Seaford Music Society Grand Concert: London Mozart Players and Howard Shelley

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London Mozart Players Chamber Ensemble
Howard Shelley piano

Mozart Piano Quartet Number 2 in E Flat major, K493
Beethoven String Trio Number 4 in D major, Op.9, No.2
Hummel Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Op.87

The London Mozart Players and the world-renowned Howard Shelley, Piano, will play Mozart’s Piano Quartet Number 2 in E Flat Major, K493, Beethoven’s String Trio Number 4 in D Major, Opus 9, Number 2, and Hummel’s Piano Quintet in E Flat Major, Opus 87.

The Concert will be followed by an optional Cream Tea.

Bringing Bruch Back – an evening of virtuoso violin

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London Mozart Players
Jonathan Bloxham conductor
Shoshanah Sievers violin

Mozart Overture to The Magic Flute
Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Mendelssohn Symphony No.3 in A minor, Op. 56, ‘Scottish’

Solo violinist Shoshanah Sievers, supported by Grayshott Concerts since 2007 and currently studying at the Royal College of Music, returns to Grayshott for an evening of beautiful music including Bruch’s Violin Concerto, Mozart’s Magic Flute and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 3.

Shoshanah has previously delighted Grayshott audiences with performances including Enchantment, a new work written especially for her by Karl Jenkins which premiered here in October 2020. Returning here accompanied by the London Mozart Players, conducted by Jonathan Bloxham, join us for another mesmerising performance from this young talent.

Isata Kanneh-Mason debuts with Schumann

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London Mozart Players
Isata Kanneh-Mason piano
Delyana Lazarova

Rossini Overture to L’Italiana in Algeri
Clara Schumann Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.7
Beethoven Symphony No.8 in F major, Op.93

The amazing Isata Kanneh-Mason makes her Grayshott debut supported by the London Mozart Players, conducted by fellow first-timer Delyana Lazarova. Isata will be performing Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto as included on her debut album Romance along with Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8.

Isata is the recipient of the 2021 Leonard Bernstein Award and a 2020 Opus Klassik award for best young artist. Alongside equally talented members of her family, the Kanneh-Masons, she is also the Global Award 2021 best classical artist.

Hallelujah, it’s the Messiah!

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London Mozart Players
Pegasus Chamber Choir
Adrian Butterfield conductor

Charlotte Bowden soprano
Alexander Chance countortenor
Matthew Keighley tenor
Jerome Knox bass

Handel Messiah

Join us for the ultimate in theatrical classical music with a full performance of Handel’s Messiah! from London Mozart Players and Pegasus, one of London’s top choirs, conducted by Adrian Butterfield. Since its premiere some 280 years ago, Messiah! has become the single most-performed piece of classical music worldwide.

Handel’s oratorio is based on the Old and New Testaments and delivered here in a most fitting venue at St Luke’s Grayshott. Now often associated with Christmas, it was in fact originally written for Easter, as while the first section focuses on the birth of Christ, it subsequently moves on to cover his death, and resurrection with the wonderful Hallelujah chorus.

A Musical Weekend with Howard Shelley and the London Mozart Players

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London Mozart Players Chamber Group
Howard Shelley piano

Programme Friday 4 February

Mozart Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor K.478
Beethoven String Trio Op.9 No.2
Hummel Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op.87

Programme Saturday 5 February

Mozart Piano Quartet No.2 in E flat major K.493
Britten Phantasy Quartet Op.2
Hummel Septet No.1 in D minor Op.74

Join the LMP at the Grand Hotel, Eastbourne, for a magical weekend of glorious chamber music that marks twenty years’ of LMP performance at this five-star venue.

Virtuoso pianist Howard Shelley joins the LMP for this two-day immersion in the treasures of the chamber repertoire. Mozart is on the menu, with two technically demanding piano quartets, both packed with fire and imagination. There are also two works by noted pianist and composer Hummel who, in his day, was held to be the equal of Beethoven. Hummel is less well known today, but Howard is a great champion of his thrilling and lyrical works. Hummel’s Piano Quintet is a showcase for virtuosic figuration, anticipating Schubert’s later Trout Quintet, while the Piano Septet is full of pianistic acrobatics, beautifully balancing the piano with the other instruments.

The spotlight moves from piano to strings in Beethoven’s notoriously challenging String Trio, while for Britten’s consummately crafted Phantasy Quartet, the oboe joins the trio to present an intricate and ingenious work – the composer’s first international success.

A much-anticipated element of the weekend is the traditional illustrated talk which tackles a fascinating musical topic.

