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Matthew Rooke
Matthew Rooke is a musician, composer and performer who also works in producing and directing theatre work. Born in England, he is of Scottish and Gabonese descent. His work spans an eclectic and diverse range of forms and creative partners, spanning the worlds of opera, classical music and contemporary jazz, rock and traditional music. His musical partners and collaborations range from Sir John Tavener, Billy Childish, Nitin Sawhney, Ric Sanders, Fred Thelonious Baker, The James Taylor Quartet and The National Youth Orchestra of Scotland. In the theatre he has created scores for Theatre Royal Stratford East, Talawa, The Leicester Haymarket and the Royal National Theatre. He has worked as Musical Director and arranger for Directors/Authors such as Yvonne Brewster, Tim Supple, Mark Bramble, John Dexter, Philip Hedley, Tim Flavin, Barrie Keeffe and Henry Krieger and with actors such as Paul Barber, Helen McCrory, Miriam Karlin, Donna Croll, Mona Hammond, Gary Shail, Mark McG ...
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Gabon
Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of and a population of million people. There are coastal plains, mountains (the Crystal Mountains (Africa), Cristal Mountains and the Chaillu Massif in the centre), and a savanna in the east. Libreville is the country's capital and largest city. Gabon's original inhabitants were the African Pygmies, Bambenga. In the 14th century, Bantu expansion, Bantu migrants also began settling in the area. The Kingdom of Orungu was established around 1700. France colonised the region in the late 19th century. Since its independence from France in 1960, Gabon has had four President of Gabon, presidents. In the 1990s, it introduced a multi-party system and a democratic constitution that aimed for a more tr ...
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Helen McCrory
Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her professional stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other theatre roles include playing Lady Macbeth in ''Macbeth'' at Shakespeare's Globe, Olivia in ''Twelfth Night'', Rosalind in ''As You Like It'' in the West End for which she received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination, and Medea in the eponymous play at the Royal National Theatre. McCrory is known for her film roles as Françoise in '' Charlotte Gray'' (2001); Cherie Blair in both '' The Queen'' (2006) and '' The Special Relationship'' (2010), alongside Michael Sheen, who portrayed husband and Prime Minister Tony Blair in both; Narcissa Malfoy in the final three ''Harry Potter'' films (2009, 2010, 2011); Mama Jeanne in '' Hugo'' (2011); and Clair Dowar in the James Bond film ''Skyfall'' (2012). She was also known for her television roles as Polly Gray in th ...
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Natalie Cole
Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to prominence in the mid-1970s, with the release of her debut album Inseparable (album), ''Inseparable'' (1975), along with the song "This Will Be, This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)", and the album's Inseparable (song), title track. Its success led to her receiving the Grammy Award for Best New Artist at the 18th Annual Grammy Awards, for which she became the first African-American recipient as well as the first R&B act to win the award. The singles "Sophisticated Lady (She's a Different Lady), Sophisticated Lady" (1976), "I've Got Love on My Mind", and "Our Love (Natalie Cole song), Our Love" (1977) followed. After releasing several albums, she departed from her R&B sound and returned as a Pop music, pop singer on the 1987 album Everlasting (Natalie Cole album), ''Everlasting'', along with her cove ...
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Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and bandleader. He worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, and Quincy Jones. In 1992, he was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, and he was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1996. Hampton was a member of the executive committee of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group. In 1984, he signed a letter protesting German arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Biography Early life Lionel Hampton was born in 1908 in Louisville, Kentucky, and was raised by his mother. Shortly after he was born, he and his mother moved to her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. He spent his early childhood in Kenosha, Wisconsin, before he and his family moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1916. As a youth, Hampton was a member of the Bud Billiken Club, an alternative to the Boy Scouts of Ameri ...
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Berklee College Of Music
Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United States, American music, it also offers college-level courses in a wide range of contemporary and historic styles, including rock music, rock, hip hop music, hip hop, reggae, salsa music, salsa, Heavy metal music, heavy metal and Bluegrass music, bluegrass. Since 2012, Berklee College of Music has also operated a campus in Valencia, Valencia, Spain. In December 2015, Berklee College of Music and the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston Conservatory agreed to a merger. The combined institution is known as Berklee, with the conservatory becoming The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Berklee alumni have won 310 Grammy Awards, more than any other college, and 108 Latin Grammy Awards. Other accolades for its alumni include 34 Emmy Awards, seven ...
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Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London, England. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I listed building, the first post-war building to become so protected (in 1981). The London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the London Sinfonietta, Chineke! Orchestra, Chineke! and Aurora Orchestra, Aurora are resident orchestras at Southbank Centre. The hall was built as part of the Festival of Britain for London County Council, and was officially opened on 3 May 1951. When the LCC's successor, the Greater London Council, was abolished in 1986, the Festival Hall was taken over by the Arts Council, and managed together with the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room (opened 1967) and the Hayward Gallery (1968), eventually becoming an independent arts organisation, now known ...
