The next Classics Galore! concert, in aid of FORCE Cancer Charity, will be held in the Great Hall at the University of Exeter on Saturday 9th November 2024.

Exeter’s very own Last Night of the Proms offers an evening of popular classical music.

Classics was established in 2007 and held every two years until the pandemic forced the postponement of  the 2021 event until November 2022.

Thank you to everyone who supported the 2022 event, which raised an incredible £19,500 – taking the overall total from eight concerts to more than £130,000.

We would like to extend our thanks to our Classics Galore! orchestra Ottery St Mary Choral Society, St David’s Players and the SW Comms Band for their support. We also wish to give an extra special thanks to our stunning soprano soloist Cheryl Enever and welcome Victoria Graham our new compère for 2024.

Tickets will be available from July 2024

Tickets

Stall Tickets

Adults: £19 (front stalls) £21 (rear stalls) £22 (centre) Under 16: £12

Gallery tickets

Adults: £25 (restricted view*) £28 (side and rear) £30 (central block)
Under 16: £17

Box tickets

Adults: £30

*Restricted View Seats – With nearly 200 performers filling the stage, these seats may not give vision of performers on far right/left of stage. Sound quality is still excellent of course as the seats are in the front rows of the gallery.

(Regrettably wheelchair bookings can only be accepted for Stalls seats)

Tickets will be available from July 2024 and can be booked online through Ticketsource

Tickets will be issued to you directly by email.

NB: email tickets will show multiple tickets on one email to alleviate the need for excessive printing. If you make a group booking, you may forward the email to others in your party to print or keep on their phone for reference. 

Soloist confirmed

We are absolutely delighted to announce British Soprano, Cheryl Enever as our soloist once again for our 2024 concert. She has worked with the BBC singers, the Royal Opera House, and sung for royalty alongside a whole host of other accomplishments. We are thrilled to welcome Cheryl to the Great Hall stage in November 2024 to join us for Classics Galore!

compère confirmed

We are thrilled to introduce Victoria Graham as our compère for Classics Galore! 2024

Victoria is the presenter of BBC Spotlight – the most watched TV news programme in the southwest.

Covering Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset, the Channel Islands and the Isles of Scilly it’s a massive news patch and she’s been at the helm for over 15 years.

From behind the camera to in front of it, Victoria has been in the media industry for over 25 years.  Location scouting in Hollywood; directing at ITV; BBC weather presenting; shopping television in the US and anchoring an African news channel.  Her knowledge of the industry is wide.

Telling people’s stories is her passion which is why she decided to train as a Celebrant.

From the beginning of someone’s journey to the end, Victoria writes and delivers wedding and funeral ceremonies across the region.

‘It’s the most rewarding and privileged job I have ever done – to write someone’s life story.  My inspiration is my dad who died of bowel cancer 8 years ago.  Whatever the circumstances, life should be celebrated.’

Victoria loves her border terrier Scampi – and you may remember Grizzle who used to join her on the TV!

Sponsorship opportunities

The Classics Galore! concerts rely on local sponsorship to help pay for venue hire, music licenses, programme production, administration costs and fees. We sincerely thank all our sponsors for their involvement in enabling the Classics Galore! concerts to take place and continue raising funds for FORCE’s work in the local community.

If you would like to know more about our sponsorship opportunities for this event, please contact Olly Watts at FORCE Cancer Charity on 01392 406150 or via email olly.watts@forcecancercharity.co.uk 

Huge thanks to the following who are supporting this great event in 2024.

History

Classics Galore! was established by Dick Passmore, who lived and worked in Exeter all his life, and his wife Posy. They have raised more than £130,000 for FORCE Cancer Charity.

Dick was first diagnosed with cancer in 2000 and knew of FORCE’s work to support anyone locally affected by cancer. His love of music convinced him that organising a concert was one small way to give something back for the excellent treatment and support he received during his illness. He and Posy put on the first Classics Galore! in 2007. It was such a massive success that they resolved to stage further shows in 2009 and 2011.

Because of the enormous amount of work involved, they decided to pass over the organisation to a committee in 2012 but still had huge input in the planning and staging of each Classics evening. The 2013, 2015 and 2017 concerts were also hugely successful, raising £15,000, £17,500 and £21,000 for FORCE.

Sadly Dick died in early 2019. His dream had been to take the overall total raised for FORCE to £100,000 at the seventh Classics Galore! concert in 2019 and, happily, that dream was realised.

Classics Galore! is one of Exeter’s largest and best-loved indoor concerts, filling the University of Exeter Great Hall to capacity with an audience of well over 1,000. A full orchestra under musical director Malcolm Matthews is joined by the SW Comms Band and two choral societies – Ottery St Mary Choral Society and St. David’s Players. The stage at the Great Hall is specially extended to accommodate more than 200 musicians and singers.

The concerts are specially arranged for those with an interest in the lighter side of classical music. They feature light, popular classical music with pieces of no more than seven or eight minutes long that everyone will either know or recognise. There might be film music, themes from television, songs from musicals mixed with more traditional classical music so there is something for everyone! The finale with audience participation is in true Proms tradition – Pomp and Circumstance, Rule Britannia! and the like, complete with a soprano soloist suitably attired!

Classics Galore! was held every two years until the postponement of the 2021 concert due to the pandemic but returned in November 2022.