Game of Thrones star Charles Dance to narrate live orchestral tribute to Abraham Lincoln at BBC Proms and Edinburgh International Festival
Dance will follow in the footsteps of fellow actors Gregory Peck and Paul Newman, as well as former US president Barack Obama
Veteran actor Charles Dance – star of numerous films and TV shows but best known to Game of Thrones fans as formidable patriarch Tywin Lannister – is to front an orchestral performance at the Edinburgh International Festival and the BBC Proms.
Dance will appear on stage to narrate Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait, a tribute to Abraham Lincoln setting the inspirational US president's words to orchestral music.
Dance follows in the illustrious footsteps of fellow actors including Gregory Peck and Paul Newman and, most recently, another former president, Barack Obama, who have all performed the monologue.
Dance will be accompanied by the Cincinnati Symphony, the orchestra which played the world premiere of the work in 1942. Louis Langrée will conduct the programme, which also includes Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Suite from 1954 Marlon Brando movie On the Waterfront.
The performances take place at Usher Hall at the Edinburgh International Festival on Friday 25th August and at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms on Sunday 27th August.
The Prom will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 at 7:45pm.
