Piano all-nighter at Birmingham Town Hall

In the 1960s, Birmingham Town Hall played host to All-Night Jazz Festival gigs, and this has inspired John Thwaites, head of keyboard studies at Birmingham Conservatoire, to create an All-Night Pianothon at Birmingham Town Hall. 

So from 7.30pm, Friday March 3, to 7.30am, Saturday March 4, 2017, the town hall will play host to a star galaxy of pianists including Gergely Bogányi, Alistair McGowan, Peter Donohoe, Mark Bebbington, Margaret Fingerhut, Daniel Browell, Pei-Chun Liao, Di Xiao, David Quigley, Julian Jacobson... Simon Callow will be giving a rare performance of Richard Strauss's Enoch Arden with John Thwaites, Dr Anna Scott takes a look at ‘Brahms as he might have heard it’, student Nafis Umerkulova plays Schumann’s First Piano Sonata on an historic instrument made by Clara Schumann’s cousin W Wieck, and prize-winning pianists and tutors from the Conservatoire’s own ranks are showcased throughout. Alistair MacGowan will be playing Satie, and Anthony Hewitt will be cycling through the night to arrive a dawn to play Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit.

To encourage young people and students, prices start at £1!

Full details from the Birmingham Conservatoire website.