AS part of Museums at Night in York, the innovative Cobweb Orchestra will present an underground performance in the York Cold War Bunker, in Monument Close, Acomb, on Saturday.
Make that three performances – at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm – of a site-specific work by composer-in-residence Michael Betteridge and lighting designer Steve Messam that will be part concert, part art exhibition.
"We've never tried anything like this before: we'll be doing three performances of 45 minutes each at hourly intervals," say the Cobwebs, who will rehearse on the day from 3pm to 6pm.
The orchestra sent out an enrolment call for players for a work that needs 20 musicians with a range of instruments. As well as a small orchestra playing in the operations room, the performance may include music in several small rooms in the bunker, such as Sixties songs in the dormitory or a trio playing jazz in the canteen.
Only a limited number of tickets remain available for each performance at £7.50 each on 0370 333 1181 and they can be booked only by phone.
The Cobweb Orchestra performances also mark the start of the Beyond Trinity commemorations for the 70th anniversary of the first Trinity weapons test in an isolated New Mexico desert.
May 16, 1945 saw the US Army conduct the 20 kiloton explosion as the outcome of the Manhattan Project, a joint effort by British, American and Canadian scientists and researchers.
The York Cold War Bunker, the best surviving bunker of its type in the country, is run by English Heritage, which has decided to add extra opening hours this season with "an enlightening programme of events to herald this significant moment in time".
After welcoming 6,200 visitors last year, the bunker is now open five days a week for the first time – Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm – and a dramatic rise in visitors is anticipated.
The bunker was built in 1961 as the Royal Observer Corps’ headquarters and an integral part of the nuclear monitoring networks across the country, but time stopped in 1991 when the site was mothballed until English Heritage opened up this hidden gem to the public in 2006.
From next month, a season of 7pm screenings will take place in a curated programme of rare films that shows the different sides and aspects to war and the nuclear issue, covering documentary, docu-drama, action and Japanese Manga.
A maximum of 25 viewers each show will combine an after-dark tour with screenings ofTrinity And Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie on June 20; Shadow Makers, July 16; Hiroshima, August 6; Barefoot Gen, August 15, and The Day After Trinity, September 19.
On September 25, on YorNight, there will be a talk and short tour entitled City Of The Future, led by University of York nuclear physicists and bunker staff at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm.
University lecturer Dr Charles Barton will give a brief introduction to nuclear science and the fundamental forces of nature and outline future uses of nuclear technology, while the operations room tour will share the technologies of the bunker with visitors as part of York's contribution to European Researchers’ Night.
For more information on the York Cold War Bunker, visit english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/york-cold-war-bunker/; more details on YorNight can be found at yornight.com
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