As winter wraps its chilly embrace around the picturesque town of Stamford, the Stamford Arts Centre warms hearts with a rich tapestry of cultural offerings. This season, residents and visitors alike are invited to indulge in an eclectic mix of performances that promise to entertain, inspire, and ignite the festive spirit. From comedic operas and timeless theatrical adaptations to enchanting jazz performances and beloved holiday concerts, the Stamford Arts Centre is the place to be for a winter of unforgettable artistic experiences. Here’s a closer look at the events that are set to light up Stamford this season.

Unforgettable Moments at Stamford Arts Centre: A Winter of Artistic Delight

Dickens Theatre Company arrive in Stamford with their joyously authentic staging of this Victorian classic.

A Christmas Carol

Stamford Arts Centre

Jazz and the Golden Age of Hollywood are synonymous with rousing film scores and memorable hits from some of the greatest movies ever made. Alongside these terrific tunes are a wealth of Christmas songs written by Tin Pan Alley’s greatest songwriters. White Christmas and I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm by Irving Berlin, Let It Snow by Jule Styne, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by John Frederick Coots & Haven Gillespie and The Christmas Song by Mel Tormé. These gems have been performed by the cream of jazz royalty including Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Wynton Marsalis, Shirley Horn and Nat King Cole. In fact it’s easier to find a list of artists who haven’t cashed in on the festive season.

Ben Martin Quartet ft. Eliot Richards - Jazz In The Cellar Bar

It’s July 1940, and after an aerial dog fight Pilot Officer Jack Absolute flies home to win the heart of his old flame, Lydia Languish. But Jack’s advances turn to anarchy when he meets up with his fellow officers and their girlfriends on the RAF airbase at Malaprop Hall. Based on Sheridan’s classic play The Rivals, with the famous characters of Mrs Malaprop and Sir Anthony Absolute, this hilarious new comedy was first performed with outstanding success at the National Theatre in 2022.

Jack Absolute Flies Again (Stamford Shoestring Theatre)

Chabrier’s irresistibly sweet and funny chamber opera explores the comic predicament of a newly-married couple who don’t know what to do on their wedding night. Their only available guide, a crusty Latin tutor, is embarrassed to reveal he too has no idea. Sung in English in concert staging by a trio of brilliant young singers, recently graduated from Royal Academy of Music and Guildhall, this charming piece is not to be missed. Also featuring Fauré’s popular Pavane and Farrenc’s Symphony No. 3. Suitable for all the family!

An Incomplete Education With SCO

Waterbaby invites us on a personal and global journey exploring our fragile and intrinsic relationships with water. Combining her soulful poetry, mesmerising vocals and live-looped cello soundscapes, Sarah captivates and tugs at the heart. With stories from her voyages by boat to Iceland, Shetland, the Faroes and the Uists, and over land to waters around her northern UK home, Sarah shares personal experiences of how water has shaped her life. Waterbaby is a plea for the future of the planet by returning to the ocean that cradled us all as we were waiting to breathe; humming with atmosphere, carrying the voices of people, places and beings who need to be heard, encapsulating the urgency for connection, healing, and experience with nature.

Sarah Smout - Waterbaby (RGS)

Immerse yourself in an enchanting world as the mesmerising quartet CALAN grace our stage with their unique brand of power-folk. This musical odyssey combines original tunes and songs with ancient melodies unearthed from the National Library of Wales. Join us for an extraordinary evening featuring tracks from their highly anticipated album, ‘Nefydd’.

Calan

Following a sellout production of My Fair Lady last year, College Players are delighted to present Meredith Willson’s Miracle on 34th Street – The Musical.

Miracle On 34th Street - The Musical

After a decade releasing celebrated albums (BBC Radio 2 Folk Award winners of ‘Best Original Track’ 2016 and ‘Best Group’ nominees in 2019) and touring across the world, The Rheingans Sisters will release their much anticipated fifth studio album in 2024!

