News

Griff Rhys Jones with Chamber Orchestra Anglia at St Andrews Hall on Friday 3 February

Monday, 23rd January 2012

12 concerts, 12 buildings, 12 months...

Chamber Orchestra Anglia (COA) heads to St Andrews Hall on Friday, February 3 at 7.30pm, for the fourth concert in the Norwich 12 series - an evening of music and wit with special guest Griff Rhys Jones.

Griff Rhys Jones, master of ceremonies on the evening, will sing excerpts from Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado and will perform the role of the narrator in Babar the Elephant (Poulenc/D Matthews).  Chamber Orchestra Anglia will also present Haydn's, Symphony No.60 in C, 'Il Distratto' - a comic theatre symphony.

Tickets for the evening are £20 from Norwich Theatre Royal box office tel. 01603 630000 or online via www.chamberorchestraanglia.co.uk.

Monthly concerts are taking place in each of the Norwich 12 buildings to celebrate Chamber Orchestra Anglia's 10^th birthday, and are being organised in collaboration with Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART).

Further concerts in the series are scheduled for March 2 (The Assembly House) and April 24 (St James Mill). For up-to-date information on the programme see www.chamberorchestraanglia.co.uk.

Sharon Andrea Choa, COA founder and Artistic Director, said: 'It is very exciting to be working with Griff Rhys Jones who is a patron of our orchestra.  The event at St Andrews Hall will be a unique evening combining laughter, song and fine music in a wonderful historic building.'

Michael Loveday, Chief Executive of Norwich HEART, said: 'Norwich HEART and the Norwich 12 are enjoying the collaboration with Chamber Orchestra Anglia and we are looking forward to the fourth concert in the series at St Andrew's Hall. It will be a fantastic evening and concert goers will have the opportunity to enjoy the surroundings of one of Norwich's most outstanding heritage buildings.'

Chamber Orchestra Anglia's key aims are to forge new links and relationships with other art forms and scientific disciplines and present inspiring and accessible classical concerts. The orchestra's artistic director and principal conductor, Sharon Andrea Choa is Director of Music at UEA and conductor of the UEA Symphony Orchestra. The leader of the orchestra is Simon Smith, an outstanding violinist who has performed extensively as a soloist with the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

This event forms part of HEART's SHAPING 24 project, a cultural heritage and tourism initiative which takes forward the Norwich 12 project with 12 heritage sites in the Belgian city of Ghent. The project seeks to maximise the access and enjoyment of the 24 sites, raise the profile of Norwich and Ghent as significant cultural heritage cities and increase awareness of the longstanding historical links between this part of England and the Low Countries. SHAPING 24 is funded by the European Union's European Regional Development Fund (INTERREG IVA 2 Seas Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013).

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Notes to editors

Chamber Orchestra Anglia (COA) founder and Artistic Director Sharon Choa is available for media interviews.

For more information about COA please contact Paul Dickson on 01603 666011 or 07801 103737.

For more information about Norwich HEART please contact Lindsey Roffe, Partnership Manager at Norwich HEART on 01603 599579 or email lindseyroffe@heritagecity.org.

About Norwich HEART

Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART) is a private, charitable trust set up to act as an umbrella organisation for all of the heritage on offer in Norwich. We strategically plan, regenerate, manage and promote Norwich's heritage and act as a best practice model internationally for developing heritage as a social and economic regeneration vehicle. HEART receives core funding from Norwich City Council and further project funding from a variety of sources which has to date included the European Union, HM Treasury, the East of England Development Agency and Norfolk County Council.

Norwich 12 and SHAPING 24 are initiatives by HEART.

www.heritagecity.org

About Norwich 12

Norwich 12 is the UK's finest collection of individually outstanding heritage buildings spanning the Norman, Georgian, Victorian and modern eras, offering walks and tours; visitor attractions; exhibitions; music and performances; cafes and restaurants; and gift shops. It is a pioneering heritage concept that is developing 12 of the city's iconic buildings into an integrated family of heritage attractions which will act as an internationally important showcase of English urban and cultural development over the last 1,000 years.

Norwich 12 comprises: Norwich Castle, Norwich Cathedral, The Great Hospital, The Halls - St Andrew's and Blackfriars', The Guildhall, Dragon Hall, The Assembly House, St James Mill, The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Surrey House, City Hall and The Forum.

Norwich 12 is an initiative by Norwich HEART, which secured £1 million from the Treasury's Invest to Save Budget for the project to initially run 2006-9. The ERDF funding allows this initiative to be developed until 2011.

www.norwich12.co.uk

About SHAPING 24

SHAPING 24 - Strategies for Heritage Access Pathways in Norwich and Ghent - is a new cultural tourism initiative that links together the 12 heritage sites in Norwich that make up Norwich 12, with 12 heritage sites in Ghent. The project seeks to promote and support the 24 sites, raise the profile of Norwich and Ghent as significant cultural heritage cities and increase awareness of the longstanding historical links between this part of England and the Low Countries. By working together, the two cities will benefit from the experiences and professional expertise in both cities, and will be able to apply innovative approaches to the challenges facing historic cities.

SHAPING 24 is being led by HEART with Ghent City Council as the partner organisation. The project is part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund from the European Union's INTERREG IVA 2 Mers Seas Zeeën Cross-border Cooperation Programme 2007-2013. The total value of SHAPING 24 is €4.5m, of which Norwich's share is €2.3m, which includes match funding from a variety of organisations.

www.shaping24.eu