Many return year on year for LMP’s chamber weekends at The Grand. With world class music, exceptional dining and first-class accommodation on offer, along with excellent company in beautiful surroundings, who can blame them?

Enjoy this wonderful musical getaway along with the Grand Hotel’s first-class accommodation, exceptional dining and great company.

Booking is now open to all by ringing the Grand Hotel direct on 01323 412345.

Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn

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London Mozart Players
Crouch End Festival Chorus
David Temple conductor
Julia Doyle soprano
Rebecca Alfonwy-Jones alto
Ronald Samm tenor
Ashley Riches bass-baritone

Felix Mendelssohn Vom Himmel hoch
Fanny Hensel Lockung
Felix Mendelssohn Psalm 42
Fanny Hensel Hiob Cantata
Felix Mendelssohn Die erste Walpurgisnacht

From the drama of raging mountainside battles to exquisite choral textures, the music of Felix Mendelssohn and his sister Fanny Hensel contains a wealth of unforgettable experiences. In this concert Crouch End Festival Chorus and the London Mozartr Players present a selection of works from both siblings, giving Fanny the prominence she deserves alongside her better-known brother.

Works by Felix include his Die erste Walpurgisnacht, a dramatic cantata set on a dark mountain where the Druids and Christians are in conflict. Stylistically the music looks back to Haydn and forwards to Wagner and Mahler. Vom Himmel hoch is a beautiful work very much in the style of Felix’s great inspiration, J.S. Bach.

Fanny’s works include Lockung an exquisite a cappella part song, and the more substantial Hiob (Job) Cantata for chorus, soloists and orchestra.

A Fresh Take on Shostakovich: LMP with Sheku Kanneh-Mason

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London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers leader
Jonathan Bloxham conductor
Sheku Kanneh–Mason cello
James Mayhew artist

Glinka Overture Ruslan and Lyudmila
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 126
Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

The London Mozart Players return to Fairfield Halls in February 2022 with star soloist Sheku Kanneh–Mason presenting a ‘Fresh Take’ on Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 2.

LMP’s ‘Fresh Takes’ is a brand–new concert series which includes an engaging introduction by the performers at the start of the concert. The composer’s influences will be revealed, musical excerpts will be performed by the orchestra, while manuscripts, portraits and more will be projected on an overhead screen in a unique presentation which will enhance the appreciation and emotional impact of the work’s performance.

In the first concert, superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh–Mason performs Shostakovich’s second cello concerto. Interweaving brooding melodies with animated themes, and featuring a virtuosic cadenza, it’s a dramatic work that makes demands on soloist, conductor and orchestra. Sheku will share his own insights into the challenges of this work on stage with conductor Jonathan Bloxham ahead of a full performance. Don’t miss this opportunity to find out more about, and then hear, a rarely performed work, played by one of the UK’s finest musicians.

Mussorgsky’s iconic suite of ten short movements Pictures at an Exhibition is an evergreen favourite. Acclaimed artist James Mayhew will be on hand to paint along to the music, with his artwork inspired by Mussorgsky’s dramatic melodies projected on the overhead screens in Fairfield’s iconic concert hall.

This all–Russian programme will open with Glinka’s exuberant overture to his opera Ruslan and Lyudmila.

 

Special Valentines offer: 2 top price tickets plus 2 drinks: £70 – details here.

Mozart & More | Leia Zhu & LMP

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London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers director
Leia Zhu violin

Bartok Romanian Dances
Mozart Violin Concerto in G Major
Massenet Meditation from Thaïs
Coleridge-Taylor Four Noveletten

London Mozart Players return to Hastings for the first time in two years, bringing with them a very special guest, 15-year-old violin virtuoso Leia Zhu, who will perform Mozart’s enchanting third violin concerto.

Since her solo debut at the age of four, Leia Zhu has performed with orchestras around the world, including a performance of Tchaikovsky’s concerto with LMP in October 2021 that was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. Her awe-inspiring talent will shine through Mozart’s graceful and witty writing in this sublime concerto. Also on the programme is Coleridge-Taylor’s Four Novelletten, a brilliantly-crafted series of four dance-like pieces that recall Elgar and Dvorak.

At the heart of LMP’s residency in Hastings is the desire to inspire young people and widen the reach of classical music. This concert continues the orchestra’s collaboration with the Hastings Music Centre, with their young musicians performing ‘side-by-side’ with LMP players in a performance of Bartok’s Romanian Dances, lead and directed by Leia, LMP’s young artist in residence.

This will be an amazing opportunity to experience live classical music from this internationally celebrated chamber orchestra and its special young guest, who is surely an inspiration for every fledgling and aspiring musicians.

