Star singer Lesley Garrett launches Buxton International Festival

Britain's favourite opera singer Lesley Garrett rolls out the red carpet on July 6 when Buxton International Festival raises the curtain on its 2018 programme.
Lesley GarrettLesley Garrett
Lesley Garrett

A gala night of unforgettable tunes from the world of musical theatre and light opera, including selections from Bernstein, Bizet, Berlin and Broadway, will be hosted at Buxton Opera House.

“We’ve rolled out the red carpet for a gala which will pack the place out,” said festival chief executive officer Michael Williams. “We are committed to having a gala night every year for the people of Buxton.”

Lesley is hosting the gala which will launch the festival’s fortnight of opera, music and books as well as singing herself.

She accepted the role of patron of the festival’s 40th anniversary appeal as a thank-you for its help when she was a young unknown.

“Forty years ago this Festival and I were in our professional infancy,” she said.

“I very much feel that we grew up together. Buxton Festival gave me two formative roles in the early years of my career, as they have for thousands of other emerging artists like me. I owe this festival a debt I quite simply cannot repay.”

The gala concert will include soloists from Opera North and Northern Chamber Orchestra.

As well as Bernstein’s Candide and Bizet’s Carmen, shows represented in the programme include Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers, Kurt Weill’s Street Scene and Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady among many more.

For full details of the programme, go to www.buxtonfestival.co.uk

Tickets for the Opening Night Gala range from £15 to £45. Call 01298 72190 or visit: www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk