In the Wilmslow Symphony Orchestra's second concert of the 2013-2014 season we're marking the Benjamin Britten centenary, with three of his most popular works – the Soirées Musicales and Matinées Musicales, tuneful arrangements of short pieces by Rossini, and the ever-popular Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.
These pieces have a special meaning for the Wilmslow SO's chairman Ros Wood, who as a young girl played them with Britten himself conducting. Ros contributes her personal memories of Britten to the programme – something truly worth having.
This is a concert of short and tuneful (if not necessarily easy) pieces. The oldest piece, Mozart's Magic Flute Overture, ties in with the newest, Jonathan Dove's sparkling Magic Flute Dances, which features the orchestra's principal flute, Alastair Roberts, as the magic flautist. Our Leader, Jem Bradley, is the soloist in Beethoven's gentle Romance in F major. The Britten Young Person's Guide was written to show off each section of the orchestra in turn – which means that everyone gets to be a soloist.
For this concert, which takes place on Saturday 7th December at 7.45pm, we are delighted to welcome back the conductor Juan Ortuño, for the first of two concerts in this season. The venue is, as usual, the Evans Theatre in Wilmslow Leisure Centre.
Tickets are available from the ticket hotline, 01925 756144, from Bang & Olufsen, Bank Square, Wilmslow (in person), from members of the orchestra, or at the door.
Prices for the concerts at Wilmslow Leisure Centre are: adults £10.00, season tickets £40.00 (offering five concerts for the price of four), under 18 £2.00 and season tickets £8.00.
Member post by Dermot Gault.
