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Welcome autumn!

As it appears in Portsmouth View, November 2016
 
Welcome autumn; Guns N’ Roses November Rain was playing and the weather turned cold and wet when I wrote this.
 
As it gets darker, I hope readers won’t stay indoors too much. There are comedy and theatre shows, as well as concerts in the many venues around the city to enjoy.
 
The second chamber music concert by the Van Kuijk Quartet at the Guildhall was a reminder of how thrilling watching a live concert can be.
 
It was also amazing to hear such world class musicians in Portsmouth. The next concert will be on 30 January with Ensemble 360.
 
This was a very musical week with Dr George Burrows Head of the Centre for Performing Arts giving a talk about Monteverdi’s opera Ulysses’ Homecoming at the New Theatre Royal on Tuesday night.
 
The next day, Dr Burrows launched the exhibition of Messiah and Portsmouth: Then and Now at the Guildhall, which outlines the research he has been doing for a special performance of the Messiah in March 2017.
 
Then on Friday, Colin Jagger launched his critical edition of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Yeomen of the Guard in Blackwell’s Bookshop.
 
Colin had spent six years researching and putting together this edition from the original performance in 1888.
 
This is Oxford University Press's largest music publication in over 15 years. It has already drawn the attention of BBC Radio 4's Today Programme, and promises to become the standard edition of Gilbert and Sullivan's finest work.

On Monday 14 November the King’s Theatre will host the Dirty Dancing Musical. So put on your dancing shoes and sense of fun for the time of your life.
 
Local businesses will get together on 15 November for the biggest ever networking event hosted in the Portsmouth Business School and organised by Amy Doyle, herself an award-winning entrepreneur.
 
Portsmouth DarkFest, a spin-off from the University of Portsmouth-led Supernatural Cities project, continues with the multi-art celebration at venues across Portsmouth throughout November.
 
Professor Jo Scurr will lead a discussion on breast health during the next Café Scientifique on 22 November at Le Café Parisien.
 
On Saturday 26 November the University of Portsmouth Orchestra and Big Band will hold their autumn concert at the King’s Church in Somerstown. This is followed by a Choral Sing-Out at St John’s Cathedral on Saturday 3 December with music for everyone.
 
The University carol service on 12 December ushers in the festive season.

 
 

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