Rick Wakeman is at his best in front of an audience, as I'm sure many of you know. This page contains details of all forthcoming performances worldwide, together with reviews where they exist from previous concerts. If you have any reviews, or if you'd like to write one yourself, please let me know. We also try where possible to list appearances on TV and radio.

Previous Tours | Tour Programmes

Concerts

Chelsea Art Festival

Rick is performing the opening concert of the Chelsea Arts Festival 2009 on June 13th at 7pm. He will be performing with an orchestra and choir playing a suite of work newly orchestrated by Guy Protheroe and his wife Ann Manly titled P 'n' O.

Always on the look-out for new audiences and new opportunities, in 2008 Rick came up with a new slant on presenting his best-loved music.

You can regard “P’n’O” as an abbreviation for ‘piano’ or ‘piano and orchestra’; seated at a 9ft grand piano, surrounded by an orchestra and choir, but without the many keyboards, the rock band, and the heavy amplification which usually goes with it, Rick entertains with newly-orchestrated arrangements of music from his iconic solo albums – including Journey to the Centre of the Earth and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. While technically described as ‘unplugged’, the show also has echoes of the grand romantic piano concerto: a virtuoso performance enhanced by rich orchestral sounds - sumptuous strings, brilliant brass, wonderful woodwind solos and the additional enhancement of a 40-voice choir.

The music currently consists of seven numbers: there are ‘suites’ from Journey to the Centre of the Earth and King Arthur, Catherine Howard (from the Six Wives of Henry VIII), After the Ball, Gone, but not forgotten, and a brilliant arrangement of two Lennon-McCartney classics – Help and Eleanor Rigby. There is also a slightly frenetic Jig for piano and strings, usually performed as an encore.

Rick Wakeman P’n’O has so far been performed in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and Vina del Mar, Chile – on both occasions with local symphony orchestras and chorus. Further performances are scheduled for Lugano and Plock (Poland) in July. It is ideally suited to performance in the symphonic surroundings of Cadogan Hall, where it will be receiving its first British performance.

All fans are encouraged to come along and experience this new take on their favourite Wakeman tracks, and of course to wish him some (ever-so-slightly belated) birthday greetings!

Further details can be found on the art festival's Website.

The Six Wives of Henry VIII at Hampton Court Palace - May 1st & 2nd 2009

The event was recorded for DVD release, and we will add details for this as soon as we know.

The live CD that was produced and distributed on the night can be ordered online directly from Concert Live. There are only a limited quantity left so get your orders in quickly if you want one.

We have received a number of enquiries about purchasing programmes for the event which sadly ran out on the Saturday evening. These are being offered directly from the merchandising company along with the other items on sale on the night. We've just been informed that they are doing a new run so they are available to order now.

We will try to post a list of links here to coverage of the event.

2009 Piano Concerts

Some preliminary dates are in for piano concerts this year. The first confirmed date is the Thornbury Arts Festival in South Gloucestershire on Saturday April 25th and the second is the Devizes Festival on Saturday June 6th. Both events are likely to be a mix of chat and piano music.

Rick Wakeman with Plock Symphonic Orchestra and Vox Juventutis Choir

Rick is performing a free concert in Poland on Sunday 5th July. The venue is the Stary Rynek in Plock.

Tours

Television

Radio Interviews

Programme Date Channel Country
Rick's Place 28 January 2006 at 10:00 Planet Rock UK

Rick's Place is broadcast every Saturday from 10am to 1pm. The show is repeated on a Wednesday at 6pm. All times are UK.

The station is available on DAB digital radio across the UK, Sky channel 110, Telewest channel 924, Freesat channel 730 and at www.planetrock.com

Previous Tours/Appearances

No more emails please! I *know* he's done more tours than this.

Previous Tour Programmes

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Contributors