Sky Arts announces new series of Parkinson: Masterclass
Sky Arts announces new series of Parkinson: Masterclass
7 x 60mins
Begins Tuesday 18 March 8pm
“His most revelatory chat show yet…” The Daily Mail
“Michael Parkinson’s Masterclass keeps its eye firmly on the Arts” The Metro
“Parky’s interested in his guest’s skills and not their privates lives *****” TV Times
Sky Arts announces the return of Parkinson: Masterclass. Presented by Sir Michael Parkinson, each episode of the insightful interview series will focus on the life and career of one interviewee from across the arts. Actor of the moment Simon Russell Beale, illusionist Dynamo, contemporary dancer Akram Khan, comedian and actor Eddie Izzard, virtuoso percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, classical guitarist Miloš Karadaglic and singer-songwriter Ellie Goulding will join Michael in the new series made exclusively for Sky Arts.
In this seven-part series, Parkinson will lead his subject through a definitive interview in order for them to present a fascinating insight into their life and careers. Each interview will feature unique performances from the artists demonstrating their craft and skills. Parkinson: Masterclass is filmed in front of a studio audience. In the audience, students from an array of disciplines that have been specially selected to take part in the masterclass will gain further insight into how the stars develop their skills.
Comedian, marathon runner and potential mayoral candidate Eddie Izzard (Tuesday 18th March) will give insight into how he prepares for his live shows. The extraordinary Dynamo (Tuesday 25th March) is Parkinson’s next guest, whose extraordinary magic tricks are almost as astonishing as his own personal journey from a housing estate in Bradford to the magic man who walked on water. Simon Russell Beale, a man frequently described as the greatest stage actor of his generation(Tuesday 1st April) will deliver a masterclass to students from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, who will, under his tutelage, perform soliloquies and scenes from Shakespeare and Chekhov. Brit Award-nominated Ellie Goulding (Tuesday 8th April) will perform and demonstrate her songwriting techniques. The award-winning dancer and choreographer Akram Khan, feted as the most exciting choreographers at work in the world today(Tuesday 15th April) will demonstrate the technique of Kathak dance which is the basis for his contemporary dance ; one of the finest guitarists in the world, Miloš Karadaglic (Tuesday 22nd April) will discuss his dramatic rise to prominence and give a masterclass to a student of the Royal Academy of Music before performing some of his pieces, and the virtuoso Dame Evelyn Glennie (Tuesday 29th April) will give a percussion masterclass to a Royal College of Music student and perform three pieces to demonstrate how she ‘hears’ sound as a profoundly deaf person.
Sir Michael Parkinson comments: “Masterclass is an innovative series and it is the set of interviews I’ve always wanted to do because you never know what you might discover about an artist and their craft. Their work is spellbinding and I hope the studio audience and Sky Arts viewers will find the demonstrations of their artistic talents as inspiring and thought-provoking as I do.”
“Parkinson: Masterclass is an exciting and eclectic who’s who of the great and the good in their respective artistic fields.” comments James Hunt, channel director of Sky Arts. “It’s a series born out of the passion Sir Michael has for his guests and their incredible achievements. There’s nothing like it on television and I’m delighted to see the inspiring series return exclusively to Sky Arts.”
· Tuesday 18th March 8.00pm Eddie Izzard
· Tuesday 25th March 8.00pm Dynamo
· Tuesday 1st April 8.00pm Simon Russell Beale
· Tuesday 8th April 8.00pm Ellie Goulding
· Tuesday 15th April 8.00pm Akram Khan
· Tuesday 22nd April 8.00pm Miloš Karadaglic
· Tuesday 29th April 8.00pm Dame Evelyn Glennie
Parkinson: Masterclass is made by Parkinson Productions. The executive producers are Mike Parkinson for Parkinson Productions and Barbara Lee for Sky Entertainment. The series forms part of Sky’s promises to deliver high-quality, exclusive content to customers, supported by a commitment to increase investment in programming to £600 million by 2014.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
Katherine Solomon PR Manager, Sky Press Office
T: 0207 032 0599
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Dominic Collett Sky Arts Publicist, Sky Press Office
T: 0207 032 4892
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NOTES TO EDITOR
About Sky Arts
Sky Arts offers an eclectic mix of the best music, arts, biographies, chat shows, film, drama and comedy. Sky is the only broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with channels dedicated solely to the arts, with 48 hours of the best arts content from around the world across Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2 daily. Sky Arts now reaches more than 6 million viewers every month.
Recent highlights include Playhouse Presents… a series of one-off comedies and dramas starring renowned talent including Jon Hamm, Daniel Radcliffe, Kylie Minogue, Anna Friel, Idris Elba and Matt Smith. The channel was also responsible for resurrecting the much-loved South Bank Show and The South Bank Awards. Sky Arts also encourages new formats and methods for accessing the arts, working with the ENO and National Gallery to beam the world’s first live opera and first live opening night of an exhibition in 3D to cinemas across the UK and Ireland.
Follow us on twitter @skyarts. See sky.com/arts
About Sky
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Sky is the UK’s biggest investor in television content, investing more than £2.5 billion a year in channels such as Sky 1, Sky Atlantic, Sky Living, Sky Arts, Sky Sports, Sky Movies and Sky News. Around two-thirds of Sky’s content spend is invested in the UK and Sky is the fastest-growing source of investment in original British programmes. More than 30 million people watch Sky content each week.
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Sky believes in making a wider contribution to the communities in which it operates by taking positive action on the environment, supporting grassroots sports and increasing access to, and participation in, the arts. Sky employs 24,000 people, has annual revenues of £7.2 billion and is estimated to support a £5.9 billion contribution to UK GDP. Sky is listed on the London Stock Exchange (BSY).