An exciting season of opera, classical music, drama, jazz, Latin and Caribbean music takes place at the historic Holders Plantation House every March. The event is internationally recognized and has attracted such musical luminaries as Luciano Pavarotti in the past. The event is currently focused on the development and exhibition of local talent. Promoters of the season like to keep things interesting for their audiences and have introduced such non-traditional programme fare as Shakespeare, Polo and Cricket to the season in past years.  The great house is approximately 300 years old, and is situated on a ridge overlooking what were at one time extensive sugar and tobacco fields. The large property has comfortably provided the space for many concurrent events in previous seasons. Situated just south of Sandy Lane Resort, Holders House is conveniently located for many spectators.  The Holders' Season lasts for a month and events have typically seen guests sipping champagne in the beautifully landscaped gardens as cellists, violinists, sopranos and many others entertain elegant gatherings.  The festival continues to attract a large following from the U.S.A. and UK and has received rave reviews from the International Press. The Season is organised and staged by Mr. & Mrs. John Kidd, the English owners of Holders, and is unique to Barbados. Programme for 2007 Tuesday 13th – Saturday 31st March One of the Caribbean’s most exclusive and most glamorous events returns for a series of exclusive performances featuring an enormous variety of music and theatre ranging from opera to comedy, from the West End and Broadway musical to the rhythms of the French Caribbean. Nights under the stars with the stars… Tuesday 13th -The Music of the French Caribbean  The Holders Season bursts into life with a colourful evening celebrating the music and rhythms of the Caribbean. Artists to be confirmed. Wednesday 14th in the Little Theatre -Gershwin at the Keyboard/ Chopin  Poet of the Piano Virtuoso pianist, New York based Jack Gibbons presents two sides of his extraordinary talents at the keyboard. In the first half he brings together a collection of some of Chopin’s most famous masterpieces, representing every facet of his incomparable art, whilst in the second he performs authentic George Gershwin featuring his acclaimed note-for-note reconstructions of the composer’s original recordings -Rhapsody in Blue, I Got Rhythm, The Man I Love, Fascinating Rhythm, Porgy and Bess excerpts, etc Friday 16th  - Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit The first of two performances by the brand new Anglo-Barbadian Gale Theatre company. Blithe Spirit is one of ‘The Master’ Noel Coward’s finest and funniest pieces for theatre and the medium Madame Arcati one of his most memorable creations. Conjured up at a séance, Charles’ first wife Elvira returns from beyond the grave to make his life something of a misery… Sunday 18th-The Operas of Mozart - A marriage, a monster… and women Not only is he regarded as the greatest of all classical composers, but his operas also set him out as one of the greatest masters of the musical stage. Extended extracts from the three great da Ponte operas, The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and including [the entire second act] of Cosi fan tutte. With a cast of top singers from New Yorks’s [Metropolitan Opera]. The evening will be accompanied by an orchestra comprising the cream of New York’s orchestral scene with musical direction by Gints Berzins. Monday 19th -Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit A second performance of Noel Coward’s glittering masterpiece performed by the brand new, Anglo-Barbadian Gale Theatre Company Wednesday 21st - The Operas of Mozart   A marriage, a monster… and women A second opportunity to experience the sometimes majestic, sometimes comic but always intensely sensitive operatic music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Friday 23rd-The Reduced Shakespeare Company in Completely Hollywood (abridged)  Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the theatre... The Reduced Shakespeare Company boldly goes where few would dare - Tinseltown!  America's "bad boys of abridgement" take on America's largest export (well, except for weapons) and go about savaging show biz. They've gone Biblical, they've gone historical, now the RSC has gone completely Hollywood... abridged, of course!"It's impossible not to have a good time." Pittsburgh City Paper Saturday 24th - Holders’ Third Family Afternoon One of the newest and mot popular of Holders events returns for a third year – music, poetry, circus, comedy – and hands on workshops aimed at the family and children aged 5 upwards. Two and half hours that show the best of the festival. Saturday 24th - Comedy Night  Always one of the Holders Season’s most popular evenings, the Little Theatre hosts an hour and half of top comedy. Featuring one of the UK’s brightest, incisive and down-right funny stand up comedians Marcus Brigstocke, early booking is strongly advised. Monday 26th -The Reduced Shakespeare Company in Completely Hollywood (abridged) The whacky American threesome once again trash the history of Hollywood in their inimitable style Tuesday 27th - Andre de Shields   Black by Popular Demand The Emmy award winning Andre de Shields and his fabulous salute to the music of rhythm and blues. Rhythm and Blues as seen through a prism that turns it, twists it, laughs at it and makes use of its emotional heights but rarely deals with it in unadulterated traditional fashion. An evening of high energy, de Shields is supported by backing vocalists and the incomparable pianistic talents of Joel Silberman Thursday 29th  in the Little Theatre  The American Songbook Cabaret with Joel Silberman The award winning broadway composer, singer and songwriter presents the glory of Tin Pan Alley. The American Songbook is the world’s songbook because of the many musical cultures represented in it – a treasure trove of vaudeville hits, and the music of Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Harold Arlen, Frederick Loewe and many more. Saturday 31st- An Evening with Sir Tim Rice One of the greatest of all Holders evening’s is recreated and updated as a team of crack singers and musicians from New York’s Broadway and London’s West End fly in to join multi Oscar winning lyricist Tim Rice in a show compiled and directed by Hugh Woodridge that celebrates his extraordinary career as a writer for the musical stage and for film.  Extra! Saturday 10th March  The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados A pre-Season evening of music and entertainment in aid of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Sunday 1st April – NCF Fundraising Concert  Featuring the Barbados Boys choir, The National Youth Pan Orchestra and The National Youth Orchestra Programme subject to change and alteration 14th November 2007 The programme is correct at the time of going to press and is subject to change. Click here for more festivals.