Maidstone Symphony Orchestra Maidstone Symphony Orchestra audiences begin their 93rd season of five concerts in October 2003 and continue to May 2004. MSO is the South East's premier community orchestra working with one of the UK's finest conductors, Brian Wright. As ever, the season blends great favourite works with the less familiar. In particular, there are rare opportunities to hear live performances of Dvorak's Piano Concerto and Tchaikovsky's 'Manfred' Symphony. From Beethoven to Walton, MSO's fine group of voluntary players and their Music Director will relish the challenges, not least of that icon of the 20th century, Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring'. Come along and enjoy these concerts with us. BBC Young Musician of the Year, teenage violinist Jennifer Pike, opens the season on 11th October 2003 by playing Bruch's popular concerto. Framing her are anniversary tributes to Sir Arnold Bax, with his evocative tone poem 'Tintagel', and to Berlioz, with his greatest orchestral work, the aptly named, semi-autobiographical, 'Symphonie Fantastique'. MSO's President, master pianist John Lill, returns to our concert platform on 29th November with his acclaimed interpretation of Brahms' 1st concerto. The programme has the splendid 'American Overture' that Benjamin Britten forgot he had written in the USA during the early 1940s, eventually premiered in 1985, and Elgar's magnificent Shakespearean musical portrait of Sir John Falstaff. On 7th February 2004 we commemorate the centenary of the death of Dvorak with a chance to hear a neglected masterpiece, his piano concerto, played by prize-winning pianist Ian Fountain. Ballet music of the 20th century surrounds the concerto, with the scintillating Spanish rhythms of Manuel de Falla and his 'Three Cornered Hat' and the earthy, primeval, passions of Stravinsky's famous 'Rite of Spring'. Richard Simpson, the distinguished principal oboist of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, joins MSO on 20th March 2004 for Richard Strauss' well-loved swan song concerto. Either side are the sumptuous string sounds of Vaughan Williams' elegiac 'Fantasia on a theme by Thomas Tallis', and the power and classical refinement of Beethoven's great "Eroica", Symphony No.3. A welcome return to MSO for virtuoso cellist and former BBC Young Musician, Guy Johnston, playing Sir William Walton's exciting concerto will bring the 93rd season to a fitting close on 22nd May 2004. Another anniversary tribute pays homage to the quirky musical pen of American, Charles Ives, with 'Putnam's Camp'. And there is a rare concert outing for Tchaikovsky's impassioned symphonic picture of Byron's Manfred. Season tickets are now on sale for the five concerts at £32; £50 and £62, Students at £12, available from the Membership Secretaries on 01622-736392. Tickets for single concerts, at £8, £13 and £17, students at £3, can be obtained from the Mote Hall Box Office 01622-761111, major credit cards accepted, or by contacting the Membership Secretaries. Concerts take place at 7.30pm at Mote Hall, Maidstone Leisure Centre. Ron Hegarty,
General Secretary, Maidstone Orchestral Society 56
Bathurst Road, Staplehurst, Kent TN12 0LQ |