PRESS RELEASE April 2012 For Immediate Release

Ute Lemper and Angelique Kidjo to perform at RNCM

Ute Lemper: Thursday 3 May (£17.50) Angelique Kidjo: Wednesday 16 May (£20, £15) 7.30pm RNCM Theatre Box Office: 0161 907 5555

Legendary cabaret singer Ute Lemper and Grammy Award-winning African sensation Angelique Kidjo both perform at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester next month.

Described by the New York Times as a singer who simply makes ‘beautiful music’, Lemper is widely recognised as one of the world’s greatest cabaret stars and is universally praised for her interpretations of Berlin cabaret songs, the works of Kurt Weill and Berthold Brecht and the French chanson book.

On Thursday 3 May she turns her attention to the tango and the music of Astor Piazzolla when she presents Last Tango in Berlin, a show focusing on some of his most dramatic and sensual songs about love, life, death, fatality, passion and survival in Buenos Aires. Joined on stage by pianist Vana Gierig and bandoneon player Hector Castro, Lemper takes the audience on an intimate journey of music-making, travelling through the dark alleys of Berlin, Paris and New York, drawing in evocative tangos from the pens of Weill and Jacques Brel along the way.

Less than two weeks later the RNCM is delighted to welcome African singer Angelique Kidjo prior to her appearance at the BT River of Music Festival in London this July.

A Grammy Award-winner and one of Africa’s most powerful and charismatic stars, Kidjo is renowned for her driving dance rhythms, passionate political lyrics and extraordinary stage presence. Through her recordings, tours, philanthropic work and numerous collaborations with singers such as Alicia Keys, Bono, John Legend and Dianne Reeves, her fans stretch worldwide as she blends melodies from her traditional Benin roots, rhythm and blues, soul music and jazz. For her performance at the RNCM, which forms part of the We Face Forward season dedicated to contemporary art and music from West Africa celebrated throughout Manchester, Kidjo will be joined by the Manchester World Voices Choir; a new chorus drawn together to perform a number of her songs, including Agola and Fifa.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, contact Liz Rowley, PR and Media Relations Officer, on 0161 907 5369 or email [email protected]

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Notes to Editors

- Angelique Kidjo featuring the Manchester World Voices Choir is produced by Serious and the RNCM as part of an ongoing participatory programme linked to BT River of Music, a spectacular weekend of free music from across the 205 Olympic and Paralympic nations, presented at iconic sites along the River Thames on 21-22 July 2012. BT River of Music is supported by National Lottery funds through the Olympic Lottery Distributor and Arts Council England. It is part of the London 2012 Festival.