Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra continues focus on young top-quality soloists

Their summer programme features ESO competition-winner pianist Firoze Madon playing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.

The concert is on Sunday, June 22 at 7pm in St Saviour’s Church BN21 4UT. Tickets (£18) are available from WeGotTickets or Reid & Dean (43–45 Cornfield Road BN21 4QJ), or (£20) on the door.

Firoze is currently a third-year undergraduate student at the Royal College of Music in London. He started piano lessons at the age of six and was admitted to the Purcell School for Young Musicians in 2014 where he studied piano and also took lessons in violin and composition.

His love for music has taken him across the UK and overseas and he has played at Wigmore Hall, the Southbank Centre among other venues. He was a Keyboard Category Finalist in BBC Young Musician 2022 where his performance was broadcast on BBC Four and Radio 3. A few months later, he won the Gregynog Young Musician Competition in Wales. In January 2024, he won the Alasdair Graham Pianist Prize in the RCM Lieder Competition. In April 2024, Firoze was awarded the prestigious Help Musicians Accompanist’s Prize at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and, most recently, he won first prize, the John Crawshaw Award, in the ESO’s Young Soloist Competition.

He said : “It was a pleasure participating and I have fond memories from the experience. It was very well organised, there was a warm and appreciative audience, and it was a fantastic platform to perform to an enthusiastic public and gain more experience on stage. Opportunities like these are invaluable for young musicians and I would recommend anyone to take part.”

Conductor Graham Jones said: “The concert starts with Nicolai’s Merry Wives of Windsor Overture, his most successful work; a light overture with all the froth of the Italian style. This is followed by Schubert’s Unfinished which embodies more of the spirit of romanticism than any other symphonic work of its time, and then another concert favourite, Dvořák’s Slavonic Dance No 8. Characterised by lively syncopations and shifting accents, the music’s driving energy and rhythmic inventiveness make it both technically thrilling and emotionally stirring.

“After the interval comes The Walk to the Paradise Garden which contains some of Delius’s most rhapsodic and emotional writing and has music of the kind of poignancy and aching beauty that only he could deliver. Finally, the Rachmaninov, a much-loved work and a favourite among concertgoers (especially variation 18).”

Firoze added: “It is utterly thrilling from beginning to end, both for the performers and the audience. Rachmaninov’s compositional genius is evident in the way he transforms Paganini’s versatile theme into a magnificent set of variations that are contrasting in mood and character, from the boisterous and dazzling to the gloomy, dreamy, affectionate, and impassioned. This piece offers an exhilarating roller-coaster of emotions.”

Graham added: “I always look forward to working with soloists at the start of their careers and watch as they progress over the years. This is the fourth outing for the Rachmaninov over the past 45 years. The last time I conducted it was in 2005 when the soloist winner was Alexandra Dariescu, now a well-known and highly respected musician. It’s always an enjoyable part of the concert-planning process when we discuss with the winner what they want to play and then we build a programme around it. The mix of musical styles throughout is something which, we hope, will attract a good audience, many of whom support our Young Soloist Competition and will want to hear Firoze again, this time with full orchestra.”