Sir Ernest Hall, the well known businessman and musician, has been spending much of his time in Lanzarote for over 20 years.
When the 300 year old ruined camel house next to his own property in Mácher came onto the market, Sir Ernest knew straight away what he wanted to do with it:
“The minute I saw the double height sitting room, albeit buried in horrible décor, I knew I would buy it and I knew it would be a concert hall.”
That dream is now very close to fruition, thanks to the organizational skills of Paul Crossley, the artistic director and his partner John Brakband. We met with Paul and John at The Camel House and they showed us around and explained the plan for this year’s concerts. Paul is a concert pianist himself and he and John split their time between their homes in Oasis de Nazaret and London.
The original camel house has been restored beautifully, with all new woodwork, bungalows for the visiting artists, and even a private swimming pool. Pride of place is the small concert hall, which is a high ceilinged room with seating for 100. The piano had arrived the day before our visit, and was awaiting the arrival of a technician who was flying in to prepare it for first use.
The concept that the team have come up with is both simple and elegant. They have succeeded in their aim to get some of the best artists in the world to come and perform on the island. Favours, friendships and the lure of a few days in sunshine and luxury has been enough to persuade them to play for much lower fees than they would normally ask, and in a venue considerably smaller than they are used to.
Because of the strictly limited seating, concerts will not be sold on a simple tickets basis. Instead, concert goers are being asked to join a “club” of amigos. There will only be 120 people in the club, and each will be asked to pay a fee of €200 per season. Given that there are 18 concerts already scheduled for this year, and 20 in the future, that represents astonishing value at just €10 per concert. For a small additional fee, a fully transferable subscription can be purchased so you can allow guests to use your own membership when you aren’t available – this is to allow people who aren’t full time residents on the island to “share” their tickets with guests or friends
This year, already confirmed, are the following artists:
Bernd Glemser (Piano)
Craig Ogden (Guitar)
Michael Roll (Piano)
Hyunah Yu (Soprano)
Shai Wosner (Piano)
Artur Pizarro (Piano)
Paul Crossley (Piano)
Christian Immler (Baritone)
Marta Zabaleta (Piano)
Miguel Borges Coelho (Piano)
Eric Le Sage (Piano)
The dates are already booked for the year, with concerts taking place every month apart from June and August. Amigos will arrive to be greeted with a glass of wine and will be able to enjoy the landscaped gardens during the breaks.
Once you join the club, you’ll have access to a special member’s area where you will be able to pre book your own seats. There are likely to be other Amigos events during the year, although we don’t have details at this stage.
It was a real pleasure meeting Paul and John, and we’d like to thank them for their time. The Camel house is simply fabulous, and it’s wonderful to see one of our old ruins restored to it’s former glory and being made use of again.
Finally, there are only 120 tickets available. There are some amazing musicians coming to Lanzarote, and each concert promises to be a fantastic social occasion. Please go now to www.camelhouseconcerts.com and reserve your place.
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