LIVE BY THE LAKE, the hotly anticipated series of outdoor summer concerts at Kenwood House, marks the welcome return of the English Heritage concert season.  Produced by the young dynamic agency, Rouge Events, Live By The Lake’s outstanding lineup of world class music is scheduled over six days – August 23^rd-25^th and August 30^th-September 1^st; each show promises to attract up to 10,000 music and film lovers to enjoy the music and share a picnic with friends and family in more than 100 acres of Kenwood House’s beautifully landscaped gardens.

Boasting the perfect mix of pop, rock, soul, classical, musical theatre and film, LIVE BY THE LAKE promises something special for every music lover in the land.  Tickets are now on sale at www.kenwood.seetickets.com and there are a limited number of discounts for residents in many of London’s northwest postal districts.

Ticket holders will be able to choose a variety of reasonably priced tickets for each concert and to decide whether or not to bring their own picnic and all-weather paraphernalia!  For those who want to rock up unhampered, the best of Carluccio’s Italian picnics can be ordered in advance and picked up on the day of each orchestral concert.   (NB: Suede and Keane concerts will be standing room only, so picnics and chairs should be left at home and a range of drinks and delicious food will be available from the on-site concession stands.

PROGRAMME at a glance:

August 23^rd:        SUEDE and special guests BRITISH SEA POWER

August 24^th:        ROYAL CHORAL SOCIETY and the ROYAL PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA

August 25^th:        KEANE and special guest LAURA MVULA

August 30th:      ‘SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN’ – film screening, score performed by the ROYAL                                                PHILHARMONIC CONCERT ORCHESTRA

August 31^st:        ANA MARIA MARTINEZ and the ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA ORCHESTRA

September 1^st:   MICHAEL BALL and friends sing GERSHWIN

THE PROGRAMME in detail:

Kicking off proceedings on Friday August 23^rd are the multi-platinum selling, mighty SUEDE (left), Britpop progenitors, one of the world’s most exciting rock bands and whose sixth studio album ‘Bloodsports’ was released in March, after a ten year gap, to much critical acclaim.  Suede’s special guests are the splendid Brighton-based indie rockers BRITISH SEA POWER, the title of whose current album, ‘Machineries of Joy’, was inspired by a collection of short stories by the great sci-fi author, Ray Bradbury.  The band recently performed their soundtrack for the documentary film ‘From the Land to the Sea’, directed by Penny Woolcock, at the Sundance London Film and Music Festival at the 02 and at the Sheffield Documentary Festival.

On Saturday August 24^th it’s a feast for classical music lovers with the Royal Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Roderick Dunk, performing a wonderful selection of arias from, among others, Carmina Burana, Madame Butterfly, Verdi’s Requiem and many more.  The night will end with a spectacular firework display. Roderick Dunk will be well known to BBC Radio 2 listeners as the BBC Concert Orchestra’s regular guest conductor for the long running Friday Night is Music Night.

To complete the perfect first weekend on August 25^th the Brit Award winning, Grammy nominated, 10 million selling KEANE will take to the stage; fronted by the charismatic Tom Chaplin, the band’s fourth studio album, Strangeland, was released in May 2012 and immediately topped the UK charts.  KEANE are delighted to have as their special guest the uniquely gifted soul singer/songwriter LAURA MVULA, whose debut album, ‘Sing To The Moon’, was released this year and instantly catapulted her into the musical stratosphere and a headlining slot at this year’s Isle of Wight Festival.

Friday August 30^th offers a truly rare opportunity to film fans: the screening of the 1952 musical romantic comedy ‘Singin’ In The Rain’ to a LIVE score performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra.  Starring the legendary Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, and Debbie Reynolds, and choreographed and directed by Gene Kelly, the film offers an entertaining depiction of a 1927 Hollywood caught up in the transition from silent films to talkies.  The RPO, conducted by Neil Thomson, will bring the film’s iconic soundtrack to life while the re-mastered film is shown on the big screen.

Saturday August 31^st is Opera Alfresco night with the English National Opera Orchestra and a special appearance by the incomparable Grammy Award winning American soprano, Ana Maria Martinez whose lyrical, elegant style has seen her grace all the grand opera houses around the world.  The ENO together with principal soloists Wynne Evans, Fiona Murphy, Kai Ruutel and David Webster will perform some of the world’s greatest and most popular arias from the works of Bizet, Mozart, Puccini, Verdi and more.

On Sunday September 1^st MICHAEL BALL, double Olivier Award winner (‘Hairspray’, ‘Sweeney Todd’), multi-platinum recording artist, and radio and TV presenter will close Live By The Lake’s programme of events with a special evening of music by George and Ira Gershwin.  Britain’s top musical theatre star will be inviting friends from the West End stage such as Kerry Ellis, Gina Beck, and David Shannon to join him in performing some of the Gershwin’s best loved songs including Summertime, I Got Rhythm, S’Wonderful, Shall We Dance, and many more.