RCM Orchestras Out and About
Monday 31 October 2011
This autumn, in addition to presenting our usual packed orchestral season here at the Royal College of Music, we are sending our orchestras out and about to perform at a number of venues across the south of England.
The series forms part of the RCM’s acclaimed programme of study (recently described in The Observer as “superb training for orchestral musicians”), and gives RCM musicians the opportunity to perform in a variety of venues and acoustics. It also gives wider audiences the welcome chance to hear performers whose recent concerts have won great critical acclaim.
On Tuesday 25 October the RCM Symphony Orchestra headed to London’s Southbank Centre for an intriguing concert of Bartók rarities. Conducted by rising star Mikk Murdvee, this offered a chance for our orchestra to perform at one of London’s most important classical music venues.
On Friday 28 October, we headed to Oxford’s Sheldonian Theatre for an orchestral concert including symphonies by Haydn, Prokofiev and Mozart plus a brand new work by star RCM composer Arne Gieshoff. Introduced by RCM Chairman Lord Winston, the concert appropriately included Haydn’s ‘Oxford’ Symphony, reportedly conducted by the composer himself when he received an honorary degree from Oxford University.
Finally, the orchestral year comes to a triumphant close in Guildford Cathedral on Thursday 8 December. Stunning soprano Martha Jones joins the RCM Philharmonic Orchestra for a programme of three of Mahler’s most important early works: the Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, the slow movement Blumine, and the rarely-heard 1898 version of his majestic Symphony no 1. Visit the Guildford Cathedral website for more information and to buy tickets.
