Attention all classical music lovers. We have some inside details on a concert from an up and coming orchestra, taking place this weekend, at a stunning London location.
This Sunday in Bloomsbury, The Aldwych Sinfonia are playing their first concert of the year, in aid of MacMillan Cancer Support. This is a bright and youthful orchestra with an interesting un-conducted approach. The Aldwych Sinfonia was founded with the purpose of using the orchestra as an alternative performance platform, on which individual musicians can showcase their talents as soloists and chamber musicians. The event, titled A Bohemian Rhapsody, will be an opportunity to see some excellent music performed by extremely talented players at a reasonable price. And don’t be put off by the title: it should be a completely Queen free zone.
Olivia Jarvis, concert violinist and BBS’s ‘Musical Lieutenant’, is the founder of the Aldwych Sinfonia. Started just under 2 years ago, their main ethos is that all music-making, whatever the sizes, is chamber music. They always perform without a conductor – something that encourages everyone to listen, interact and contribute equally.
All players swap parts with no set principal players, and all players are soloists, as they explored in a recent concert of Vivaldi concerti. In that concert, each of the Four Seasons was performed and directed by a different violinist of the orchestra. This encouraged the orchestra to adapt to the different colours that could be created with different players in different positions. “It’s incredibly exciting for us and we hope for the audience too,” they say. This should be an intriguing and dynamic approach to see in action.
The concert is taking place at St George’s Bloomsbury on the 26th January at 7.30pm. St George’s is a beautiful baroque church, designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor, which has been recently described in The Guardian as “one of the capital’s most wonderful buildings”. The church sounds like it’s worth a visit on its own merit but on top of the music and architecture, you can be sure of good access too. The church has a portable ramp to allow less able people to get inside and a disabled toilet on site.
It should be a wonderful even and tickets cost just £10 for adults, £8 concessions and £5 students. Details are recapped n the poster below.
