Magellan Circumnavigation: "We Sail to Prove the Earth is Round"

Written and composed by Bob Whitley

Performed by Bob Whitley and Lee MacKenzie

Magellan Circumnavigation is a musical story of love divided by the greatest voyage of human exploration the world has seen. It follows a sailor on the voyage and his wife at home, mirroring the lives of Ferdinand and Beatriz Magellan. Bob Whitley and Lee MacKenzie combine breath-taking vocal harmonies with intricate guitar and mandola instrumentation from Bob Whitley blending with the exceptional melodic cello of Lee MacKenzie, delivering songs inspired by Magellan’s voyage 500 year ago. A story of mutinies, battles, storms, shipwreck, love and loss performed with passion by two accomplished singers and musicians.

An evening with Bob and Lee is not just an evening of great music but also one of drama, history and storytelling performed in 16C sailors costumes.

Bob Whitley is a Poole-based songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer who has been delighting audiences across the Dorset folk scene for over 30 years. Playing a wide range of instruments, including guitar and mandolas, he writes songs inspired by history, politics and the events of his own life. Throughout his three decades at the heart of the local folk scene, Bob has played at virtually every folk club and festival in Dorset and many in the surrounding area, and has also supported some of the genre’s most beloved artists, including Pete Moreton, Faustus, Nancy Kerr and James Fagin, John Tams and Barry Coope, Jez Lowe, Roy Bailey and John Kirkpatrick.

Lee MacKenzie is a Dorset based cellist and vocalist. He began his musical career as a classically trained string player and chamber singer, later studying string tuition. Stepping beyond the confines of the classical genre, Lee was drawn into the rich and diverse world of folk music. He was the lead vocalist of folk trio Kadia and now plays with David Hoyland in the folk duo The Last Inklings and is a member of the Ninebarrow Trio and Band.

"A thoughtful and perfectly nuanced performance of carefully crafted songs evoking the fear, excitement and desperately gruelling lives of the sailors and the hopes and heartaches of the loves they had left behind." Bournemouth Echo

Event: Saturday 14 May, 7.30pm

Tickets: £13 / £11

Book your tickets now for Magellan Circumnavigation at Hampshire Cultural Trust's Forest Arts Centre, New Milton now!

  • Magellan Circumnavigation

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