Local violinist and conductor celebrates his 50th birthday by staging one of the most unusual charity concerts ever witnessed in Cambridge.

Steve Bingham’s Fire and Ice concert to combine full orchestra with electric and traditional violins in a programme featuring mythical glowing birds, icy wastes, JS Bach and a looping masterpiece, all in aid of Camsight.

West Road Concert Hall, Sunday 16 June 2013, 7.30pm

Cambridgeshire-based violinist and conductor Steve Bingham has chosen to mark his 50th birthday by hiring West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge and putting on a concert in aid of Cam Sight, the local charity for people with sight loss.

Steve, who has played with some of the UK’s top orchestras as well as leading the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra and conducting the Ely Sinfonia, is a champion of the idea that a training in classical music is just the start in making music of all types an adventure for everyone. His concert, Fire and Ice, will feature modern classical, world music and film scores, as well as a full concerto for recorded birdsong and orchestra.

The concert will include Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus concerto for birdsong and orchestra, the suite from Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Bach’s Chaconne in D minor for solo violin, Keeling’s You Cut The String for electric violin and live looping, and Michael Nyman’s Suite of Film Music Pieces, including two brand new arrangements by Phil Toms.

Tickets for the concert are available from the ADC Theatre box office, tel 01223 300085, or online at http://www.adcticketing.com/whats-on/concert/fire-and-ice.aspx