On Saturday 29 February 2020, Steinway pianist and singer Dominic Ferris will return to his alma mater, Hurstpierpoint College in Hassocks, to perform his show Dominic Ferris: Live at Hurst! in the school's newly refurbished theatre. Dominic will be joined by two special guest singers, Richard Hadfield and Martin Milnes, as well as some of the college's current talented music students.
All profits from the event, which is organised by Lewes Barbican Rotary Club, will be donated to St Peter & St James Hospice and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.
In his early years,
Dominic Ferris attended St Christopher's School in Hove, where he was mentored by organist and choirmaster, Michael Maine. He attended Hurstpierpoint College from 1999-2004, receiving a music scholarship and studying piano with the late Nicholas Searls. Dominic then went on to study piano performance at the Royal College of Music in London.
Dominic is now an internationally acclaimed pianist whose recordings with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra have sold over 3 million albums worldwide. He has performed on, and provided orchestrations for, six top ten albums, all recorded at Abbey Road Studios. He has collaborated with
Michael Ball and
Alfie Boe, and is currently working with Dame
Shirley Bassey. Dominic joined the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra as assistant musical director and pianist for the
Elvis Presley: If I Can Dream UK arena tour and Memphis Symphony Orchestra for the USA anniversary tour, with a performance at Graceland with
Priscilla Presley for the Elvis 40th Anniversary Celebrations. Dominic regularly tours internationally with Elwin Hendrijanto as The Piano Brothers. Endorsed by Steinway & Sons, this cutting-edge live act creates their own arrangements for two pianos, leading to an album collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra and a performance on Friday Night Is Music Night for BBC Radio 2 with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Richard Hadfield is also an ex-student of Hurstpierpoint College (2007-2012), who found fame winning the ITV television show Britain's Got Talent with musical theatre vocal group Collabro. Richard has transitioned to a successful solo career touring the world's most prestigious jazz clubs.
Martin Milnes has appeared in musical theatre and opera in the West End and around the UK, specialising in the tenor and patter roles of Gilbert & Sullivan. Together with
Dominic Ferris, he forms the musical theatre double act Ferris & Milnes. They are best known for their mashup medleys including 33 Sondheim Numbers in 5 Minutes, which they premiered at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane during
Stephen Sondheim's 85th Birthday Gala. They performed their debut West End show at
Ambassadors Theatre and premiered 30 Gershwin Numbers in Under 6 Minutes, at the Lincoln Center in New York.
Martin Milnes will join Dominic at Live At Hurst to perform some classic Ferris & Milnes mashup medleys including The Entire Score of West Side Story in 8 Minutes.
Dominic Ferris said: "Sixteen years after leaving Hurst, I am really looking forward to returning to the college's brand new theatre to perform this special fundraising concert. I've chosen to include some of the music that I learned whilst studying under the tuition of the late Nicholas Searls - he was such a wonderful mentor to me whilst at Hurst. In addition, I'll be performing music by some of my other musical influences from
Elton John to
George Gershwin. In my final year at Hurst I performed Gershwin's Rhapsody In Blue with the school orchestra, so I'm sure I'll revisit this at some point during the evening!"
Tickets are now on sale online from
https://www.wegottickets.com/event/484882; by telephone booking line: 01273 470027 or by email to
don@lewesbarbicanrotary.co.uk. Tickets are £20 (booking fee may apply).
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