Harrogate actor and director Hugo Speer will make a guest appearance at Harrogate Symphony Orchestra’s forthcoming summer concert when he takes the stage alongside the musicians as narrator of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf.
Mr Speer, an enthusiastic supporter of the orchestra and a regular member of the audience at its concerts, will appear during a special matinee performance alongside a professional puppeteer who has been commissioned for this charity event.
The matinee will be held in addition to the regular evening concert at the Royal Hall on June 22 and is aimed at children. The event will raise money for the No String Charity of which Hugo Speer is patron.
No Strings uses puppets created by artists who formed part of the original Muppet Show team to give life-saving messages to children across the globe in a way they will enjoy and remember. The charity has run projects teaching orphans how to avoid land mines in Afghanistan, how to cope with natural disasters in Asia, and has most recently launched a programme of HIV awareness-raising films for children in sub-Saharan Africa.
The HSO matinee programme will feature Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra as well as Peter and the Wolf. Children will be encouraged to make their own sock puppet at home or school to bring along to the concert and join in the fun.
The evening concert on the same night will also feature Peter and the Wolf plus Danse Macabre (Saint-Saens), Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Dukas) finishing with Beethoven’s Symphony no. 6, the Pastoral.
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To aid the fundraising, there will be a raffle, an auction and Peter & the Wolf t-shirts will be on sale. All monies raised will go directly to the No Strings Charity. To find out more about the charity visit www.nostrings.org.uk. Both concerts are on June 22 and tickets are available from the Harrogate Theatre Box Office tel: 01423 502116 or book online at www.harrogatetheatre.co.uk