Clarinet Celebrations! LMP & Michael Collins

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Britten Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op.10*
Weber Clarinet Concerto No.2 in E flat major, Op.74
Montgomery Starburst*
Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A major, K.622

London Mozart Players
Simon Blendis leader/director*
Michael Collins director, clarinet, basset clarinet

It’s clarinet virtuoso Michael Collins’ 60th birthday year – the perfect excuse for a musical celebration!

The London Mozart Players return to the Queen Elizabeth Hall with Michael Collins who directs and takes the solo spot for two of the best-loved works in the repertoire – both inspired by friendships with great clarinettists. Mozart composed his still unsurpassed concerto with its sublime slow movement for Anton Stadler, who performed on a basset horn (the instrument Michael will also play for this work), while Weber was inspired by clarinettist and life-long friend Heinrich Baermann. These concertos display an engaging mix of beauty, daring and virtuosity, with Weber in particular demanding leaps and runs of the soloist. In a concert marking a milestone year, Michael Collins brings all his dazzling artistry to these evergreen masterpieces.

Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is Britten’s tribute to his revered teacher, Frank Bridge. The ten variations present a musical portrait, suggesting ‘his integrity… energy…charm…wit…gaiety’ as Britten wrote on his sketches. A tour de force for LMP’s strings under the direction of Simon Blendis, the writing is daring and inventive, frequently parodying musical forms – opera, baroque, waltzes, marches and chants – but always on a virtuosic level.

The celebratory fireworks for the occasion are provided by Jessie Montgomery’s vibrantly inventive Starburst which fizzes and explodes with excitement and colour. The perfect soundtrack for any birthday party!

A Christmas Carol

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A Christmas Carol

London Mozart Players Piano Trio
Nicoline Kraamwinkel violin
Sarah Butcher cello
Julian Rolton piano

Tama Matheson narrator

Chorister Quartet from Trinity School Croydon

Festive seasons past, present and future combine in this seasonal treat as Charles Dickens gives a dramatic re-telling of his classic tale: ‘A Christmas Carol’ in the intimate surroundings of the Fidelio Café in London’s Clerkenwell. In this exciting adaptation, actor Tama Matheson breathes fresh life into Dickens who takes to the stage to tell his moving morality tale of Scrooge, Marley, Tiny Tim and all those Christmas ghosts, accompanied by an atmospheric soundscape of Christmas carols. By turns gloriously funny, sad, joyous and heart-rending, this evocative blend of carols and drama captures the wonder, pathos and sheer spookiness of this Christmas classic. It’s the perfect way to get into the Christmas spirit!

The musical backdrop is provided by LMP’s piano trio Nicoline Kraamwinkel (violin), Sarah Butcher (cello) and Julian Rolton (piano), and a quartet of choristers from Trinity School, who will set the scene with some beloved Christmas carols including O Holy Night and Good King Wenceslas.

Tama Matheson and LMP were recently shortlisted for an RPS Award for Tama’s lyric-drama performance on Tchaikovsky, Bright Stars Shone for Us. Tama continues his brilliant storytelling in this performance of A Christmas Carol, which has had two years running of sell-out performances in the Elgar Room at the Royal Albert Hall, and in the Savvy Theatre at Fairfield Halls.

Tickets: £100 (includes the concert, a glass of prosecco and a three course dinner)

Little Red Riding Hood

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‘Wolves aren’t always as clever as they think they are…’. In a half-term musical treat for children of all ages, the London Mozart Players presents Paul Patterson’s lively orchestral version of Roald Dahl’s wickedly witty ‘Little Red Riding Hood. Taken from Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes this is ideal for 5–11-year-olds but is also a sharply funny and inspiring treat for adults. Rebecca Kenny narrates this hilarious twist on the fairy-tale classic, performing with LMP in the stunning Hastings Library. It’s half an hour of pure magic that never fails to entertain, and a wonderful way to introduce budding musicians to the instruments of the orchestra.

