About this event

Aurora Strings are the North East’s leading string quartet with years of experience in performing for concerts, private and corporate events and recording session.

They were recently selected by Feva to regularly perform for their Candlelight Concerts in venues such as Durham Cathedral, Sunderland Minster and The Discovery Museum, Newcastle, where programmes have included Hans Zimmer, Queen, Pink Floyd, Taylor Swift, ABBA, Coldplay, Adele and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. For Classical Cafe, the quartet will be performing a selection of pieces from the more Classical side of their repertoire.

Aurora Strings are:
Jo Montgomery – violin 1
Vince Fleming – violin
Gayle Roberts – viola
Ele Leckie – cello

Classical Café is a series of Sunday afternoon performances at Middlesbrough Town Hall. Enjoy classical music in a more informal and relaxed atmosphere, enjoying coffee and cake while you listen!

About Jo Montgomery
Jo studied violin at Chetham’s School of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. She has performed and recorded with orchestras such as the BBC Philharmonic, Ulster Orchestra and Royal Northern Sinfonia as well as with artists such as Leslie Garret, Sir Cliff Richard, Russell Watson and The Royal Shakespeare Company.

About Vince Fleming
Vince studied violin at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has played with RSNO in Scotland and RTE Concert and Symphony orchestras in Dublin as well as Simple Minds, Snow Patrol and Belle and Sebastian. He has played for various TV and film soundtracks and touring productions of Evita, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon.

About Gayle Roberts
Gayle is the founder of Aurora Strings, having started the quartet while studying Music at Newcastle University. Gayle has recorded and performed with Hawkwind, The Cinematic Orchestra, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Smoove and Turrell, Beccy Owen and Kathryn Williams, with whom she performed a sell-out concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

About Ele Leckie
Cellist Ele Leckie studied piano and chamber music at the Royal College of Music. She has worked with the Wellington Sinfonia in New Zealand and since returning to the UK, has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and Peppa Pig. She has played on touring West End productions and has performed and recorded with Lesley Garrett, classical pianist John Lill, Paul Smith of the band Maximo Park, Field Music and The Unthanks.

Access information

Toilets and facilities
For more details about our facilities and accessing the different spaces at Middlesbrough Town Hall please visit https://www.middlesbroughtownhall.co.uk/plan-your-visit/access/accessing-our-spaces/

Pushchair policy
Due to Middlesbrough Town Hall’s fire regulation policies pushchairs, prams & car seats must be left in our dedicated ‘buggy parking’ zone on the carriageway and cannot be taken into any of the event spaces. Unfortunately, we cannot take responsibility for items left there, but we do our best to keep an eye on them.

Relaxed setting
All our family events take place in a relaxed environment, and have the following features:
– There’ll be lower volume levels throughout the event
– Our spaces have consistent lighting, with low level auditorium lights on throughout
– Our musicians and facilitators have relaxed attitude to noise and moving around the space
– A quiet, chill out space will be available should you need a break

Ear defenders
Our younger visitors can find a busy venue and loud musical activities quite overwhelming. A limited number of ear defenders are available from the Box Office – by the main entrance on Albert Street. See us as early as possible to secure a pair.