Event type: Performance

Family Concert: Spooktacular!

Sunday 26 October 2025 2:30pm

Programme to include: ‘This is Halloween’ from The Nightmare Before Christmas‘Remember Me’ from CocoTheme from The Addams FamilySaint-Saëns Danse Macabre Mussorgsky The Gnome

Alasdair Malloy presenterMatthew Lynch conductor

Witches, vampires, ghosts and ghouls – they’re all here at the Hall this Halloween! In this fa-boo-lous family concert, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra take on the spooky and the spine-chilling, performing haunting music from your favourite films and television, as well as creepy classics by Mussorgsky, Saint-Saëns, Leroy Anderson and more. So come along in your most devilish disguise and settle in for a journey of musical mystery – it’s guaranteed to give you goosebumps…

Family concerts are designed for 5-10 year olds, but all the family are welcome!

 

 

Under-5s Concerts: Prehistoric Party

Tuesday 19 May, 1pm & 2.45pm

We’re heading back through the musical mists of time to meet everyone’s favourite prehistoric pals… Together with presenter Claire Henry and musicians from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, we’ll discover the dinosaurs that walked the Earth millions of years ago – and there’ll be lots of roarsome musical fun along the way!

Tickets for under-6 months are free but must be booked in advance with an adult ticket.

Queen By Candlelight

Direct from Carnegie Hall, New York and following a run of sell-out shows across the UK and Australia, join us for an incredible night of Queen Anthems, performed at the beautiful M&S Bank Arena, by candlelight.

Featuring a spectacular cast of West End Singers, accompanied by an epic live rock band, experience Queen as you have never heard them before.Featuring some of the most iconic songs of all time, including Bohemian Rhapsody, It’s a Kind of Magic, We Are The Champions, Who Wants to Live Forever and many more!The Show Must Go On! So, join us for this unforgettable experience guaranteed to Rock You!

Myra Dubois: Cosmic Empath

After a barnstorming 2024 which saw Myra sell-out venues across the UK and Ireland with her critically acclaimed show ‘Be Well’, registered empath MYRA DUBOIS returns to the stage with her brand-new show “COSMIC EMPATH’.

The empath strikes BACK! Boldly caring where compassion has never cared before. An adventure giving you time (and space) to heal. When questioned on her upcoming tour, Ms DuBois stated:

“Most people would spend some time idling on the shores of some far off semi-private island after enduring the workload 2024 dumped on my plate, but not me! How could I desert my public, right as I need them most? I’ve consulted my own wellness guide, the very Reverend Dr Guru Malcolm, and he tells me that right now every star of the cosmos is looking at me with expectation. My new show COSMIC EMPATH” shan’t let them down!”

Cosmic Empath sees Myra DuBois questioning where her great gift for compassion comes from. Her up-bringing? Her ancestors? The COSMOS? Who can say? All we know is that with Myra’s trademark killer wit and a singing voice that’s truly like no-one else’s, it’s going to be out of this world!

Written by Gareth JoynerDirected by John-Luke RobertsMyra DuBois & Frank Lavender performed by arrangement with Gareth Joyner

 
 

Mona and Mimi

7:30PM
Mona and Mimi is set over one evening in December 1961, a time of great social change “between the end of the Chatterley ban and the Beatles’ first LP”. The play presents a fictionalised encounter between two real women, Mona Best and Mimi Smith, who couldn’t be more unalike, with Mimi stuck in the the past and Mona embracing the future. Initially all they seem to have in common is that their boys play together in a Liverpool beat group. However, as the play develops, parallels between the two women emerge as both grapple with their personal struggles and the sacrifices inherent in raising a child.

 

Mona Best, mother of the group’s drummer Pete, is an unconventional woman. She has started a lucrative rock and roll club in the basement of her home and is at this point informally managing the group. Into her life storms Mimi Smith, aunt and guardian of John, the group’s guitarist and singer. Mimi is relentless in her determination to thwart her nephew’s dream to make it as a musician, an ambition she views with undisguised contempt. She goes to Mona’s house to thwart the signing of a contract with a local music entrepreneur, unaware of Mona’s role in nurturing the band.

 

Mona & Mimi is the first full length play by Catherine Leen (Bright Sparks) and is directed by Nick Bagnall. Mimi is played by Meriel Scholfield, Mona by Fiona Boylan and Neil by Noah Fox.

 

‘A pity beyond all telling is hid in the heart of love’  – WB Yeats

 

List of team and cast:
Nick Bagnall – Director
Meriel Scholfield – Mimi
Fiona Boylan – Mona
Noah Fox – Neil
Catherine Leen – Writer/Producer
Xenia Bayer – Lighting & Sound Designer

 

@monaandmimi

Ryosuke Kiyasu (snare drum performance)

WYRM in association with QUARRY is pleased to present a performance from legendary Japanese snare drum artist RYOSUKE KIYASU. This performance will take place at Metal, located at Edge Hill Station, Liverpool.

