Durham Concerto by Jon Lord (ex-DEEP PURPLE keyboardist) will be performed by the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mischa Darmev at the Durham Cathedral in England on October 20. Jon will take part in the performance as a soloist playing Hammond.

Durham Concerto is a piece of music that Jon had been working on since he left Deep Purple and is dedicated to the City of Durham and 175th anniversary of the Durham University (which gives it a strong claim to the title of the third oldest university in England after Cambridge and Oxford):

2007 marks the 175th anniversary of the founding of Durham University, the oldest English university after Oxford and Cambridge. The University wants to use this opportunity to correct a mysterious imbalance in its reputation – strong in the UK (consistently ranked as one of the UK’s top universities), but less well-known further afield.

In order to maximise this impact, when seeking a suitable composer Durham turned to Jon Lord, who, early in his long career with Deep Purple, wrote a Concerto for Rock Group and Orchestra, which has been hugely successful and has remained one of the most regularly performed works for symphony orchestra. Jon Lord has a wide international following, and is now established as a highly regarded composer of music for classical forces.

The project was conceived by a Durham University alumnus, John McLaren, a former diplomat and investment banker and now novelist, who is founder of Masterprize, the world’s leading prize for classical composers.

Details:

Saturday, October 20 2007 at 7:30PM

Durham Cathedral, Durham, UK

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Soloists: Jon Lord (Hammond Organ); Kathryn Tickell (Northumbrian Pipes); Matthew Barley (Cello); Ruth Palmer (Violin)

Tickets range from £3 to £12 and can be booked through

Tourist Information Centre

Millennium Place,

Durham, DH1 1WA

0191 384 7641

email: touristinfo@durhamcity.gov.uk

(Thanks Thehighwaystar.com.