Chester Lantern Parades

20th November 2008

7pm on Thursday 20 November 2008
AND
7pm on Thursday 27 November 2008

The Lantern Parade will be themed around the Italian Renaissance, with masques, costumes and ornate horn-shaped lanterns. This year, as part of the Chester Festivals Education Programme, musicians from Manchester Camerata, the chamber orchestra in residence at the Bridgewater Hall, will work with young players from Cheshire Youth Orchestra to provide an all new musical element to this wonderful seasonal procession.

In keeping with the Renaissance theme, professional Camerata brass players, including second trumpet Helen Quayle, and her young band of musicians will play some 16 Century brass compositions, with musicians positioned facing one another on either side of Chester’s historic Rows. A dramatic stereo effect will be achieved as the musicians play in an antiphonal fashion, first from the left with a musical response coming from the right. This will provide a wonderful mediaeval musical accompaniment as a river of light flows through Chester at this special time of year.

This annual celebration of light and sound sets off from Chester Cathedral at 7pm and each procession lasts about 30mins.

The Manchester Camerata/Cheshire Youth Orchestra element of the Lantern Parade is supported by the Bank of America Foundation as part of the orchestra’s year-long learning residency in Chester.