Ryosuke Kiyasu has been active as a snare drum soloist since 2003 and is also known as a drummer in “SETE STAR SEPT”, “Kiyasu Orchestra”, Mr. Keiji Haino’s band “Fushitsusha”. He is also known as a founding member of The Endless Blockade in Canada.

His solo performances have been featured on BBC News (UK national broadcaster) and VICE Magazine, His performance in Berlin in 2018 was a big hit on social media with over 23 million views.

In 2022-2023, the world’s largest classical percussion festival “Überschlag Festival”, “Dr. Martens Fest 23”, “Outsider Art Festival” in Finland, and “Alternativa Festival” in the Czech Republic. He continues to travel around the world and perform in various places.

In 2023, at the Edinburgh Art Festival in England, a short movie of his snare drum performance by a British director was shown as an exhibition and became a topic of conversation.

He also released a collaborative work with the Swedish apparel brand “Our Legacy”. He has released more than 200 albums, both solo and with his band.

The Sound of Julie Andrews

 

Featuring songs including: ‘I Could Have Danced All Night’, ‘Feed the Birds’, ‘Climb Ev’ry Mountain’, ‘Wouldn’t It Be Loverly’, ‘Do-Re-Mi’, ‘Let’s Go Fly A Kite’ and more!

Performers:

Richard Balcombe conductor

Graham Bickley, Katie Birtill and Kelly Mathieson vocalists

Julie Andrews’ career has spanned eight decades on the stage and screen, and along the way she’s starred in some of the world’s favourite films and musicals, created some of cinema’s most iconic characters, and earned an enviable collection of Hollywood’s greatest awards. Now, as this practically perfect national treasure celebrates her 90th birthday, the Orchestra and acclaimed vocalists bring you a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious evening of beloved songs from Mary Poppins, The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady and more.

 

Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

 

Programme:

Butterworth A Shropshire Lad

Mark Simpson Hold Your Heart in Your Teeth, Concerto for viola and orchestra (UK premiere)

Graham Fitkin Metal

Debussy (arr. Wood) La cathédrale engloutie

Mussorgsky (arr. Wood) Pictures at an Exhibition

Performers:

Andrew Manze conductor

Timothy Ridout viola

Mists swirl over the Welsh borders, a drowned cathedral rises glistening from the deep, and in fairytale Russia, we hear sounds of immortal triumph. That’s just part of the journey that Principal Guest Conductor Andrew Manze has in store for us tonight – including a spectacular, rarely-heard version of Pictures at an Exhibition by the renowned Sir Henry Wood, featuring every one of the Orchestra’s famous collection of church bells. Liverpool composer and Artist in Residence Mark Simpson has some new stories of his own in a Merseyside debut for viola virtuoso Timothy Ridout and a UK premiere for the piece.

There will be a post-concert Question Time that starts 15 minutes after the concert ends (in the Music Room) with conductor Andrew Manze and viola player Timothy Ridout.

 

Emerging Musicians Fellowship Chamber Concert

 

Our 2024-25 Fellowship Musicians, Daniel Lewis (violin), Emily Ambrose (bassoon), Emily Douglas (French horn) and Imogen Timmins (trumpet) take to the Music Room stage with members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra for a short chamber performance marking the end of their year-long Fellowship with us.

This pre-concert performance will last for approximately 45 minutes and will be followed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition concert in Liverpool Philharmonic Hall at 7.30pm.

To find out more about the Emerging Musicians Fellowship, please visit Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Emerging Musicians Fellowship

 

Please note that this event is free, but tickets must be booked in advance.

 

 

 

Kelsey Thomas Song Recital

 

Programme:

Debussy Songs: Mandoline; Les Cloches; Beau Soir; Fantoches

Poulenc Les chemins de l’amour

Wolf Nein, junger Herr; Mein Liebster ist so klein; Man sagt mir, deine Mutter woll’ es nicht; Mein Liebster hat zu Tische mich geladen; Schweig’ einmal still; Ich hab’ in Penna einen Liebsten wohnen

Rachmaninov Songs Op.8: The Waterlily; Child you are as beautiful as a flower; Brooding; The soldier’s wife; A dream; A prayer

Rachmaninov Romances for piano Op.21 No.7 & No.9

Rossini Two songs from La Regata Veneziana

Massenet Adieu, notre petite table

Performers:

Kelsey Thomas soprano

Edward Lloyd piano

Soprano Kelsey Thomas makes her Liverpool Philharmonic debut with a concert featuring sumptuous songs by Hugo Wolf and French works by Debussy and Poulenc, through to ravishing Russian and Italian songs to spice up your lunchtime. Originally from Liverpool, Kelsey studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and returns home to open our 2025/26 Lunchtime series.