Sunday 25 October 2015

Northern Chamber Orchestra begins concert series in Buxton

Lauren Scott
We've just received some really exciting news! One of the top chamber orchestras in the country – Buxton Festival’s ‘Orchestra in Residence’, the NCO, presents a brand-new, 3-concert series in Buxton, starting 15 November
The Northern Chamber Orchestra has partnered up with Buxton Festival, in association with Orchestras Live, to present a brand-new, three-concert series for Buxton. The series has also been funded by a grant from The Foyle Foundation. Buxton visitors and residents have the opportunity to hear the NCO when it participates in Buxton Festival’s main opera productions as the ‘Orchestra in Residence’ for two weeks each summer. The new concert series is intended to give people living in and around Buxton access to top-quality, live classical music-making throughout the rest of the year and without the need to travel far to enjoy experiencing it. The partners have been busy programming a lovely mix of music and formats and the result is a Sunday evening concert on 15 November at St John’s Church, Buxton, a fabulous Viennese Gala at Buxton Opera House on Friday 8 January and a Lunchtime Coffee Concert at the Pavilion Arts Centre on Thursday 28 April, featuring soloists from the NCO.
Jonathan Thackeray, NCO General Manager said:“I am delighted to announce the NCO’s new series in Buxton for 2015–2016.  We have been a part of Buxton’s arts scene for several years as the ‘Orchestra in Residence’ at Buxton Festival and we see this series as a natural and welcome extension of our activities in the area, which we hope to build on for the future.”
Orchestras Live is supporting the two orchestral concerts and Henry Little, Chief Executive of Orchestras Live, said:“For many years Orchestras Live has co-produced high quality orchestral concerts with the Buxton Festival. It has been an aspiration of ours to encourage more year-round programming of concerts in Buxton and High Peak, and we are delighted that the forthcoming concerts by Northern Chamber Orchestra are a valuable step towards fulfilling this ambition.”
NCO presents a successful annual season in Macclesfield and performs concerts in rural towns across the North. It is keen to build a regular series in Buxton and to work with highly successful arts organisations already operating there, such as Buxton Festival.  Randall Shannon, Executive Director of Buxton Festival said: “I’m delighted that the orchestra will be appearing in Buxton outside of the Festival period, further strengthening our partnership and increasing the high-quality music-making available to local audiences.”
The Hint of Genius concert at St John’s Church on Sunday 15 November at 7.30pm features wonderful interludes from opera, theatre and ballet, along with an evergreen favourite from Holst – St Paul’s Suite. Dramatic, early works – hinting at genius – from Mendelssohn (String Symphony no 10) and Shostakovich (Prelude and Scherzo Op 11) add youthful fire. Debussy’s atmospheric, sometimes sensuous Danse Sacrée et Danse Profane will showcase the talents of soloist, Lauren Scott on the harp.  Harp and strings combine in John McCabe’s 2 Dances from the ballet, Mary Queen of Scots and the Ida Carroll Trust has sponsored the performance of this work, in honour of the revered British composer and pianist, who died earlier this year. The enduring fascination with two of Shakespeare’s most famous literary characters is explored in Fauré’s Nocturne from Shylock and Tchaikovsky’s Entr’acte from Hamlet.
NCO is also performing at Buxton Opera House and the Pavilion Arts Centre in 2016. The Viennese Gala on Friday 8 January, 7.30pm, at the Opera House, will welcome the New Year with a sparkling programme of uplifting waltzes, polkas and memorable marches from the Strauss family and other Viennese masters. Soprano, Alison Langer, will join Nicholas Ward, NCO Artistic Director, and the orchestra for classics such as Vienna City of My Dreams by Sieczynski and the Laughing Song by Strauss. Keeping the mood very jolly will be the Overture from The Merry Wives of Windsor and Vilja from The Merry Widow, along with many others, and of course, no Viennese Gala would be complete without The Blue Danube 
The Lunchtime Coffee Concert at the Pavilion Arts Centre, at 1pm, Thursday 28 April, will feature a top trio of soloists from the NCO playing a brief but delicious programme of Schubert’s Trio Movement in B flat D471Hans Krasa Tanec (Dance) and Beethoven String Trio in G Op 9 no 1.
Tickets for Hint of Genius at St John’s Church on 15 November, are available from NCO Box Office: 0161 247 2220, Buxton TIC at the Pavilion Tel: 01298 25106 and On The Door – priced: £15 / 18s & under £10 (all unreserved). To book tickets and for information about the Viennese Gala at Buxton Opera House and the Lunchtime Coffee Concertat the Pavilion, contact Buxton Opera House Tel: 01298 72190 and visit www.buxtonoperahouse.org.uk  Find out more about all NCO’s concerts at www.ncorch.co.uk
If you are attending the November 15th concert and need accommodation in the town that evening you may wish to consider the following offer from the Portland Hotel: 
Buxton Festival Friends / Buxton Fringe Festival Friends and NCO Friends & Patrons who book for the NCO’s concert have the chance to stay at The Portland Hotel in Buxton’s picturesque town centre for a special, discounted rate: 
 Bed & Breakfast: £25 per person on the evening of Sunday 15 November 2015.* (a single room is normally £40 a night / a double room is normally £35 per person per night).  Parking is available. heck out the hotel: www.portlandhotelbuxton.com 
 Our ‘Friends’ offer also includes £1 off the price of the NCO concert ticket**  (per Friend), so you pay £14 instead of £15.
*Portland Hotel ‘Friends’ Offer: only available on Sunday 15 November 2015 and is subject to availability.  Offer not exchangeable for cash.  Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.  To access the offer, please quote ‘NCO Friends Offer’ at the point of booking with the hotel - either by telephone: 01298 71493 or by email: Portland.hotel@btinternet.com
**To book tickets for NCO’s Hint of Genius concert, ring NCO Box Office Tel: 0161 247 2220 or ring/ call in at Buxton TIC, Pavilion Gardens Tel: 01298 25106 and quote ‘NCO Concert ‘Friends’ Offer’.  You have to pre-book to access the £1 offer special offer; it is not available On The Door.
Buxton Fringe

Website: www.buxtonfringe.org.uk
Facebook: buxtonfringe
Twitter: @buxtonfringe


No comments:

Post a Comment