The Rheingans Sisters

Philippa and her guest, the secretary of the Stamford Mercury Archive Trust, explore the weird and wonderful world of the oddities which have been reported in the Stamford Mercury over 300 years, from the sublime to the ridiculous, and back again.

Philippa Massey Talk: Stamford Mercury Cuttings 3: Mercuriosities

“The most feel-good show in town” ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (The Daily Mail) has spread nostalgia and laughter throughout the UK and has the seal of approval from Victoria’s very own schoolchums and colleagues.

Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood

Charlie Parker was one of the most important figureheads in the development of jazz music, pioneering the ‘bebop’ style. This quartet comes together to explore the Parker catalogue of compositions, which include Yardbird Suite, Anthropology & Moose The Mooche.

Alan Barnes Plays Charlie Parker - Jazz In The Cellar Bar

The Doric String Quartet brings an elegance and intimacy both to the Classical canon and new music and the players continue to deepen their interpretations and win fans across the world. Having performed cycles of Haydn, Mendelssohn, Britten and Bartók at famous venues around the world, including Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus and Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.

The Doric String Quartet 2024

Ensconced is a brand new collaboration between Milan-born singer & composer Brigitte Beraha and London’s guitarist & composer Ant Law.

Ant Law & Brigitte Beraha

Orion Business Centres Ltd

Blowzabella is a genuinely unique band that makes an inimitable, driving, drone-based wall-of-sound played with a fabulous sense of melody, rhythmic expertise and sheer feeling. They compose their own music which is influenced by English and European traditional folk music and song – a shared culture with ancient roots.

Blowzabella

One man, one monster, one glorious dream to singlehandedly tell the most famous cult horror story of all time, and absolutely no budget whatsoever. What could possibly go wrong?

Frankenstein (On a Budget) - Stamford

The King’s Polar Bear is a timeless tale of hope and opportunity, told under the awesome shimmer of the northern lights. In this wintry new show, full of snow and sparkle you will be carried away by the magic of an arctic adventure never heard of before.

The King’s Polar Bear

Grown in Brighton’s grubby and fertile musical petri dish, this ever-mutating municipality of musical misfits are able to harness the transformative power of the BEST parties - in a way that only a huge horn section and super tight rhythms are able to do.

Town Of Cats

Harking back to the wonderful days when the dance floor was king, performers deliver a fun presentation of 60s and 70s soul classics. From early soul days of Tamla Motown, Stax and Atlantic records through to disco and beyond as the show brings on the good times.

Soul Train - Bourne Corn Exchange

Bourne Corn Exchange

Amongst drifting waterweed and ancient moss-covered rocks, a Watersprite awakens. Down here the pond is teeming with life - newts and snails and little silver fish dart around, busy with their business.

Stories Of A Watersprite

Emma Johnson MBE is a clarinettist who has made a name as a best selling soloist and recording artist. She won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition when she was 17 and has since recorded over 30 albums and given concerts all over the world.

Tree of Life with the Orchestra for the Environment

THE ‘Ultra 90s vs 2000s’ EXPERIENCE - Live Dance Anthems!

Ultra 90s vs 2000s - Bourne Corn Exchange, 2024

Voted best newcomer at Marlborough Jazz in 2015, the Jeanie Barton Band performs an evening of emotive music. With Jeanie on vocals and piano, they will play many of her nostalgic yet fresh compositions alongside joyous standards. Jeanie performed for Stamford Arts Centre as part of the 2020 Live in Lockdown broadcasts, so we're delighted to welcome her back in person with her band.

Jeanie Barton Band - Jazz In The Cellar Bar

The Levy Circus is a group of five skilled and experienced musicians from the East Midlands who have come together over the last 10 years to produce music that concentrates fully on creating a memorable, melodic and rewarding experience for their audience.

The Levy Circus

Kathleen Ferrier Whattalife! Tells the story of the great English contralto and follows her journey from housewife to household name.  Just like Kathleen during her short but full life, the show has a great sense of fun and talks straight from the heart.

