JAM on the Marsh celebrates its 10th anniversary!
From 4-16 July, this exciting multi-arts festival returns to Kent’s atmospheric Romney Marsh, only one hour from London St Pancras including a Festival Shuttle Bus from Ashford International Station. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, JAM on the Marsh invites audiences to engage with some of the biggest names in jazz, classical music, opera, theatre and the visual arts.
Kent’s renowned outdoor company Changeling Theatre will entertain festival audiences with a performance of Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost and Sheridan’s School for a Scandal. In a special collaboration celebrating the ongoing relationship between two of the county’s finest art organisations, both plays feature music by Kent-born composer James Aburn, commissioned by JAM.
Join international and national stars over a two-week period of unmissable events: acclaimed pianist and singer Joe Stilgoe entertains with his toe-tapping jazz; one of the world’s finest classical guitarists Craig Ogden performs in one of the most intimate churches of the Marsh; the Kent-based, but UK-celebrated Sacconi Quartet is joined by the outstanding pianist Anna Tilbrook for a concert of Schubert’s ever-popular Trout Quintet.
An unforgettable experience will be the premiere of Richard Peat and Tim Knapman’s The Sky Engine, a new Community Oratorio. Over 100 amateur musicians and singers from the area will join internationally renowned performers to shine a light on one of the most pressing issues of our time: climate change. Children from two Romney Marsh schools and community players will perform alongside Canterbury Cathedral Choir, the London Mozart Players, opera singers Rebecca Afowny-Jones and Julian Close, actor Kudzanayi Chiwawa and conductor Michael Bawtree.
Further highlights include A Day in Paris presenting some of the greatest French music of the 20th Century with sought-after mezzo-soprano Hanna Hipp, pianists Cyrill Ibrahim and John Frederick Hudson; a lunch and concert celebrating former Kent resident, the infamous Noël Coward, presented by biographer Oliver Soden and multi-talented tenor Nicky Spence; the UK debut of the renowned Delaware Choral Scholars bringing an international flavour to the festival with a choral programme spanning the continents, and a jubilant finale with Sounds Baroque.
Award-winning photographer Wendy Carrig’s thought-provoking exhibition provides an example of the influence of humankind on nature. The striking photographs of Washed Up show items found on the beaches from Dungeness to Dymchurch. This is one of four exhibitions, all free to visit, putting local artists in the spotlight: John Ballard’s Turning Tides shows large-scale paintings inspired by the Kent coastline; Penny Graham’s Raku-fired pottery depicts Earth from Earth, inspired by images from the International Space Station; France Tetreault displays three large abstract canvases inspired by Debussy, Messiaen and Stravinsky, performed in A Day in Paris. Throughout JAM on the Marsh audience members can purchase sections of France’s artwork, which will be cut from the canvases on the final Sunday.
As in previous years, the festival will unfold in a variety of venues from Hythe to Dungeness; in the famous mediaeval churches and local gardens to steam railway carriages; bringing the arts to unexpected places.
From intimate solo performances to large-scale choral and orchestral concerts celebrating local talent; from family-friendly theatre to inspirational exhibitions – JAM on the Marsh offers something for every taste.