Australia’s New South Wales Public Schools Symphony Orchestra and Choir present two free concerts in Manchester in January: one in the Gothic grandeur of Manchester Cathedral; the other in the new Stoller Hall behind Chetham’s School of Music. Described as “Australia’s finest”, the orchestra and choir are two of the best ensembles administered by the New South Wales Department of Education’s Arts Unit, and are made up of 69 musicians and 42 singers, all high-school students and with an average age of 16. Appropriately, then, gracing the two stages alongside them will be youthful music-makers from our own locale: the First Year String Ensemble from RNCM, for the Cathedral concert, and the Kantos Chamber Choir and Stockport Youth Orchestra, at Chet’s. Expect a varied programme at both concerts, with the NSW PS Orchestra and Senior Singers performing both separately and together, and Kantos’s top choral singers showcasing some of their own pieces as well as two joint pieces in harmony with the NSW PS ensembles. Equally, the repertoire of the NSW PS Orchestra and Senior Singers is anything but run of the mill. Yes, it includes works by familiar names such as Beethoven, Elgar, Grieg, Mozart, Ravel, Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky, but we’re also promised more modern compositions, from the likes of Scotland’s James MacMillan and Grammy Award-winning American Eric Whitacre, plus pieces by Australia’s own Felix Riebl and Sally Whitwell. Sounds good, so while the tickets may be free, be sure to reserve.
Thu 18 Jan 2018, Manchester Cathedral, Victoria Street, Manchester, M3 1SX, Tel: 0161 833 2220, 7.30pm, free, www.manchestercathedral.org; Fri 19 Jan 2018, The Stoller Hall, Hunts Bank, Manchester, M3 1DA, Tel: 0333 130 0967, 7.30pm, free, www.stollerhall.com
- Words:
- Sarah-Clare Conlon
- Published on:
- Sat 13 Jan 2018
