Record sell outs for Nelson Winter Music Festival

Record sell outs for Nelson Winter Music Festival

Four sell out shows before opening night give the Nelson Winter Music Festival a flying start for a fortnight of cabaret, classics, kids’ shows and comedy.

The festival opens on Saturday night (July 9) with Jennifer Ward-Lealand as Marlene Deitrich, which is one of the sell outs, along with Jane Keller’s comedy show Boomers Behaving Badly, the Doors’ tribute concert and the Dave Dobbyn finale.

School of Music manager Frances McElhinney says there are still plenty of options for people looking for something to brighten up the winter.

“I’d really encourage people who may not have ever been to a classical music concert to give it a try – Kenneth Young conducting the Nelson Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s violin concerto with soloist Jenny Banks will be really dynamic performance. It’s quite special to see the interaction between conductor and musicians on stage,” she said. “Renowned pianist Michael Endres playing Schubert on our new Sturgeon Steinway will be another exceptional night – a world class soloist like this has a stage presence that is really commanding.”

With the holidays coming up there are two shows for children: Cinders is a twist on the classic fairy story, performed by Nelson Youth Theatre and The Bubbles & Mustard Show is a wacky radio tour from Phineas Phrog.

There is one change to the advertised Winter Music Festival programme, with the Blessing of the Fishing Fleet, scheduled for July 23 shifting to Saturday October 29, due to works being done on the foreshore.

The Nelson Winter Music Festival runs until July 24, and has received sponsorship from the Nelson Events Marketing and Development Programme, funded by the Nelson City Council. The programme’s objective is to stimulate Nelson city’s economy in the shoulder and off-peak season by bringing visitors to Nelson for events.

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