Now in its sixth consecutive year, London’s City Showcase is the festival for new talent. Running from the 2^nd to the 6^th June 2008, from midday ‘til midnight, the festival spans 35 different venues across the capital, uniting some of the biggest names in music today with the hottest up and coming acts. A highlight of this year’s festival is the City Showcase Classical Night, headlined by ex-G4 star Jonathan Ansell and featuring hotly-tipped artists from the classical world.
The former frontman of X-Factor “Popera” group G4 will be delighting audiences on Thursday 5^th June as he takes to the Classical showcase stage at the West End’s local Church, St Giles in the Fields. With G4, Jonathan achieved 3 hit albums, record sales in excess of 2 million and a sold out performance at the Royal Albert Hall. Since his departure from G4, a record label bidding war has taken place which resulted in a £1-million pound, 5-album deal with Universal Music Group. His first solo album ‘Tenors at the Movies’ was released last February and went straight to No.1 in the Classical Charts and No.9 in the Pop Charts. Promising to deliver G4 hits as well as material from his new solo album and with free drinks courtesy of Portuguese wine specialists, Pink Elephant, the whole evening is one not to be missed.
City Showcase takes pride in its huge roster of varied acts and the Classical Night is no exception. In the past it has played host to acts as diverse as Amy Winehouse and Newton Faulkner through to tenor Nicky Spence, soprano Emilia O’Connor and pianist Myleene Klass.
Many classical performers have successfully used the showcase as a platform to launch their careers. Australian-born Amy Dickson’s performances at City Showcase in 2006 and 2007 led to her being signed by SonyBMG. In 2007 she performed a City Showcase commission written by British composer Adam Melvin and is currently recording her debut album due for release this year featuring Melvin’s new work.
O Duo (Owen Gunnell and Oliver Cox) took part in City Showcase in 2003 and 2004. Their repertoire, which spans more than 300 years of music history, is a mix of popular classics and accessible contemporary music played on two marimbas, vibraphone and a huge array of percussion. ‘Clearly born for the stage’ (The Sunday Telegraph), they now perform regular recitals in music clubs all over the UK and double concertos in some of the country’s top concert halls. Also signed to SonyBMG following their City Showcase appearances, they recorded a City Showcase commission by Edmund Joliffe on their debut album.
Other City Showcase success stories have included Soprano Eliana Pretorian, violinist Elizabeth Cooney (‘An unfailingly beautiful sound’ - The Irish Times), Mezzo-Soprano Juliette Pochin (‘A rich-sounding, vibrant, impressively vital girl’- The Evening Standard), Mexican guitarist Morgan Szymanski (‘One could tell that this was a player destined for future glories’ - Classical Guitar magazine), tenor opera singer Nicholas Watts, sensational crossover soprano Keedie, electronic classical music re-mixers Remasterpiece (Sach Puttnam and Chris Coco), and harpist to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales Jemima Phillips, who premiered a new commission by Benjamin Wallfisch, and went on to sign with the Peter’s Edition label.

Officially sponsored by The Evening Standard, the City Showcase Classical Night on 5^th June will kick off with a performance from acclaimed virtuoso pianist and winner of BBC2’s ‘Classical Star’ series Sophie Cashell, The Royal College of Music’s The Sirocco Saxophone Quartet, clarinettist Jonathan Parkin and violinists Simon Hewitt Jones and David Worswick who will be performing new work by composer and pianist John Pickup.
For more information please contact Ian Roberts or Tom Green on [email protected] / [email protected] or call 020 7734 0206.

Notes to the editor

• The address for the St Giles in the Fields is: St Giles in the Fields, 60 St Giles High Street, London, WC2H 8LG and the concert will run from 19:00 – 22:00.
• Entry to the event will be free for City Showcase wristband holders which are available from www.cityshowcase.co.uk. Wristbands are £5 and will secure entry to 30 plus City Showcase gigs, concerts and workshops.

· The Evening Standard will be offering a free pair of tickets to the concert to 150 people who apply using their EROS cards, starting on Monday 26 May.

• City Showcase gratefully acknowledges financial support from the PRS Foundation.
• Pink Elephant are the ultimate new rosé wine suppliers from Portugal. Since its launch in 2007, Pink Elephant rosé has been regularly acclaimed by the press and wine commentators alike. Their rosé wine has a fabulous pink colour with fresh, intense fruity aromas of strawberries and raspberries. It has crisp, fresh flavours with a hint of fruity sweetness that suggests elegant summer fruits supported by mouth watering acidity and a delicate finish. Pink Elephant sells at a recommended price of £5.49, comes in attractive cases of 6 bottles and is available from Tesco, Morrisons and Booths supermarkets. It can be ordered on-line at Tesco.com and is also available from Tesco’s VinPlus store in Calais.
• City Showcase is kindly sponsored by Universal Classics and Jazz, a division of the Universal Music Operations Ltd.
  
• SJ Berwin LLP is delighted to sponsor City Showcase’s Classical night. SJ Berwin LLP is a full-service pan-European commercial law firm with more than 750 lawyers and 1300 staff across its offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.