Leeds Castle Concert returns for 2024 with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and ABBA tribute

KentOnline / KMTV

The Leeds Castle Concert will once again take place in the historic grounds, just outside of Maidstone, with a stellar line-up of proms-style music set to attract thousands of visitors.

Transcript

00:00Well, it's about the 13th year, I think, that I've actually been involved in this concert,

00:03and it's absolutely huge, Sophia. We've got the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,

00:07we've got a range of soloists, we have a flyover with a display with a spitfire. I mean, there

00:15really is everything thrown at this concert. It's usually quite an event, and there's about

00:2110,000, 12,000 people, I think, turn up, so it's one of the highlights of the social calendar,

00:26I think, for Kent. Well, you say you've done this for 13 years now, so you will have sort of been

00:31there during things like COVID, when that would have really changed how it ran. So what was that

00:36like during COVID? And I guess it's nice to have it back up and running again. It's wonderful. I

00:41mean, there was only one year that we actually missed. I think it was 2020, I think. You lose

00:48track with COVID, don't you, as to what years we lost. But no, it's great. It's wonderful to be

00:55back. I think this is our third year back since COVID, and it's just an extraordinary event. I

01:01mean, there really is nothing quite like live music, and especially having it in a setting

01:06like that, at Leeds Castle. It's so magnificent, and I know the orchestra always enjoy it. And it's

01:11such a great community event as well. We have families there, we have all kinds of generations,

01:17and we really try very hard to do a programme that caters across generations and for everybody

01:23who turns up. Tell us about some of the acts, because I hear that there are some acts returning,

01:28there are some brand new acts, so it sounds like there's quite a range of performers.

01:34Well, we've got four completely new soloists this year. I mean, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

01:39turn up every year and play their hearts out, but we've got four fabulous performers from the

01:44world of opera. We have Jesus Leon and Laura Martins, who will be giving us some operatic

01:50highlights in the first half. And then in the second half, we have Alicia Paul Moses, who's

01:55currently starring in Tina the Musical. She's playing the lead role in Tina in the West End.

02:00And Sandy Grigelis, who's currently been on tour with Sir Tim Rice, touring the country with Tim

02:06Rice. So we've got some wonderful world-class soloists, both from opera and from musical theatre,

02:12and obviously we've got pieces in the programme to bring out their strengths.

02:16And can you tell us, like, how long does this event go on for and how much is it going to

02:21cost someone if they want to come along? Oh, I think you can get the ticket prices

02:26from the website, Leeds Castle Concert, I think it is, but I don't think they're particularly

02:33expensive. And it starts, the gates open at four o'clock, we have a warm-up act called Capital

02:39Voices, who are doing a tribute to ABBA, celebrating the anniversary of ABBA winning

02:46the Eurovision Song Contest. So we've got a tribute to ABBA from, I think, around about

02:50five o'clock, that starts. And then after that, the Royal Philharmonic are on at 7.30 and the

02:56concert is usually down shortly after 10 o'clock. Well, John, thank you for joining us. Sounds like

03:01you're going to have a lot of fun. Thanks for giving us those details.

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