Concerts and Live Music at DEMBE Theatre

Concerts are the most varied thing we do. In the space of a month this stage might hold a chamber orchestra, a sixty-voice choir, a folk duo with a guitar and a fiddle, a jazz quartet and a tribute band playing an album end to end. What connects them is that people have come to listen rather than to follow a story, and a room where you can hear a singer breathe is a good place to do it.

What kind of concerts are staged here?

Classical and choral work makes up a good share of it. Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire have a strong tradition of amateur orchestras, choral societies and chamber groups, many of them very good indeed, and a theatre of this size suits them far better than a church with a six-second reverb or a hall with none at all. Orchestral concerts, choral evenings, recitals and opera in concert all appear.

Alongside that sits everything else: folk and acoustic, jazz and swing, brass and wind bands, world music, singer-songwriters on tour, and the tribute and nostalgia shows that fill a room reliably and are a great deal more skilled than their reputation suggests. Youth and school music groups perform here too, often giving young musicians their first experience of a real stage with real lighting.

What is the room like for music?

It is a theatre rather than a concert hall, which has advantages and limits worth knowing before you book. The advantage is proximity and clarity. You are close to the players, you can watch a bow or a breath, and quiet playing stays quiet rather than disappearing. The limit is that this is a dry, controlled room rather than a cathedral, so a performance of large-scale choral repertoire sounds direct and detailed rather than vast.

For most audiences that trade is a good one. Nuance survives here. A solo voice, an unamplified string quartet or a jazz trio playing softly all work in a way they do not in a bigger space. Amplified acts bring their own sound engineer or work with the house system; the production page will say if a concert is seated throughout, which almost all are.

Who performs, and why they come back

Many of the groups on this stage are local, and that is by design. The theatre vision commits us to being economical as well as local: offering subsidised rates to amateur and community groups so that an orchestra or a choral society can afford a proper venue with proper facilities. A community choir should not have to choose between a decent acoustic and staying solvent.

Professional touring musicians come for a different reason. The room rewards them, the audience listens, and the get-in is straightforward. Those professional dates matter to the theatre's own sustainability, which is the third of our four endeavours: income from promoted concerts is part of what keeps the subsidised rate available to the choir rehearsing on a Tuesday night.

Bringing children, and bringing a group

Concerts can be an easier first visit for a young child than a play, because there is no plot to follow and no need to stay silent for an hour of dialogue. A family concert, a brass band or a short choral programme is a gentle introduction. Longer classical programmes are a bigger ask; the event page gives the running time and any age guidance, and we would always rather you checked than guessed.

Groups are welcome and common at concerts, whether that is a choir's supporters, a music society outing or a few families together. If you are booking for a larger party and want to sit together, book early or get in touch.

Tickets, concessions and getting here

Each concert has its own page on this site with dates, prices and a seating plan, and tickets are booked directly through it. Concessions are available on most performances for full-time students, children aged fifteen and under, over sixties, and registered disabled patrons with their carers. Proof is required, one concession applies per person per transaction, and not every performance offers them, so the event page is the place to confirm. Every ticket includes a DEMBE Theatre Restoration Fee that is reinvested in the building.

Find us at Penny Royal Court, Station Road, Tring, HP23 5QY. The main car park is free, a bus stops on Station Road outside the theatre, and Tring station is a short walk away on the line to London Euston, about thirty-five minutes. Wheelchair spaces are available in the auditorium. If you need one, or have any other access requirement, please contact us before booking.

On sale now, and previously performed

Below you will find the concerts currently on sale, followed by those that have already taken place. Past concerts stay listed: if you want to know what an orchestra programmed here three seasons ago, or remind yourself of a night you enjoyed, the record is kept.