Musical tribute to well-known actor
A CLASSICAL singer from Newbridge, Bath will perform a musical tribute to her father, well-known actor Geoffrey Hutchings, who lost his battle with meningitis last year.
Octavia Hutchings, 39, will make her poignant debut performance on July 1, the anniversary of her father's death.
The concert is at the Pump Rooms at 8pm. and will include arias and lieder songs by Mozart, Puccini, Strauss, Rossini, Schubert and Handel.
Music teacher Octavia has been training as a classical singer for seven years and she has chosen this very personal celebration for her first solo concert.
She has been learning music since she was four and graduated in music from Bath Spa University in 2009. Octavia will be joined by fellow Bath Spa Graduates Philip Ridgers on piano and Katie Stone Lonergan playing violin.
Octavia says: "I wanted to put my energy into celebrating my father's life in a positive way and could think of no better tribute than a concert. My father spent his career as an actor working in the theatre and on television and this felt like the perfect way to commemorate his life.
"I chose the concert title 'Love is Stronger than Death' because the words were whispered to me by a friend of my Dad's at his funeral and have been a beacon of strength to me this past year and sum up the truth and reality of losing someone.
"The selection of pieces I will be singing include well known and loved compositions which reflect the myriad of emotions that we experience as we live and love."
Geoffrey died aged 71. He grew up in Dorset, trained at RADA and for many years played a wide variety of roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company during which time he was referred to by Dame Peggy Ashcroft as 'the Shakespearean clown of our time'.
In 1982, Hutchings won a Laurance Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his role in the musical Poppy. He appeared in numerous plays, shows, films and television roles, including the popular series Benidorm, in which he played Mel.
Tickets are £15 / £10 from the Bath Festival Box Office.
All proceeds from the ticket sales will go to Meningitis UK which aims to raise £7million to fund vital research into developing a vaccine against all forms of the deadly disease.
For further details on Meningitis UK, please call 0117 373 73 73 or visit www.meningitisuk.org
MeningitisUK · Registered Charity No.1076774
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