News from the Hope Street Association, Liverpool UK

HOPES: The Hope Street Association marks the thirtieth anniversary of the inaugural Hope Street Festival with a HOTFOOT 2007 concert offering many elements of previous such events. Tayo Aluko, Tony Burrage, Richard Gordon-Smith, Sarah Helsby-Hughes, Hughie Jones, Roger Phillips and Surinder Sandhu join children from Merseyside schools and the stalwart HOPES Festival Orchestra and Choir for an event not be missed.

The first Hope Street Festival took place in 1977, when Her Majesty the Queen visited Liverpool as part of her Silver Jubilee tour. There was another Festival in 1980 and then no more until HOPES: The Hope Street Association was able to resurrect the event in 1996. HOPES, with support from the Liverpool Culture Company and the Community Foundation for Merseyside, has chosen to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the inaugural Hope Street Festival with a HOTFOOT 2007 concert which incorporates many of the elements of previous such events.

Sunday 22 July 2007 @ 7 pm (please note time),
Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street, L1 9BP

Surinder Sandhu and the Saurang soloists
returning to HOPES to perform music by Surinder Sandhu (orchestrated by Richard Gordon-Smith) with the HOPES Festival Orchestra

Songs of the Sea with Hughie Jones & Friends
featuring some of the performers who made the Mersey Shanty Festival an international success, singing shanties and sea songs from the days of the great sailing ships - the other music that Liverpool gave to the world a century before the Mersey Sound !

HOPES Festival Orchestra
performs Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Petite Suite de Concert

Sarah Helsby-Hughes (soprano) & Tayo Aluko (baritone) join the HOPES Festival Orchestra for Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ and other songs from Porgy & Bess

Children from Merseyside schools, with the HOPES Orchestra, performLiverpool First and Last which they have themselves devised for HOPES with Richard Gordon-Smith & Tony Burrage, now arranged, orchestrated and conducted by Richard Gordon-Smith

Grand finale where the entire company performs HOPES’ Song for Liverpool, ‘Light Up The City' (from Cool Street) by Richard Gordon-Smith.

Exhibition
* We are delighted that the National Trust / Chambre Hardman have also agreed to put on an exhibition in the foyer of the Phil Hall on the day. (HOPES was a major advocate of 'saving' the Chambre Hardman House, at 59 Rodnet Street, Liverpool.)

Tickets for the show
Sun 22 July, 7 pm [ note start time]
are now available from the Phil Box office: 0151-709 3789
or via the Liverpool Philharmonic website
at £7, £9 & £11 (£5 children).

And, finally……If you would like to be involved in this concert, as a performer, singer or sponsor / raffle donor please contact us a.s.a.p. on hope.street@btconnect.com. Thank you!

HOPES is grateful to The Liverpool Cuture Company and The Community Foundation for Merseyside, both of which generously provided grant-aid for this concert.

EVERY Merseyside resident is to be offered an official European Capital of Culture membership card that will grant them special privileges as the city gears up for 2008

The FREE 08 Card will entitle people to benefits including free travel, special offers on theatre tickets and free children’s entry to attractions.

The card is being launched by a partnership involving Liverpool Culture Company, transport authority Merseytravel and Liverpool lifestyle smartcard specialist Livesmart.

Once residents have received their card, they simply have to activate it by either registering on a website – www.08card.co.uk - or phoning a special telephone number – 0845 271 0808. They will then be able to take up the special offers.

Organisers say the 08 Card is the first of its kind in the UK, giving special privileges to local people and enabling them to share the wider cultural experience that is today’s modern Liverpool.

Free travel on the S2 and S3 city centre bus routes
Advance ticket notification and special offers on 08 events and shows
Two for one travel on the Merseyrail network after 6pm on Thursdays
Free child admission to Spaceport, Seacombe Aquarium and the Mersey Ferry before noon
Special ticket offers and competitions for five of Liverpool’s best loved show venues, the Empire Theatre, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Royal Court Theatre, Playhouse and Everyman
And, as it moves closer to opening, the Liverpool Echo Arena will offer 08 card holders access to information on concerts and events as well as ticket deals and discounts.

Those who have activated their card will also get the chance to win unique VIP prizes on an ongoing basis.

The first prizes on offer, which will be awarded next week, are VIP packages for the Matthew Street Festival and Summer Pops.

Further prizes, such as a VIP lunch on board the QE2, will be awarded every month throughout the year.

One of the key benefits card-holders will enjoy is to receive regular updates, including a monthly email, quarterly newsletter and regular SMS messages, about events in the city and special card-holder offers.
To order a card visit www.08card.co.uk

HOTFOOT 2007

Sunday 22 July, 7 pm, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall