FROME FESTIVAL SUMMER SCHOOL

We are delighted to announce that this year’s Frome Festival Summer School is The Dream of Gerontius by Elgar. This takes place from the 1st – 3rd July culminating in performances at the Cheese & Grain on Sunday 3rd July. Jason Thornton will be the Conductor and Jeffrey Skidmore will be the Chorus Master. Download application forms by clicking on the links below.

Summer school choral application (68k PDF)
Summer school orchestral application (60k PDF)

PDF files: All brochures and booking forms are PDF files and you will need Adobe Reader to open them. If you need to install this application, click here to go to the Adobe site, where you can download a free copy.

Van Morrison

Jane Gilchrist

FROME FESTIVAL CONCERTS AT MARSTON HOUSE

Click here for directions to Marston House

Friday 8th July: Thank You For Our Music
The Ultimate tribute to Abba & Queen. Dig out your flares and glitter wigs and get on down to the festival's biggest party. This great family evening concert features live performances of all your favourite Abba and Queen hits performed by two of the countries best tribute bands. The evening will finish with a breathtaking firework display set to Dancing Queen. Bring the whole family for a stunning night of music under the stars.
Private tables for 10 still available. Price per table: £550.
Please contact the Festival Office on 01373 453889.

Saturday 9th July: Van Morrison in Concert
Legendary Singer songwriter Van Morrison appears in concert for the first time at the Marston House venue this summer. His album ‘What's Wrong with this Picture?’ received a Grammy Awards nomination for 'Best Contemporary Blues Album' category. Don’t miss your chance to experience one of the most important songwriters of the past century. Certainly an evening to remember and one of the festivals hottest tickets.
Private tables sold out.

Sunday 10th July: Victory Proms
Join Jason Thornton as he once again conducts the Bath Philharmonia in an evening of your ‘Last Night of the Proms’ favourites with a grand firework finale. This year we are delighted to announce that our guest soprano is Jane Gilchrist, who recently won Channel 4’s Operatunity. Pack your picnic and flags and celebrate the last night of the festival.
Private tables sold out.

FILMFROME

Friday 1 July: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004, 15)
Cheese & Grain, 9.15pm (doors 9pm) (ends 11.40pm approx) £4
Celebrate the first night of the festival with this quirky comedy about love, fate and the complexities of the human mind. A couple (Oscar-nominee Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey) undergo a procedure to erase each other from memory when their relationship turns sour.

Sunday 3 July: Children’s Animation Day
Media Arts Centre 10am–4pm £1
Learn stop-frame animation, the technique used in Chicken Run and Wallace & Gromit. Create your own model and shoot your very own short film by the end of the day. Parents can work together with their children as a family filming team. Booking essential as places limited – contact Howard Vause directly on 01373 469012.

Wednesday 6 July: Words and Pictures
Library 7.30pm (Film starts 9pm) £5 from Library (includes glass of wine)
An evening of literature and film celebrating the theme of ‘heat’. Local writers read their own original works, followed by a screening of the classic British 1963 version of William Golding’s masterpiece Lord of the Flies.

Thursday 7 July: Charity Preview: Disney’s Herbie Fully Loaded (2005, not yet rated) Westway Cinema
5.30pm (Doors 5pm) £4 (under 15: £3) Tickets from the cinema (Booking advised)
Start your engines! Herbie, the famous, free-wheelin’ Volkswagen beetle is back! In a special festival preview, Disney’s all-new comedy adventure can be seen over a month before its UK release. Screened in association with Buena Vista International (UK) Ltd.

Thursday 7 July: Apocalypse Now Redux (1982, 15) + live music
Cheese & Grain, music from 7.15pm, film at 8pm (ends 11.30pm approx) £5
Francis Ford Coppola’s extended Vietnam magnum opus based on Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Starring Marlon Brando, Martin Sheen and Robert Duvall, the film is exhilarating, uncomfortable and dazzling, from the infamous Wagner helicopter attack to the ‘horror’ of Colonel Kurtz. Local bands will perform live acoustic sets before the film.

Friday 8 July: A Mighty Wind (2003, 12A)
Granary 10.45pm (Doors 10.30pm) FREE to those with Robb Johnson tickets (£4 on door)
“The Spinal Tap of Folk.” Telegraph. Late-night screening of this gentle ‘mockumentary’ capturing the reunion of 1960s folk acts, including the Folksmen (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer) and old partners and ex-sweethearts Mitch and Mickey (Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara).

