20th Birthday Concert in Pictures

In late October Britten Sinfonia celebrated its 20th birthday with celebratory concerts in Cambridge, Norwich and London. The London concert launched the orchestra's association with the Barbican and photographers Benjamin Ealovega and Rhydian Peters captured the day.

 

Stephen Williams and Andy Sheppard in rehearsal  (c) Ben Ealovega

Andy's sax (c) Ben Ealovega

Joanna MacGregor rehearsing Moondog (c) Ben Ealovega

Tom Herbert rehearsing Moondog (c) Ben Ealovega

Sound Engineer, Matt Fairclough (c) Ben Ealovega

Kuljit Bhamra rehearsing Moondog (c) Ben Ealovega

Seb Rochford rehearsing Moondog (c) Ben Ealovega

A smile during rehearsal (c) Ben Ealovega

Pekka Kuusisto & Mark Padmore in rehearsal (c) Ben Ealovega

Pekka & Alina Ibragimova rehearsing the Bach Double (c) Ben Ealovega

Nico Muhly multi-tasking during the rehearsal of his piece  (c) Ben Ealovega

Eamonn Dougan conducting the rehearsal of Nico's piece (c) Ben Ealovega

Britten Sinfonia Voices rehearsing (c) Ben Ealovega

The 'running board' backstage - a busy day! (c) Ben Ealovega

Backstage (c) Ben Ealovega

Birthday Cake! for the musicians to share! (c) Ben Ealovega

Claire, Marketing Director & Nico Muhly sharing a drink (c) Rhydian  Peters

Will (Development Director) talking to a guest at the reception (c) Rhydian Peters

Alexandra Reid introducing the Britten Sinfonia Academy performance (c) Rhydian Peters

Britten Sinfonia Academy (c) Rhydian Peters

Britten Sinfonia Academy performing on the free stage (c) Ben Ealovega

Backstage before the concert (c) Ben Ealovega

Backstage before the concert (c) Ben Ealovega

Orchestra and choir on stage (c) Rhydian Peters

Pekka & Alina performing the Bach Double (c) Rhydian Peters

Mark Padmore performing Les Illuminations (c) Rhydian Peters

Pekka performing his birthday tribute, OMG HBD (c) Rhydian Peters

Joanna MacGregor performing Bach (c) Rhydian Peters

 

Post concert performance on the Club stage (c) Ben Ealovega

Jackie Shave (c) Ben Ealovega

Post concert party time (c) Ben Ealovega

James MacMillan and David Butcher after the concert (c) Ben Ealovega

James (Creative Learning Assitant) and Gabrielle Deschamps (Development Assistant) enjoying the party (c) Ben Ealovega

Pekka gives the night a thumbs up! (c) Ben Ealovega

Nico enjoying a glass of vino (c) Ben Ealovega

Smiles all round (c) Ben Ealovega

Colchester Heritage Weekend

The orchestra have just spent the weekend in Colchester as part of the National Heritage Weekend. Performing in historic buildings in Colchester throughout Saturday and Sunday to create a unique musical tour which included five new commissions inspired by the buildings (Colchester Town Hall, Tymperleys Clock Museum, Castle Museum, Bourne Mill and Hollytrees Museum) the new works were performed in. I was based at Bourne Mill with two percussionists, Owen Gunnell and Oliver Cox who performed a new work by Colchester based composer, Michael Spearman. Bourne Mill is a beautifully preserved 16th century watermill set in tranquil grounds beside a stream and millpond. The weather was fine for the weekend making it a lovely place to sit and watch the ducks and geese playfully skimming the water in between the short performances. As well as performing the new work Owen and Oliver also played some jazz and classical music to the delight of audiences and the local allotment society who were having a fayre at the mill on Saturday as well (Oliver also took the opportunity to buy some weird shaped vegetables for his dinner that night).

On Saturday evening all the musicians came together for a concert at Colchester Arts Centre. The first half gave audiences the opportunity to hear the new works afresh and an audience favourite was tabla player, Kuljit Bhamra’s new work for violin and tabla performed at the Castle Museum earlier in the day. The evocative combination of violin and tabla thrilled the audience with many wanting to hear the piece again. During the rehearsal for the evening concert Owen and Oliver had a go at trying to play the tabla under Kuljit’s instruction – one of them definitely got the hang it better than the other (I won’t say which!) and we’ll have some photos of them giving it a go here on the blog tomorrow. In the second half of the evening Jacqueline Shave led the orchestra in performances of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3, Arvo Part’s moving Fratres and Rautavaara’s The Fiddlers.

Claire (Marketing Director)