Rare guest conductor for Worthing Symphony Orchestra

Spokeswoman Jennie Osborne said: “The last time Worthing Symphony Orchestra had a guest conductor was back in February 2000 when music director John Gibbons was conducting Puccini’s La Boheme in Cape Town, South Africa.

“John hasn’t missed a concert since. However as he was due to be away for recording sessions in Latvia in late April, he invited the great Hilary Davan Wetton to conduct WSO. Ironically these sessions have been postponed due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, so John will be at the April 24 concert – for the first time as an audience member!

“Hilary Davan Wetton is renowned throughout the music world for his work as musical director of the City of London Choir, as associate conductor of the London Mozart Players and for his numerous appearances as a guest conductor with choirs and orchestras across the UK. His recording repertoire including the Military Wives Choir, 2018 recording Remember to commemorate the end of the First World War. Soloist for this concert is the rising young violin star Cristian Grajner de Sa, who makes his Worthing debut playing what is one of the most popular violin concertos of all time – Bruch’s First Violin Concerto in G Minor.

“Born in 1994 to Italian and Portuguese parents, Cristian was awarded the Royal Academy’s Leverhulme Scholarship aged just 13. Cristian is a remarkable talent who has been described as ‘one of the great violin stars of the future’ and ‘a future giant among violin soloists.’

“The WSO audience has seen many rising stars of classical music on the Assembly Hall stage over the decades that John Gibbons has been at the Orchestra’s helm, and there is no doubt that Cristian is another star in the making. The programme includes Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, which powerfully tells the story of Count Egmont’s resistance to the Spanish Inquisition (for which he paid with his life), while Mendelssohn’s Third Symphony (Scottish) was inspired by the composer’s visit to the rugged ruins of Holyrood Palace where Queen Mary lived and loved.”

The concert starts at 2.45pm and tickets are available online at wtam.uk or call 01903 206206.

Exciting news for Bridgerton fans