Sunday 10 July: Workshop: Music for film
Merlin Theatre 3–6pm, FREE (Places are limited so please book in advance)
Create a new film score for Irish classic Man of Aran (1934) under the guidance of Jesse Vernon from Morningstar Small Orchestra, and perform the final piece live at the film screening later in the evening. All instrumentalists, particularly those with unusual instruments, are welcome.

Sunday 10 July: Man of Aran (1934) + Circus of the Damned (2004)
Merlin Theatre 7.45pm £6.50
This year’s FILMFROME finale is a rare screening of Man of Aran (1934) with a brand new score created and performed live by local musicians. The haunting film exposes the natural splendour of the Aran Islands and the hardships faced by their inhabitants. Before the film, local filmmaker Eddie Young will play live piano accompaniment to his own short film, Circus of the Damned.

JAZZ @ FROME FESTIVAL

Jazz is the music of the 21st century, and nowhere is it better represented than round here. The region has an extraordinary professional jazz scene, including bands drawing on the standards tradition, hip-hop, plainchant, Indian classical music . . . these outfits use jazz to give their audience everything from spiritual transcendence to out-and-out irresistible boogie. And some of the nation’s leading jazz musicians live in the town of Frome itself – Iain Ballamy, Pee Wee Ellis and John Law – with, we hear on the grapevine, more due to arrive soon.

Frome Festival celebrates this vibrant melting pot. Come along. Be uplifted and inspired by Spirit Jazz, John Law’s Chants and Tony Roberts’ Breath of Fire. Let the Andy Hague Quintet take you to New York, Malc Deakin take you to a Chicago blues bar, and Nunney Jazz Cafe take you to a 1950s Paris nightclub. Finish off with funk from the legendary Pee Wee Ellis and a free festival for all ages, featuring several of the funkiest bands anywhere – headlined by one of the UK’s best-loved musicians, Iain Ballamy.
Keith Harrison-Broninski

DANCE PROJECTS

Hip Hop Collective
Following their successful visit to Frome last year, the Hip Hop Collective returns for this year’s festival with dancers from Philadelphia, Paris and London. They will be running a week-long residency for young people interested in street dance at Frome College from 25–29 July, with a performance at The Merlin Theatre on Friday 29 July at 7.30pm. If you would like to book a place on the residency, please phone Take Art on 01460 249450, and to book a ticket for the performance, please contact The Merlin Box Office.

FESTIVAL COMPETITIONS

Adults Short Story Competition <see results 2005>
Judge Clare Morrall: first prize £300; second prize £100; third prize £25, plus local prizes. Stories of 1,000 to 2,200 words on any theme. £4 per story (£8 for indepth critique). Send entries to Frome Library. Closing date: 31 May 2005 Please read full details at: www.wordswork.net/frome or pick up a form from: Frome Library, Justice Lane, Frome BA11 1BE Tel. 01373 462215

Children’s Short Story/illustration Competition
Children (Reception to Year 8) can win book, art and ice-cream vouchers, as well as the chance to meet Dick King-Smith, in this new competition for 2005. Entrants should write animal stories and/or draw an illustration of their favourite Dick King-Smith book. Closing date: 31 May 2005. Full details from Frome Library as above.

‘Where’s the Photographer?’
In this competition, you can use your powers of observation and perhaps a little local knowledge to identify from where some unusual perspectives on Frome were photographed. The winner will receive a prize, donated by Quintessence & The FosseWay Magazine. Entry forms are available from Quintessence and Frome Tourist Information Centre. Forms are £2 each and profits will go to Frome Festival. Entries to be returned by 11 July.

THE GREAT FESTIVAL TREASURE HUNT

Helen Minall from Wassail Games is setting one of her ever popular treasure hunts. The hunt will lead the winner to a remarkable piece of jewellery, handcrafted and donated by Frome Goldsmith Annette Gabbedey.

You do not need prior knowledge of Frome or specialist equipment. Get out into the fresh air, have a stroll around our beautiful town and use your eyes and some grey cells! The clues will be illustrated once again by local artist Rachael Dahl and on sale from 24 June from: Frome Tourist Information Centre; Wassail Games and Annette Gabbedey both on Catherine Hill in Frome. The results will be announced at at 3.30pm at the Frome GamesCon to be held at the Cheese & Grain on Sunday 10 July.

THE ROVING STORYTELLER

During the week of the festival we are introducing a special treat for Frome’s under fives. A Roving Storyteller will be visiting the local nursery schools to add a little sparkle, mystery and magic to storytime.

STEPPING STONES

During this year’s Frome Festival Somerset dance company Pretty Good Girl will be leading a Community Dance project, which will culminate in the performance of a new site-specific work at a quarry. Date to be announced.