Described by Bono as 'the Noel Coward of our generation’, the singer and songwriter Kirsty MacColl would have turned 65 this year had her life not been tragically cut short in December 2000. Signed at the age of just 19 after being the backing singer for a failed punk band, Kirsty went on to write and record songs that spanned genres, including rockabilly, pop and South American. She had hits like A New England and Days and sang a key part in one of the nation’s favourite Christmas songs, Fairytale of New York. Respected by those who worked alongside her, including Billy Bragg, Johnny Marr, Jools Holland and many others, she has left a legacy that is still valued today. This programme brings together performances that highlight the wit and intelligence of this unique performer
After a celebrated career as a composer of lighthearted operetta, Jacques Offenbach turned his hand to more serious fare—only to die before his one true opera was completed. That work, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, was based on a play that strung together a collection of stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann and cast the famed poet as the protagonist of his own tales. In this performance from the 2024–25 Live in HD season, French tenor Benjamin Bernheim stars as Hoffmann, four times unlucky in love. Alongside him as the objects of his affections, soprano Erin Morley is the high-flying automaton Olympia, mezzo-soprano Clémentine Margaine is the Venetian courtesan Giulietta, and soprano Pretty Yende is both the diva Stella and the ill-fated songstress Antonia. Bass-baritone Christian Van Horn portrays the four nefarious Villains who outwit Hoffmann at every turn, and mezzo-soprano Vasilisa Berzhanskaya is Hoffmann’s Muse and his companion Nicklausse, conducted by Marco Armiliato.
Stephen Sanchez performed at the 2024 Austin City Limits Music Festival, captivating audiences with his vintage-inspired sound and charismatic stage presence. He channelled classic crooners like Roy Orbison, transporting the crowd to a bygone era. While he was scheduled to perform during Weekend 2, he unfortunately had to cancel his performance on Friday, October 11th, due to illness.
A voiceover telling of how Jenny came to adopt her pet budgie, Banana, paired with various types of 2d animation. She details how much she's meant to her over the years with both the story and an original song.
Dhunu, now in her late teens, still climbs trees, swims, and most importantly, dreams of continuing her childhood life as a guitarist in her rock band. However, life does not unfold as Dhunu wishes. As she faces the bitter and sour moments of life, she stands on the threshold of leaving her once-happy childhood behind.
Pepe Willberg has travelled a winding road to this day, to the hearts of Finns and unlikely stardom. What has it all been like for a man who, in the beginning, sang only on condition that the lights in the hall were turned off? Written and directed by Severi Koivusalo, PEPE is a musical documentary about a talented musician with a unique voice, who struggles to balance his popularity with his passion for music, whose iconic songs have been playing in the background of Finnish life through seven different decades.
On the last days of soul in Rio de Janeiro — Groove is everywhere in the night —, and Carlos and Tony have unfinished business. A tribute to Blaxploitation, the queer horror jam “His Body” chronicles the supernatural meeting of two ex-lovers on a night packed with soul music in the 1970s’ Rio de Janeiro.
The film tells the story of the evolution of rave music and subculture in Poland. Two young ravers will guide us through this world: Marysia and Janusz, along with Marcello Zamenhoff – a performance artist and one of the pioneers of Polish rave. The basic question the characters are hoping to answer is will the young generation be able to reconcile the Polish techno scene, which has stayed class-divided since its very beginnings in the ‘90s.
An endearingly nostalgic exploration of the defiant Vietnamese new wave music scene, as well as a vulnerable and personal look at the filmmaker and her community’s revisiting of their unexamined past.
Join Bella, Ruby, Poppy, Sunny, Jade, Skyler, Violet and Amaya as they journey to a magical, hidden world called Rainbow World. Here, students not only learn how to hone their skills and shine brighter together, but how to use them to help others.
In the summer of 2023, the band Element of Crime will embark on a week-long tour of Berlin - not just a tour of various concert venues, but also a journey through their own stories and memories, a homage to their city.