulgarian-British composer Dobrinka Tabakova. And who better to perform it than Ksenija Sidorova, whose artistry with what is essentially a portable organ (albeit a backbreakingly heavy one at 20kg/three-and-a-half stone in old money) is unparalleled. If you’ve ever tr
Africa Oyé announces first acts for 2026 festival
Africa Oyé has revealed its first two big name acts for this year’s music weekend in Sefton Park. Multi-award-winning Nigerian singer-songwriter Patoranking and Congolese collective Fulu Miziki will both appear at the Oyé in June. Patoranking, who is making his Africa Oyé debut, is described as a ‘visionary’ of the African music scene and cultural ambassador for Afrobeats, blending the genre with reggae and dancehall to create a unique sound. He is an MTV Africa Music Awards
Liverpool International Jazz Festival 2026 line-up
Liverpool International Jazz Festival returns this month with a line-up of music talent from the UK, Europe and the US. The annual festival, which began in 2013, will be staged at Liverpool Hope University’s Capstone Theatre between February 26 and March 1. Stellar jazz musicians and singers set to take part in the 2026 festival include Tim Garland and Geoffrey Keezer, David Helbock and Julia Hofer, Zoe Rahman and Arun Ghosh, Robert Mitchell's Little Black Book, Martin Taylor
Big gigs in Liverpool during 2026
Liverpool isn’t the official capital of pop, a UNESCO City of Music AND the birthplace of the most famous band the world has ever seen for nothing. Music runs through Liverpool’s veins like the Mersey runs into Liverpool Bay, and you can hear it wherever you go, on the streets, in the parks and spilling out of venues from tiny bars to giant auditoriums. So it’s no surprise that some of the biggest, best and most loved bands and artists make sure they include it on their touri
Review: Rachmaninov with Sir Stephen Hough at Philharmonic Hall ****1/2
It’s turning into a season of homecomings in Hope Street. Earlier this month, Sir Simon Rattle brought his acclaimed Bavarian orchestral outfit to the Philharmonic Hall to kickstart a pre-Christmas European tour in fine fashion. And in the spring, Huyton piano genius Paul Lewis returns to play Beethoven on the hall’s Steinway. Sandwiched in between, Sir Stephen Hough, whose formative years were spent in the Art Deco auditorium – surrounded by its ‘daring’ gold relief of naked
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