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Game of Thrones star Charles Dance joins world class musicians and schoolchildren for Music@Malling festival in West Malling

From a Game of Thrones actor to local schoolchildren, everyone is set to get involved in an annual music festival which returns.

Music@Malling, which links the music of contemporary composers with a range of genres and historic venues in and around West Malling, is back from Sunday, September 15 to Saturday, September 28.

It will feature 29 concerts and a series of projects to include hundreds of local schoolchildren.

Charles Dance returns to Music@Malling this year
Charles Dance returns to Music@Malling this year

Highlights include Game of Thrones and Jewel in the Crown actor Charles Dance OBE returning to the festival to narrate a new interpretation of Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale, which was premiered 100 years ago, with music by artistic director of Ronnie Scott's in London, James Pearson.

The performance will feature animation and film with acclaimed Chamber Domaine and will be conducted by festival founder Thomas Kemp, who grew up in West Malling.

Thomas Kemp, director of Music@Malling
Thomas Kemp, director of Music@Malling

More than 1,000 children from 15 primary schools will take part in workshops based on Roald Dahl’s The Three Little Pigs and a Musical Potrait of Stravinsky and Chanel, staged in All Saint’s Church, Tudeley - the only church in the world to have complete Marc Chagall windows.

Local schoolchildren take part in Music@Malling Picture: Anna Read
Local schoolchildren take part in Music@Malling Picture: Anna Read

Park Lane Group artist, Inigo Mikeleiz, will perform a programme of Bach, Mozart, Lindberg, Gubaidulina and Piazzolla on the accordion inside St Peter and St Paul’s Church Trottiscliffe which has the former pulpit of Westminster Abbey inside it.

Craig Ogden returns to perform pieces by Dowland, Britten and Walton in historic Malling Abbey and principal cellist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Harwood, will take part in a series of concerts

Thomas Kemp said: "I started my musical journey learning the violin in the 1970s next to a vat of bubbling ravioli in the kitchen of West Malling Primary School and now work worldwide as a conductor and violinist.

"I am delighted that Music@Malling creates fantastic opportunities for young people to have direct access to outstanding musicians, fosters creativity and offers chances to perform - experiences that can be life changing. I am also proud that we have such an outstanding line-up of artists for 2019. Growing up in West Malling, I could never have imagined these opportunities and I am delighted that they are now here for everyone."

To see the full programme and book tickets, go to musicatmalling.com

To find out what’s going on in the county and for all the latest entertainment news click here.

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