Glittering season in store for Ripon’s St Cecilia Orchestra as it unveils its new programme
Ripon’s St Cecilia Orchestra has announced its new season line-up for 2024/25, beginning with a glittering Hollywood Gala and culminating in an evening of Romantics and Radicals.
The opening concert, in Ripon Cathedral on Saturday, September 28, will feature songs from hit musicals of Hollywood’s Golden Age, sung by rising stars Henna Mun (soprano) and Marcus Swietlicki (tenor).
Conductor Xenophon Kelsey MBE played in these shows many times in the early years of his professional horn playing career and enjoyed every minute of it, saying he "relishes the chance to share this fabulous music", including Gershwin’s jazz-influenced An American in Paris.
St Cecilia Orchestra’s leader, Richard Fletcher, who recently performed the Sibelius violin concerto in Harrogate to great acclaim, joins the orchestra as soloist in Erich Korngold’s film-score-inspired concerto.
Spring will brings journeys over land and sea, as the orchestra returns to Ripon Cathedral, this time joined by Grand Finalist in Cardiff Singer of the World, Beth Taylor in a performance of Edward Elgar’s Sea Pictures.
Helena Munktell’s Bränningar’s Breaking Waves, a rich and colourful depiction of the sea, will continue the nautical theme, while Mahler’s ever-popular Symphony No 1 takes a journey across land.
There will also be a Classical Gold concert in January 2025 the beautiful surroundings of Holy Trinity Church, presenting Mozart, Mendelssohn and Beethoven.
The final concert of the season next June, Romantics and Radicals, will present Schumann, Prokofiev and Stravinsky with a starring role for St Cecilia’s principal cellist, Helen Dawson.
More information at: https://www.st-cecilia.org.uk/