Sounds Green takes place every Wednesday evening in July on the Garden’s Main Lawn, providing a perfect opportunity to enjoy the sights, sounds and summer smells in the Garden with family and friends on a (hopefully) warm and balmy evening.
Cambridge University Botanic Garden opens its gates late on Wednesday evenings throughout July for the Sounds Green series, a celebration of summer and music - relaxed, sociable, picnic concerts in the Garden with Cambridge Summer Music. This year, there are five Wednesdays in July so there is one more concert to enjoy than in the past few years.
New this year: visitors must purchase online tickets in advance in order to attend the concerts.
CUBG Director Beverley Glover explains: “We’re delighted to be hosting the Sounds Green series again. It is a hugely popular event and we want to provide the best experience to our visitors, so this year we are issuing tickets to avoid the risks of overcrowding and long queues.”
All paying visitors are required to buy online tickets in advance via the Garden’s website. The cost will be the same as normal Garden admission. CUBG Friends and Cambridge University students enter for free using membership/CU cards as normal. Any remaining tickets will be available to purchase on the day of each performance but this is not guaranteed.
Beverley continues: “Sounds Green is a wonderful event and there’s another great line-up of music this year. It’s also the only time of year the Garden is open later in the evening and the events are a great opportunity to get together with family, friends and colleagues and enjoy live music in this beautiful setting.”
As well as tickets, a rug and optional picnic are all that are required to enjoy a wonderful line-up of music, which begins at 6.15pm and lasts around an hour, with the Garden closing at 8pm.
This year, local band AfroTema will be encouraging visitors to ‘let go and live the moment’ playing a danceable mix of Senegalese salsa, mbalax, afro-rock and reggae on 3 July. They will be followed on 10 July by swing and jazz standards from the 1930s to the present by Martin Kemp’s Organised Chaos; Truly Medley Deeply will play a hybrid of live band, DJ and jukebox producing a huge sound from Motown classics to stadium rock on 17 July; singer-songwriter Noga Ritter performs Afro grooves and jazz with her exciting new band on 24 July; and Ruth Applin and the Josh Kemp Quartet wind up the Sounds Green series on 31 July with swinging rhythms and rich sounds for a classic jazz, blues and bossa nova finale.
Cambridge Summer Music’s musical director David Hill adds: “We are delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with Cambridge University Botanic Garden with our/the ever-popular open-air concerts, not just four but five this year featuring a superb mix of Senegalese salsa, mbalax, afro-rock, reggae to swing and jazz standards via blues and bossa nova. A truly glorious array of music in the heavenly Botanic Garden.”
The event is suitable for all ages and visitors are welcome to picnic in the Garden. BBQ food and drink will be available from The Garden Café; other food and bar drinks will be served by Pull Me Cheri and Thirsty, and Jack’s Gelato will be selling home-made ice-creams on the Main Lawn.
Sounds Green will be sponsored by BDB Pitmans for the third year running. “We are very happy to continue to support the Botanic Garden through sponsorship of the Sounds Green programme again this year,” says Simon Burson, head of BDB Pitman’s Cambridge office. “The Garden not only represents a 40 acre oasis in the heart of our busy city, but also plays host to research work which is of vital importance to the world of plant science.”
The Cambridge Summer Music Festival is the city’s annual festival of music offering outstanding musical performances in some of the city’s most spectacular settings.
The Sounds Green Programme 2019 – see also www.botanic.ac.uk
Wednesday 3 July, 6.15pm
AfroTema
Let go and live the moment with the danceable sounds of local band AfroTema who will start the Sounds Green series with a mix of Senegalese salsa, Afro-Latin & reggae style music.
Wednesday 10 July, 6.15pm
Martin Kemp’s Organised Chaos
Opening up the boundaries of swing and jazz, with a highly varied repertoire and host of traditions from Shakespeare songs to tango and gypsy jazz to Elvis Costello.
Wednesday 17 July, 6.15pm
Truly Medley Deeply
A hybrid of live band, DJ and jukebox producing full-flowing, continuous medleys which condense Motown classics and hits with stadium rock, classic House and Gangsta Rap.
Wednesday 24 July, 6.15pm
Noga Ritter
Powerful lyrics in Hebrew and English combine with Afro grooves and jazz influences to create a fusion toe-tapping sounds. Singer-songwriter Noga Ritter brings some of London’s finest musicians to form her genre-defying band.
Wednesday 31 July, 6.15pm
Ruth Applin & Josh Kemp Quartet
Swinging rhythms and rich sounds wind up the Sounds Green series with music from the Great American Songbook and singers such as Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday for a classic jazz, blues and bossa nova finale.