Expect an evening of festive classics - with a Swing twist!
Featuring numbers such as Winter Wonderland, Santa Baby, I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm, and The Christmas Song - through to reimagined versions of classic Christmas carols and a sprinkling of Big Band classics. This is the perfect swinging start to your Christmas celebrations!
Conductor - Barry Forgie
Vocalist - Emer McParland
World class … a brilliant musical force - The Telegraph
Joyous...! - George Benson
About the Artists
The BBC Big Band are widely regarded as one of the world’s leading and most versatile Orchestras, The BBC Big Band continues to delight audiences around the world through their broadcasts on BBC Radio and their live performances.
In addition to its regular studio and concert recordings, the BBC Big Band regularly gives live performances at major venues around the UK, as well as touring with major music artists abroad. Within the UK, the BBC Big Band is perhaps best known for its show Big Band Special on BBC Radio 2, as well its appearances on BBC Radio 3’s Jazz Line Up. Its performances also reach huge global audiences through its regular broadcasts for the BBC World Service, satellite radio and via the internet.
Emer McParland (vocals) trained at Trinity College of Music in London, Emer’s unique versatility has led her to be involved in various music projects. These have included singing on movie soundtracks such as Avengers, Disney’s Aladdin, Harry Potter, Mission: Impossible, Tomb Raider, Sleepy Hollow and The Mummy Returns, as well as being featured along include popular music artists such as diverse as Peter Gabriel, Katherine Jenkins and Bjork.
Emer's heart lies in live work, and she has appeared at some of the UK’s premier music venues, including The Royal Albert Hall, London’s legendary jazz venue Ronnie Scott's, as well as London’s Hyde Park. Her orchestral experience includes appearances with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, RTE Concert Orchestra (Ireland), The BBC Concert Orchestra and, of course, the wonderful BBC Big Band
Barry Forgie (musical director & conductor) - When you consider that Barry Forgie conducted a brass band at three, was playing trombone at ten, and leading his own jazz group at 16, it seems strange that his first career aspiration was to be a vet! However, the lure of music eventually led him to a Bachelor of Music Degree at the University of Wales, and regular BBC broadcasts with his own band.
Over the course of his career Barry has worked as an arranger/composer and musical associate on numerous Hollywood films, Concert Tours, and BBC Recordings and Broadcasts. He has covered the whole gamut of music, from conducting Andrew Lloyd Webber's Song And Dance in London's West End to the composition of a 50-minute Beatles symphony.
Barry began conducting the BBC Big Band on a regular basis in 1977. He has built an unparalleled repertoire for the band, transcribing the best of big band music from early Ellington, through the Swing era, to the likes of Gerry Mulligan and Buddy Rich. Unrealised ambitions to swim the Channel, play rugby for England, row for Cambridge, defeat Kasparov at chess, and invent a new computer language for Microsoft, are more than compensated for by the thrill of fronting the BBC Big Band!
