A LAKES venue is celebrating the life and works of one of history's greatest composers with a weekend of concerts dedicated to his music.

Marvellous Mozart sees highly-regarded classical musicians Ensemble 360 performing pieces from throughout the career of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Old Laundry Theatre, in Bowness, from Friday May 19 to Sunday 21.

The festival is opened with an evening concert, at 7.30pm, featuring Mozart at his most irresistible – the Violin Sonata in A was written in 1787, the same year that the composer wrote the famous Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and it is known that Mozart accompanied the violinist Heinrich Anton Hoffman in a private performance of the piece in Mainz in 1790.


The work is a partnership of equals, with the violin and piano sharing wonderfully inventive materials, with endlessly cascading groups of quavers.

The Saturday morning event, Music for Mini Maestros, at 11.45am, is an introduction to classical music for children. The 45 minutes of songs, games and hands-on musical fun is led by musicians from Ensemble 360.

The musicians will also be leading an evening lecture, at 5.15pm, exploring a little more about Mozart, the musical genius and illustrating it with musical excerpts.

Saturday evening's recital, at 7.30pm, then picks up with the String Quartet in D Minor, the second such piece that Mozart dedicated to Haydn. It was written in 1783 and, according to anecdote, was completed even as Mozart’s wife, Constanze, was in labour with her first child.

The final day, Sunday 21, gets under way with Bring and Sing - all enthusiastic singers are invited to join a 90-minute session, from 11.30am, led by Stuart Overington, director of Hallé Youth Choir and Chetham’s School of Music Chamber Choir.

As part of this choir, all participants will be giving an informal performance of Ave Verum Corpus with Ensemble 360 as part of the festival finalé.

The festival closes with a concert at 2.30pm, with the performance of Ave Verum Corpus featuring alongside Mozart’s Piano Quartet in E Flat.

Each concert and event is priced individually, and tickets are available from the Old Laundry Theatre box office now.