Kathleen Ferrier Whattalife!

Established in 1997, Uncle Funk’s Disco Inferno are the UK’s undisputed number 1 live disco band. With a magnetic stage presence and an unparalleled ability to get feet on the dancefloor, Uncle Funk’s Disco Inferno has become a fixture at some of the biggest festivals and events across the country.

Uncle Funk's Disco Inferno

 Over four decades, James Lisney’s musical integrity and pianistic command have fuelled a career that has taken him seamlessly from concerto and recital soloist – to chamber musician and pianist director. Initiatives, such as his highly acclaimed Beethoven Project in Amsterdam, Leipzig, and Berlin - or his many recordings - have provided a platform for his wide-ranging musical sympathies.

James Lisney

Local author Alex Grant talks about his new book which sheds new light on a Soviet spy scandal that rocked early 1960s Britain. John Vassall, an Admiralty clerk, was photographed in compromising positions while working at the British embassy in Moscow in 1954, and then blackmailed into handing over defence secrets to his Soviet handlers for more than seven years.

Sex, Spies and Scandal: The John Vassall Affair

The French novelist Henry de Montherlant said that “happiness writes white” but Wright’s not exactly starting with a blank page. With a mix of the of the comic and the wistful, JOY takes in consumerism, boozing, cancer scares, abseiling vicars, and the joy of language itself. We might have to go down to come up, but we’ll get there in the end. Come let a little joy into your life with a raconteur and wordsmith at the top of his game.

Luke Wright: Joy!

Stamford’s popular community choir, Woven Chords, will be back on stage on Thursday 19th December in the Stamford Arts Centre ballroom.

Woven Chords Winter Concert 2024

Mother Goose’s heart may be full but her purse certainly isn’t – she’s behind on her rent, in danger of eviction and dare we mention those rising energy bills? However, her fate is about to change when a magical goose that lays golden eggs mysteriously appears in town. The goose may be the answer to her financial woes but Mother Goose is not completely happy as her family and friends still make fun of her. Can she be tempted to give up her wealth in search of youth and beauty?

Mother Goose - Pantomime

The Albion Christmas Band are widely regarded as the premier seasonal show, which has been touring for 25 years this year, and attracts sell-out audiences across the UK. Indeed, many people say that their Christmas doesn’t start until they have seen The Albion Christmas Band.

Albion Xmas Band 2024

Join us on the evening of December 21st for an evening of spectacular music and festive cheer at Stamford Arts Centre Ballroom with a seasonal concert featuring the internationally acclaimed violinist Freya Goldmark.

SIMFestival Presents: Vivaldi Four Seasons & More

Join us for some cheer on a cold winter’s evening – Haydn’s tuneful and inspiring Farewell Symphony, Reinecke’s wonderful Serenade for Strings, Enescu’s sensational Decet for Winds, and a new composition from our composer-in-residence, George Brown.

Winter Warmers With SCO

February 2024 saw the release of Katherine Priddy’s eagerly awaited second album: The Pendulum Swing. Greeted by critical acclaim in the press including MOJO who called it “simply brilliant”, the album landed at #1 in the official UK Folk Charts. It saw the likes of Iggy Pop, Guy Garvey, Craig Charles, Mark Radcliffe and Gideon Coe giving it a spin whilst RTE in Ireland added tracks to their recommendations list for 3 weeks running.

Stamford Arts Centre

Dec 19, 2024

Woven Chords Winter Concert 2024

19 - 24 Dec, 2024

Mother Goose - Pantomime

Dec 20, 2024

Albion Xmas Band 2024

Dec 21, 2024

SIMFestival Presents: Vivaldi Four Seasons & More

Jan 25, 2025

Winter Warmers With SCO

13 - 14 Dec, 2024

A Christmas Carol

Dec 13, 2024

Ben Martin Quartet ft. Eliot Richards - Jazz In The Cellar Bar

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Stamford Arts Centre