bluedot has unveiled the full line-up for its Thursday Opening Concert, taking place 20 July this summer at Cheshire’s iconic Jodrell Bank Observatory.
The evening concert, the introductory first night of the bluedot weekend, will be hosted by BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified Live with Elizabeth Alker, headlined by Max Richter with The BBC Concert Orchestra performing Richter’s Voices and Recomposed.
Special guests Coby Sey and Isobel Waller-Bridge will take to the festival’s Lovell Stage prior to the evening headliner.
Max Richter stands as one of the most prodigious figures on the contemporary music scene, with ground-breaking work as a composer, pianist, producer, and collaborator.
From synthesizers and computers to a full symphony orchestra, Richter’s innovative work encompasses solo albums, ballets, concert hall performances, film and television series, video art installations and theatre works.
Both Richter’s Voices and Recomposed releases have become iconic high watermarks in contemporary classical, with the latter’s “shape-shifting powers, capable of evoking joy and pain in equal measure” (Pitchfork) critically-acclaimed and recently performed live on BBC Radio 3 alongside Chineke! Orchestra and Elena Urioste to mark Earth Day 2023.
Performing with the BBC Concert Orchestra, Richter will follow in the footsteps of Hannah Peel and Paraorchestra (2022), and The Hallé Orchestra (2018, 2019), previous headliners of bluedot’s Thursday Opening Concert.
The performance will be conducted by Robert Ames, who holds the positions of co-Artistic Director and co-Principal Conductor of the London Contemporary Orchestra and has orchestrated works with Radiohead, Foals and Frank Ocean.
Max Richter at bluedot 2023 will be hosted by Elizabeth Alker as part of a live concert version of BBC Radio 3’s Unclassified. Showcasing music that transcends genre and border, Unclassified Live has become one of the BBC’s most eclectic and celebrated radio programmes, and this special concert will be recorded for later broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
Special guests for this unique experience beneath Cheshire’s UNESCO World Heritage Lovell Telescope will be multi-faceted musician and songwriter Coby Sey, and composer and film soundtrack creator Isobel Waller Bridge.
Coby Sey is an NTS Radio host who has worked with the likes of Mica Levi, Tirzah and the London Contemporary Orchestra, and released his debut album Conduit in September 2022 on the AD 93 label. Isobel Waller-Bridge has scored a variety of soundtracks for film, television and fashion, including the BBC’s adaptation of The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse, plays at the Old Vic and Hampstead Theatre, and the multi award-winning Fleabag.
bluedot’s Thursday line-up complements an already announced eclectic music offering for 2023, with the defacto queen of discopop Róisín Murphy taking top spot on Friday evening’s Lovell Stage after Django Django and Black Country, New Road, while lo-fi pioneers Pavement headline Saturday at bluedot with an exclusive only UK performance of 2023 alongside Dry Cleaning, Malian desert blues pioneers Tinariwen and culture from Moonage Daydream creator Brett Morgen and Nish Kumar.
The iconic Grace Jones will close the festival on Sunday beneath the UNESCO World Heritage Site’s Lovell Telescope with her only northern show of the summer, preceded by Mercury Prize winners Young Fathers.
Thursday and Weekend tickets for bluedot 2023 are on sale now.
To explore day splits and book, visit:
Please note Thursday Opening Concert requires an additional ticket and can be attended either as a standalone experience or as an add-on to the full bluedot weekend.
