Leading Cellist Streamed Live to Audiences’ Homes

Audiences are invited to a livestream of Sunday afternoon of classical music on 20th June at 3pm performed live from the Wesley Centre in the Yorkshire market town, Malton.

Leading cellist, Doug Badger, promises to transport listeners for a perfect Sunday afternoon of entertainment.

The unique programme features Bach’s Suite no.1, which has been hailed as a fitting piece of music during COVID-19, as it inspires a message of hope and rebuilding. The piece was famously played in Christchurch New Zealand to give comfort to the city after it was hit by the 2011 earthquake.

Doug said: “Bach’s beautiful prelude has been praised for offering hope and comfort as people turn to music during the uncertainty and loss caused by coronavirus. It’s a beautiful piece. Alongside Bach, I plan to play the Cello Suite by Yorkshire composer, Ben Crick, which provides a nice contrast and adds a lot of fun.”

Ben Crick is the conductor of the Skipton Camerata, where Doug is also Principal Cellist. Crick recently co-founded the newly reformed Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra, put together to help struggling northern musicians hit hard by the pandemic.

Doug added: “It’s been an incredibly hard year for musicians unable to play, and for audiences unable to attend live concerts. This concert offers a welcome celebratory return to live music, with a programme that offers comfort and joy, in the beautiful surrounds of the Wesley Centre.”

Doug will also play J S Bach Suite no.3, alongside the work of British composer Sally Beamish, with her pieces The Wise Maid and Gala Water, influenced by Scottish-folk.

Doug was born in Edinburgh, where he learnt cello from the age of 11 with the renowned Scottish teacher, Eleanor Gregorson MBE. He went on to study at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, the University of York, and the Royal Northern College of Music.

His career has seen him feature regularly as a soloist, as well as play with ensembles and orchestras throughout the UK, including the BBC Philharmonic and Opera North.

The livestream event will take place on The Wesley Centre YouTube page on Sunday 20 June at 3pm.

Thanks to a major grant from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund for heritage, the Wesley Centre now benefits from the installation of a multi-camera digital TV system, which is able to produce broadcast-quality live streamed events.

A ‘pay as you feel’ concert, audience members are asked to kindly donate to the Wesley Centre before, during, or after the concert here: https://www.maltonwesleycentre.org/donate/become-a-friend2/5/credit-card

Paul Emberley, Project Lead at the Wesley Centre, said: “We’re thrilled to be welcoming Doug as a hugely talented soloist in this special celebratory concert. It’s also a chance to show off the incredible acoustics of the Wesley Centre, and build our profile as a go-to concert venue for classical music lovers.”

The Wesley Centre is a historic and iconic landmark in the heart of Malton of national importance, as the oldest surviving Reverend William Jenkins-designed chapel in Britain. The building is undergoing a major transformation into a new community-hub with café, and vibrant state-of-the-art 550-seater concert venue.

Before COVID, the centre hosted major names from the classical music world, including Julian Lloyd Webber and Lesley Garrett.

The event is accessible to all, and will be professionally filmed and live streamed via the Wesley Centre YouTube channel. Listeners just need to click on the link to access the concert in real-time.

The concert will begin at 3pm on Sunday 20 June.

To set a diary reminder for the concert, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJCCmEB36qI