An evening of Romantics and Radicals at lovely Holy Trinity Church in Ripon

Taking place in the beautiful setting of Holy Trinity Church in Ripon, the summer concert will present a programme called Romantics and Radicals.

The concert on Saturday, June 14 will open with Prokofiev’s sparkling Classical Symphony.

This short work, one of the composer’s most enduringly popular, is composed along the lines of a Mozart or Haydn symphony, blending Prokofiev’s own daring musical language with typical melodic turns and gestures from the Classical era.

Next is Schumann’s intensely lyrical cello concerto.

The soloist will be Helen Dawson who has been principal cellist of St Cecilia Orchestra since 2018.

Her rich CV includes Rachmaninov’s cello sonata, the Schubert String Quintet and Shostakovich’s cello concerto no 1.

After the interval, Helen will take to the stage again in Tchaikovsky’s poignant Andante Cantabile, arranged for cello and strings by the composer from his first string quartet, before the concert ends with Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite.

Formed of eight movements from his Pulcinella ballet score, this work marked a new direction in Stravinsky’s composition and is based on compositions from 18th century Italy.

The orchestra’s distinguished conductor, Xenophon Kelsey MBE, is a native of Ripon and has been a musical lynchpin of the orchestra since 1989.

Tickets are available via Ticketsource at: www.ticketsource.co.uk/st-cecilia

They are also on sale at Little Ripon Bookshop, Harrogate Theatre box office, or on the door from 7pm.

Information: www.st-cecilia.org.uk.