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Wild Billy Childish
Billy Childish (born Steven John Hamper; 1 December 1959) is an English painter, author, poet, photographer, film maker, singer, and guitarist. Since the late 1970s, Childish has been prolific in creating music, writing, and visual art. He has led and played in bands including Thee Milkshakes, Thee Headcoats, and the Musicians of the British Empire, primarily working in the genres of garage rock, punk rock, punk, and surf rock, surf, and releasing more than 100 albums. He is a consistent advocate for amateurism and free emotional expression. Childish co-founded the Stuckism art movement with Charles Thomson (artist), Charles Thomson in 1999, which he left in 2001. Since then, a new evaluation of Childish's standing in the art world has been under way, culminating with the publication of a critical study of Childish's working practice by artist and writer Neal Brown, with an introduction by Peter Doig, which describes Childish as "one of the most outstanding, and often misunderst ...
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Jake Thackray
John Philip "Jake" Thackray (27 February 1938 – 24 December 2002) was an English singer-songwriter, poet, humourist and journalist. Best known in the late 1960s and early 1970s for his topical comedy songs performed on British television, his work ranged from satirical to bawdy to sentimental to pastoral, with a strong emphasis on storytelling, making him difficult to categorise. Thackray sang in a lugubrious baritone voice, accompanying himself on a nylon-strung guitar in a style that was part classical, part jazz. His witty lyrics and clipped delivery, combined with his strong Yorkshire accent and the northern setting of many of his songs, led to his being described as the "North Country Noël Coward", a comparison Thackray resisted, although he acknowledged his lyrics were in the English tradition of Coward and Flanders and Swann, "who are wordy, funny writers". However, his tunes derived from the French ''chansonnier'' tradition: he claimed Georges Brassens as his greate ...
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Bonnie Langford
Bonita Melody Lysette Langford (born 22 July 1964) is an English actress, dancer and singer. She came to prominence as a child star in the 1970s, when she had a notable role in the TV series '' Just William''. In the 1980s, she played companion Mel Bush in ''Doctor Who'', a role she returned to in the 2020s. She has also been known for appearing in various musicals in the West End and on Broadway, including shows such as '' Peter Pan'', ''Cats'', '' The Pirates of Penzance'' and ''Chicago''. She also appeared as a contestant on '' Dancing on Ice'' in 2006 and 2014. From 2015 to 2018, she played Carmel Kazemi on the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', for which she received the 2016 British Soap Award for Best Newcomer. Early life and career Langford was born on 22 July 1964 in Middlesex, and grew up in Surrey. She attended the Arts Educational School, St Catherine's School, Twickenham and the Italia Conti Academy stage school. She first came to public attention when, aged ...
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Cathy Tyson
Catherine Tyson (born 12 June 1965) is an English actress. She won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the film ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), which also earned her Best Supporting Actress nominations at the Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards. She has starred in '' The Serpent and the Rainbow'' (1988), ''Priest'' (1994), and '' Band of Gold'' (1995–1997). She won the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2022 for her performance in the film ''Help''. Early life and education Tyson was born in Kingston-upon-Thames on 12 June 1965, the daughter of an English social worker mother and a Trinidadian barrister father. She grew up in Liverpool, having moved there with her parents when she was two years old. She was a pupil at St Winifred's School. She attended Liverpool's Everyman Youth Theatre in her teens, and dropped out of college at 17 to pursue an acting career there. Career Tyson joined the Royal ...
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David Harewood
David Michael Harewood (born 8 December 1965) is a British actor, presenter and the current president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He is best known for his roles as CIA Counterterrorism Director David Estes in ''Homeland'' (2011–2012), and as J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman in ''Supergirl'' (2015–2021). Early life Harewood was born on 8 December 1965 in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, the son of a couple from Barbados who had moved to England in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His father was a lorry driver, while his mother was a caterer. He has a sister, Sandra, and two brothers, Rodger and Paul. He attended St Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Academy. He was a member of the National Youth Theatre. In his youth, he worked at a wine bar in Birmingham city centre. At the age of 18, he gained a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Career Harewood began acting in 1990 and has appeared in '' The Hawk'', '' ...
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Mark McGann
Mark Anthony McGann (born 12 July 1961) is an English actor. Early life He attended the De La Salle Academy, Liverpool, De La Salle Grammar School, Liverpool. Mark's father Joe was a Royal Naval Commandos, Royal Naval Commando, who landed on Gold Beach during D-Day and later worked as a metallurgist, who died in 1984, and his mother Clare was a teacher. His three brothers Paul McGann, Paul, Stephen McGann, Stephen, and Joe McGann, Joe (named after his father), are all actors. He also has a younger sister, named Clare after their mother. Career Acting McGann's first breakthrough role was as the eponymous hero in the company's production of ''Lennon'' in 1981, which received good reviews and ran for 10 months at the London London Astoria, Astoria Theatre, winning McGann the first of his two Olivier Award nominations for best actor in a West End theatre production. He was later to reprise the role for the film ''John and Yoko: A Love Story'' for NBC television in the United ...
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