Review of Summer Concert, 2010
Canterbury Orchestra
Summer concert
St Peter's Methodist Church
June 26th 2010
The city of Canterbury is fortunate in many respects with respect to its musical life, often punching above its weight in ambition and realisation of musical projects (with the promise of much more to come!). In the same way it is fortunate to have so many amateur music makers, literally people who are passionate about music making deriving and giving pleasure to many. This is certainly the case with Canterbury Orchestra whose forty four players were directed by conductor Andrew Lowen through some appropriately summer sounds in their concert given in St Peter's Methodist Church.
The delightful programme of a youthful Schubert Symphony no 3 , Wagner's passionate outpouring of love in his Siegfried Idyll and Mendelssohn's incidental music to A Midsummer Night's Dream (written at the age of 17!) was overall a joyful experience for listener and player alike. Whilst the intense heat presented intonation challenges for the wind players at times and the 'supportive acoustic' as with London's Barbican favoured the brass and timps over the strings, each work was shaped and phrased with care. The ensemble was very pleasing , obvious attention paid in rehearsal to the challenges presented in each of these works with strong solo playing when required, especially so in the Mendelssohn Nocturne with its demanding horn writing.
All in all this was a splendid evening, the orchestra proudly wearing its Canterbury badge and promising much more to come next season.
Musicus
Review for the Kentish Gazette
Next Concert
MUSICAL FRIENDS
Sat 5th May 2018, Colyer-Fergusson Hall, 7.30pm
Tickets available from the Gulbenkian Box Office at £15 and £8 for students and children
Vaughan Williams: Serenade to Music
Brahms: Alto Rhapsody
Britten: Hymn to St Cecilia
Elgar: Enigma Variations
Andrew Lowen conductor
Canterbury Orchestra celebrates ‘Music & Friendship’ with Wagner’s overture Mastersingers and Elgar’s portrait of his friends, the Enigma Variations. Their friends Lees Court Music join them in Vaughan Williams’ Serenade to Music and on their own in Britten’s Hymn to St Cecilia, she being the patron saint of our noble art. To complete the programme Brahms’ seeks solace from loneliness in music in his beautiful Alto Rhapsody.
Interested in playing with the Canterbury Orchestra?
Call Nicky Pound, Canterbury Orchestra Manager on 01304 812755 or email us to find out whether we have vacancies.