‘Friday’s Child’ Will Young to kick off Symphony at the Tower weekend!

Our Symphony at the Tower event will celebrate its 21st birthday in style when the original Pop Idol turned global superstar Will Young performs at Symphony at the Tower.

The singer-songwriter will headline the Symphony on Friday July 1 2016 – an appropriate opener to the fantastic weekend of live music, given the name of his second UK number 1 album was ‘Friday’s Child’.

For the first time the event – launched in 1995 as an outdoor classical concert to raise funds for St Catherine’s Hospice – will take place over three nights, once again at Hoghton Tower in Lancashire.

The traditional Symphony show, featuring a live orchestra, picnics, family fun and fireworks, will take place on Sunday July 3, with the line-up for Saturday night due to be announced soon.

The latest development follows a successful expansion of the event in 2013, when the Lostock Hall charity teamed up with music promoter Cuffe and Taylor to extend Symphony at the Tower to cover two nights. Now, as the popular musical weekend celebrates its 21st birthday, St Catherine’s and Cuffe and Taylor are adding a third evening of entertainment to help attract more people and raise extra funds to support the specialised care the hospice provides.

Will Young first came to prominence when he won Pop Idol in 2002. Since then he has gone on to sell more than eight million albums worldwide, has enjoyed four number one singles and four number one albums, and has won numerous awards and accolades including two BRIT Awards.

The Leave Right Now singer promises a show packed full of hits when he performs at this year’s Symphony, following in the footsteps of previous Friday night Symphony acts Status Quo, James Blunt and The Human League.

Lorraine Charlesworth, Director of Income Generation at St Catherine’s Hospice, said: “We are very excited to announce Will Young as our first Symphony at the Tower 2016 headliner, another high calibre artist who we are confident will take the event from strength to strength.

“With a diverse back catalogue and impressive new album, Will Young is the perfect opener to our amazing weekend, and is sure to have the crowds singing and dancing along outside in the beautiful Lancashire countryside.

“After a fantastic Symphony at the Tower this year as St Catherine’s celebrated its 30th anniversary, we are looking forward to marking the Symphony’s own special milestone in 2016. We hope Symphony goers past and present will be inspired to join us in toasting 21 years of our flagship fundraising event. It promises to be a great night, all in aid of a wonderful cause.”

Cuffe and Taylor are responsible for sourcing the acts and Director Peter Taylor said 2016 is shaping up to be a great event.

Peter said: “We’re thrilled to have secured Will Young for the Friday night at Symphony. Will has a fantastic following and is an incredibly talented singer-songwriter who is sure to please the crowds enormously.

“We are also delighted that we are going back to, and celebrating, Symphony’s roots with the Symphony Spectacular on the Sunday. This is a day when the whole family can get together and have fun while enjoying the most amazing live classical music.

“Symphony is such a wonderful event for us to be involved in as it gives us an opportunity to help raise funds for such a vital service while also ensuring families across Lancashire and beyond enjoy a fantastic weekend of entertainment from talented artistes and musicians.

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