Ellis and May Lead ANTHEM: THE CONCERT

Queen legend Brian May and West End and Broadway singing sensation Kerry Ellis are to perform the live version of their hit album, ANTHEMS, in a special Royal Albert Hall concert next Spring on the May Bank Holiday Sunday after the Royal Wedding.

ANTHEMS: The Concert, scheduled for Sunday May 1, 2011, will present Brian May and Kerry Ellis in concert accompanied by the City of London Philharmonic, The Anthems Ensemble, The West End Chorus and Dancers making this a truly spectacular one-off event.

ANTHEMS: The Concert follows a series of acclaimed performances together: Kerry and Brian stole the show when they performed together at the Royal Variety Show in 2008, they performed live together again at the BBC Proms in the Park and at this year's The Night of 1000 Voices, and most recently opened the Remembrance Day concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Brian May says: "From the moment I first heard Kerry sing, I was entranced, and felt the conviction that I would one day make an album with her. The conviction never left me. The hard thing was to find the right medium to harness that amazing voice - the material and arrangements had to be worthy, and a musical style evolved to capture her unique magic. ANTHEMS: The Concert will show what we've created together, a style that defines a new form of music - a kind of Anthemic-Orchestral-Rock-Musical-Theatre Fusion."

ANTHEMS: The Concert will be produced and directed by Hugh Wooldridge who has presented THE NIGHT OF 1000 VOICES at the Royal Albert Hall on the May Bank Holiday Sundays over the past eleven years (with the exception of 2008 when he presented with Tim Rice the phenomenally successful CHESS IN CONCERT). Wooldridge says ‘It's a great pleasure to work with these huge talents whilst raising funds for a truly deserving charity'.

LEUKAEMIA & LYMPHOMA RESEARCH is the UK's leading blood cancers charity. It is dedicated to saving lives through research into better treatments and cures for leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. The charity receives no government funding and relies entirely on people coming together to fundraise. Cathy Gilman, Chief Executive, says: "Since 1960, Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research has invested in world-class research and survival rates have increased dramatically for patients with leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. However, there's still a long way to go and money raised from ANTHEMS: The Concert will help us get closer to a cure. After the success of their performance at THE NIGHT OF 1000 VOICES in 2010, we are delighted that Kerry and Brian supported by Adam are reuniting to raise much-needed funds on our behalf."

Listings:

ANTHEMS: The Concert
Sunday May 1, 2011
ROYAL Albert Hall, LONDON
Performance time - 8.00pm
Tickets available from £17.50 - £72.50
Royal Albert Hall Box Office - 020 7589 8212
Gala Tickets available - 0207 269 9003
Book online at www.royalalberthall.com

Kerry Ellis
Kerry starred in the leading role of Elphaba in WICKED at the Apollo Victoria in the West End and the Gershwin Theatre on Broadway. She played Fantine in LES MISÉRABLES at the Queens Theatre and Ellen in MISS SAIGON on its UK tour. She won widespread acclaim for her performance as Svetlana in the spectacular CHESS IN CONCERT at the Royal Albert Hall. She first met Brian May whilst appearing as Meat in the Queen and Ben Elton musical, WE WILL ROCK YOU at the Dominion Theatre. Kerry is currently playing Nancy in OLIVER at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Brian May
Brian May's legendary compositions and performances for Queen have earned him worldwide acclaim. He has composed such hits as ‘We Will Rock You', ‘Who Wants To Live Forever', ‘I Want It All', ‘Save Me' and ‘Fat Bottomed Girls'. Queen has released a total of 18 Number One albums, had 18 Number One singles and 10 Number One DVDs. They have sold over 300 million albums worldwide, making them one of the world's best selling music artistes. Brian was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 for ‘Services To The Music Industry'.

Brian May (Creative Director) says "Over the past few years, Kerry has blossomed into a world class artiste. Our ANTHEMS album highlights Kerry's warmth, joy, extraordinary power and sheer beauty of tone and expression. I have never been more proud of anything I've ever worked on".

Adam Pascal
Adam Pascal is best known to UK audiences for creating the role of Roger Davis in the Broadway production of RENT. He also created the role of Radames in Elton John and Tim Rice's AIDA and he appeared at the Royal Albert Hall playing The American in the Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, CHESS IN CONCERT.

Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research is the only UK charity solely dedicated to research into blood cancers, including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma. These cancers are diagnosed in around 28,500 children, teenagers and adults in the UK every year. Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research invests in only the best UK research into better diagnosis, treatments and cures. As Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research receives no government funding and relies entirely on voluntary support, it needs to raise £120 million in the next five years to continue this life-saving research.

Photo credit: Francynne Carr

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