Christmas Classics at St Mary’s

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Programme includes:
Traditional Once in Royal David’s City
Traditional Silent Night
Traditional Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Barnes Let the Carols Ring (new commission)
Traditional 12 Days of Christmas
Strauss Pizzicato Polka
Strauss Blue Danube
Anderson Sleigh Ride
Anderson Waltzing Cat
Elgar Salut d’Amour
Tchaikovsky excerpt from The Nutcracker
Handel Pifa from Messiah

London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers director
and our Musical Star Competition Winner

We continue our series at St Mary’s Putney with a Christmas concert that has something in it for everyone, whether you love traditional carols, yuletide songs, or just mulled wine and mince pies! Full of the music we all turn to at this time of year, this fun and informal concert will be a wonderful opportunity for families and friends to gather at St Mary’s to share the joy and memories that these melodies evoke. Festive favourites Sleigh Ride, The 12 Days of Christmas and The Nutcracker will get us in the Christmas groove, alongside perennial favourites Silent Night, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and many more. We also have an exciting première of a newly commissioned seasonal piece by young local composer Georgia Barnes

For more information about our Musical Star competition, and how to audition to sing with LMP at the concert, click here.

Mostly Mozart at Crystal Palace

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London Mozart Players
Leia Zhu violin
Ruth Rogers director
Croydon Music & Arts

Bartok Romanian Dances
Mozart Violin Concerto No.3 in G major, K.216
Massenet Meditation from Thaïs
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Four Novelletten

Since 2017, London Mozart Players’ annual community concert at St John’s has welcomed top classical stars to SE19 including Sheku Kanneh-Mason and Nicola Benedetti. In January 2022, it hosts another virtuoso soloist, 15-year-old Leia Zhu, performing Mozart’s enchanting third violin concerto.

Since her solo debut at the age of four, Leia Zhu has performed with orchestras around the world, including a performance of Tchaikovsky’s concerto with LMP at Fairfield Halls in October 2021. Her awe-inspiring talent will shine through Mozart’s graceful and witty writing in this sublime concerto. Also on the programme, alongside Bartok’s Romanian Dances and Massanet’s Mediation from Thaïs, is Coleridge-Taylor’s Four Novelletten, a brilliantly-crafted series of four dance-like pieces that recall Elgar and Dvorak.

At the heart of LMP’s residency at St John’s is the desire to inspire young people and widen the reach of classical music. This vision is the foundation for this community concert, which enables students, or those who do not normally go to concerts due to financial or health reasons, get the chance to experience the transformative power of classical music. A limited number (100) of tickets are also available to purchase. Buying your ticket ensures that someone less fortunate can attend.

This is an amazing opportunity to experience live classical music from this internationally celebrated chamber orchestra and its very special young guest, who is surely an inspiration for every fledgling and aspiring musician.

Tickets – £25 (includes reserved seating, programme and interval drink) – only 100 available.

Create Yarmouth

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Joao Domingos Bomtempo 3rd Movement from Symphony No.2
Bartok Romanian Dances (arrangement)
Bacewicz 1st Movement from Concerto for String Orchestra
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Britten Simple Symphony
Sarah Freestone New Commission

London Mozart Players
Young Musicians from Great Yarmouth

A special performance by the London Mozart Players and 100 young musicians from Great Yarmouth, featuring a brand new piece they have created with composer Sarah Freestone, as well as orchestral music from around Europe.

Come and be inspired by a world class professional orchestra and emerging young talent from the local area.

Not now, Bernard and Other Stories

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London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers director
Polly Ives narrator
Rosie Brooks artist

Words, music, pictures and lots of laughs for children and grown-ups! London Mozart Players’ family concerts are always popular, and this will be no exception.

What would you do if you found a monster in the garden? Bernard tries to tell his parents but keeps getting the brush off – with dire consequences! David McKee’s classic story Not Now, Bernard is beloved by youngsters and has a powerful message for parents too!

Also on the programme is the thoroughly engaging Isabel’s Noisy Tummy, David McKee’s delightful laugh-out-loud story of a little girl’s gurgling tummy and how it takes her from zero to hero. While in James Mayhew’s The Knight Who Took all Day, a vain and foolish knight manages to loses both the girl and the dragon because he’s such a big show-off!

Narrator Polly Ives tells these hilarious tales with sparkling verve and energy, while Bernard Hughes’ lightly-scored and child-friendly music, performed by LMP, effortlessly builds an enchanting musical framework that anchors the stories, conveying all the necessary drama and colour. To add the pictures to the words and music, artist Rosie Brooks will sketch along to the stories live, with her illustrations projected behind the orchestra, bringing the characters to life. What an irresistible combination!

PLUS: all ticket holders can buy a copy of Not Now Bernard at Bookseller Crow in Crystal Palace after the concert – £1.50 off each copy.

Ticket prices:
Standard £15
Concessions (65+) £13
Child (under 18) £5

Carnival at Crystal Palace

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London Mozart Players
Simon Blendis leader
Alex Ashworth Noye
Kate Symonds-Joy Mrs Noye
Father John Pritchard as ‘God’
Crystal Palace Recorders
Will Vann conductor

The SE19 community comes together for an animal extravaganza at St John’s Upper Norwood.

