Curtains open on a new act

The Grand Pavilion, in Matlock Bath, will host the New Georgian Opera company has it presents A Night at the Opera.

The evening will raise money for the landmark building and the Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust.

Gregor Macgregor, of The Grand Pavilion group, which runs the building, said he thought it might be the first time classical music has been played in the venue for about 30 years.

“What we have got is an enormous range of music, from classical music with A Night at the Opera, then we have a Rat Pack evening and a Led Zeppellin tribute,” he added.

He said the group is working hard to raise the profile of the Pavilion, and this year will host a number of different events including Derbyshire Open Arts and the Matlock Bath Adventure Film Festival.

“We have printed a brochure of our upcoming events and plan to deliver it to 10,000 homes throughout the area,” Gregor added.

He said renovations and decoration had been carried out throughout the Pavilion and the group was setting its sights on getting some heating and a lift.

The evening of opera features lyric spinto soprano Meeta Raval, countertenor Oliver Gerrish, who comes from Bonsall originally. The pair decided to perform at the Pavilion in a show of support for the cause.

The evening will also feature tenor John Pierce and pianist Kelvin Lim.

The Derbyshire Historic Buildings Trust was established as a charity to protect neglected historic buildings, in and around Derbyshire, which helps to save buildings that would be in danger of decay or demolition, and works to modernise them.