Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra promises “real humdinger” as season concludes
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The concert is at 7pm on Sunday, October 20 in Saviour’s Church, Eastbourne, BN21 4UT. Tickets (£18) are available from WeGotTickets, Reid & Dean, 43-45 Cornfield Road, BN21 4QJ or (£20) on the door.
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Hide AdConcert manager John Thornley said: “It’s a real humdinger with something for everyone: Stranger in Paradise, Land of Hope and Glory, Dam Busters March, the Toreador Song, and the dramatic, energetic and youthful Beethoven Piano Concerto No 3.”
The concert continues the ESO’s goal of welcoming young players. Conductor Graham Jones initiated the ESO’s own young soloist competition in 1988: “This competition has been a very rewarding part of guiding the orchestra since its inception in 1980. My colleagues and I on the judging panel must have heard some 2,000 competitors over the years and have been able to give a concerto performance to more than 40 top-quality players.
“There can, sadly, be only one winner every year but much of it is about giving the soloists a chance to perform, even if they don’t win. Working with the winners at such a formative stage of their career as they build their confidence in working with orchestras is a privilege and something I always enjoy, and they bring a freshness to their performance. It has been especially pleasing to have collaborated in recent years with the local Norah Sande Award Piano Competition, and our autumn concert has featured their winner. This year, we are looking forward to hearing Jamie Cochrane.”
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Hide AdJamie, who started to play the piano at the relatively late age of eight, described his experience of competing in the award as ‘fantastic: the opportunity to select and prepare a programme, to compete against other superb young pianists, and to receive invaluable feedback from the judging panel is of real importance to musicians in the early stages of their careers. For me, the last point is perhaps the most critical reason why I entered the competition. The judges’ various opinions offer so much food for thought to inspire and challenge my own thoughts on music.”
He is playing Beethoven 3: “Having performed some of the big Romantic piano concertos, I was very keen to pick an earlier concerto for something a bit different and to gain a new perspective on concerto playing that would hopefully enrich my approach to the later concertos. More specifically, I picked Beethoven 3 as it’s an audience favourite with the most sublime second movement and it offers me plenty of challenges to get stuck into. It’s been a real learning experience preparing this piece. In particular, it’s really encouraged me to reflect on the relationship between soloist and orchestra, and I’m looking forward to collaborating with the orchestra. I hope that this piece will be the jewel in the crown of a well-chosen programme that offers something for everybody, including both those familiar and unfamiliar with the western classical tradition.”
And it’s a first for Graham who adds: ‘It’s always an enjoyable challenge to work on pieces I haven’t performed before as is the case here and with the Mozart overture. Of course, it’s always also a pleasure to return to the popular classics and find some new ideas to share.”
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Hide AdThe programme includes Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte Overture and Sibelius’s Finlandia ending with the serene and melodic Finlandia hymn after a rousing and turbulent opening. Then come Bizet’s Carmen Suite No 1 with its popular tunes which appear in the opera, and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances which made its way into the 1953 musical Kismet. And, to finish the evening, there is Coates’s Dam Busters March which remains popular and is often used as an accompaniment to flypasts, and Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 with its Land of Hope and Glory ending.
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