Façade: An Entertainment by Nielsen, Walton, De (2015/2015), Director musical Tomas Leakey, Old High Church, Inverness, United Kingdom

The Mahler Players take a short break from the music of Mahler with two performances of Walton’s entertaining and witty work Façade. Incorporating the absurdity and excess of the Roaring Twenties, the poems by Edith Sitwell will have the audience amused and bewildered. Reciting the verses are two stalwarts of the Highland music and drama scenes, Maureen Pringle and D James Ross. Walton’s vivacious music incorporates diverse influences, including jazz and traditional dances from around the world. In the first half of the concert, the ensemble will mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Danish composer Carl Nielsen with a performance of his Wind Quintet. These public performances follow an educational project supported by the Highland Council in which Façade is being taken to several local schools. Audiences can choose whether to enjoy this performance in the historical surroundings of the Old High Church, Inverness or the intimacy of the art gallery at The Stables, Cromarty. Maureen Pringle & D James Ross – reciters Tomas Leakey – conductor