Culture
Music
The annual open-air concert at Darley Park is one of the biggest free concerts of its kind. It is one of many performances given throughout the year by Sinfonia Viva, a professional chamber orchestra based in Derby. The Derby Jazz group caters for the jazz interest in the city and is regarded as one of the UK's leading live jazz organisations. There is also a summer rock music festival Prom in the Park which takes place in late July every year.
Theatre and arts
Derby Playhouse regularly received acclaim in the national press for its productions, particularly, in recent years, for its staging of shows by Stephen Sondheim. After a lengthy period of financial uncertainty, the theatre closed in February 2008. It was resurrected in September of that year after a new financing package was put together but forced to close again just two months later because of further financial problems.
Derby QUAD is a new centre for art and film which opened on Friday 26 September, 2008. This new building has two cinema screens showing both independent and mainstream cinema, two gallery spaces housing contemporary visual arts, a digital studio, participation spaces, digital editing suites, artists studio and the bfi Mediatheque.
The Robert Ludlam Theatre is a 270 seat venue with a diverse programme of entertainment including dance, drama, art, music, theatre in the round, comedy, films, family entertainment, rock and pop events, workshops and provides a home for many of Derbyshire's amateur production groups. You have to go through St Benedict's School to get there, however.
John Dexter the theatre director and the actor Alan Bates were both from Derby.