Harrogate Music Festival Brings Free Pop-Up Brass Gig To Town

Local brass players will come together with renowned virtuoso trumpeter Mike Lovatt on Thursday 13 July from 7.45pm onwards for a free pop-up event including a marching band walkthrough in Harrogate town centre.

The gig will feature a live performance of Eclipse, which was written during the pandemic by local award-winning composer Dr. David Lancaster and performed by musicians around the world in a virtual lockdown concert.

Commissioned by Harrogate International Festivals, Eclipse was written in just five days during the beginning of lockdown and premiered on 24 July 2020, bringing together over 100 exceptionally talented musicians from around the world and featuring a solo from Mike Lovatt.

Now, almost three years later, the piece will be performed live in Harrogate town centre, starting at the cenotaph with a marching band walkthrough, as Mike Lovatt joins with local brass players in a free pop-up event which will culminate in his first live performance of the Eclipse solo.

Mike Lovatt has performed with everyone from Shirley Bassey and Robbie Williams to Tony Bennett and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, during an impressive career stretching back nearly 40 years. He’s also been a session musician on five of the James Bond films, including playing principal trumpet on the last Daniel Craig film, No Time To Die, and toured with the late Jessye Norman, regarded as one of the world’s great opera singers.

Lovatt is in Harrogate for the weekend and will be premiering his brand-new Brass Pack live at Harrogate Theatre the following day, Friday 14 July, as well as hosting free workshops to brass players of all ages in Harrogate, and is delighted to be coming to Harrogate Music Festival.

“Festivals like this bring communities together,” he said.

The pop-up Brass performance is on Thursday 13 July from approximately 7.45pm at the Cenotaph and in Harrogate Town Centre and is free to attend.

Mike Lovatt’s Brass Pack will perform the Sounds of Sinatra with vocals from Matt Ford, Friday July 14, Harrogate Theatre, 8pm. Tickets £30. Book online here or call the Box office: 01423 562 303.