Britten Scenes from Noye’s Fludde
Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals

An incredible tempest, a massive boat and an angry God take centre stage in this imaginative, community opera re-telling of the biblical story of Noah, his family, and their unlikely cargo of animals as they fight for survival for 40 long days and nights on the ark.

After the animals have alighted the ark, they’ll make their way to the centre stage to showcase their mischievous personalities in Carnival of the Animals, accompanied with poems written by Martin Smith.

Ticket prices:
Priority £25 (includes reserved seating, interval drink)
Standard £18
Concessions (65+) £16
Young Person (16-25) £10
Child (under 16) £5

Christmas Classics at Crystal Palace

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Programme includes:
Traditional Once in Royal David’s City
Traditional Silent Night
Traditional Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Barnes Let the Carols Ring (new commission)
Traditional 12 Days of Christmas
Traditional De Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy
Strauss Pizzicato Polka
Strauss Blue Danube
Anderson Sleigh Ride
Anderson Waltzing Cat
Elgar Salut d’Amour
Tchaikovsky excerpt from The Nutcracker
Handel Pifa from Messiah

London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers director
with
Cypress School
The Hive & Welcome Choirs
Skylight Singers

Whether you love traditional carols, yuletide songs, or just mulled wine and mince pies – this Christmas concert has something for everyone! Full of the music we all turn to at this time of year, this fun and informal concert will be a wonderful opportunity for families and friends to gather at St John’s in SE19 to share the joy and memories that these melodies evoke. Festive favourites Sleigh Ride, The 12 Days of Christmas and The Nutcracker will get us in the Christmas groove, alongside perennial favourites Silent Night, Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and many more. We also have an exciting première of a newly commissioned seasonal piece by young local composer Georgia Barnes.

We love to involve as many musicians as possible in our Christmas concert at St John’s, and after a reduced gathering in 2020 due to Covid, we are pulling out all the stops to bring you a packed programme for 2021 that reflects the extraordinary talent of this wonderful community. The concert includes side-by-side performances with pupils from local schools, while the Welcome and Hive choirs will dial the choral Christmas cheer up to eleven in a cornucopia of festive fun.

It’s never too early to make plans for the festive season, and the London Mozart Players’ annual Christmas concert in SE19 is always a sell-out, so do book early! Dig out your Santa hats and Christmas jumpers and we’ll see you under the church’s magnificent Christmas Tree!

Ticket prices:
Priority £25 (includes reserved seating, programme, interval drink)
Standard £18
Concessions (65+) £16
Young Person (16-25) £10
Child (under 16) £5

LMP at the Crystal Palace Tango Café

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London Mozart Players
Ruth Rogers director & violin
Sebastian Comberti cello
Leroy Tango Cat & Emma Lucia Reyes tango dancers

Programme includes:
Piazzolla Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Piazzolla Libertango
Piazzolla Oblivion
Piazzolla Grand Tango
Sting El Tango de Roxanne
Albeniz Tango
Villoldo El Choclo
Rodrigo La Cumparsita
Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 5
Copland Hoedown

Tango! It’s sultry, it’s seductive and it’s coming to SE19! Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla reinvented the genre of his homeland into ‘tango neuvo’, and in his centenary year, London Mozart Players and tango dancers Leroy Tango Cat and Emma Lucia Reyes, bring Piazzolla’s Latin infused rhythms and melodies to their ‘Tango Café’ at St John’s, Upper Norwood – for one night only!

Dim the lights, pour the wine, sit back and relax in the intimate atmosphere of our very own cabaret style ‘milonga’. The heat and passion of Buenos Aires will be channelled through the spinetingling sensual sound of this tense, passionate music, which cleverly combines electrifying jazz improvisation with intimate chamber music. Highly respected professional tango dancers Leroy Tango Cat and Emma Lucia Reyes will bring this slinky, sensuous music to life, demonstrating the passion of the dance with elegance and expertise in a showcase of authentic tango moves.

Tango classics such as Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires, Libertango and Oblivion are on the menu, with other tango inspired works by composers such as Rodrigo and Villoldo, and a special performance of Sting’s El Tango de Roxanne from the iconic film Moulin Rouge.

Join the London Mozart Players at SE19’s cosy and atmospheric pop up Tango Café for a night of hot and cool music that will have you reaching for your dance shoes, and a dancing partner!

Ticket prices:
Standard: £25
Concessions (65+): £20
Young People (16 – 25): £10