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WMSO Spring Concert 2024

Saturday 9th March 2024 at 7.30pm
in St Mary's Church, Maidenhead.

Villa Lobos The Little Train of the Caipira
Ginastera   Harp Concerto
Elgar          Symphony No.1

Soloist:  Jamaal Kashim - Finalist, WMSO Young Musicians' Competition 2022

WMSO is pleased to present a couple of great works from South American composers and one from a more familiar one, rather closer to home. The Little Train of the Caipira by Villa Lobos is a miniature tone poem depicting a steam train typical of those that were widely used in the Brazilian interior at the time of the composition in the 1930s. He uses a wide range of percussion and advanced harmonic structures to produce music that imitates the sound of the trains, while at the same time creating a strong sense of Brazilian melody.  Argentinian born composer Ginastera wrote his Harp Concerto in 1956 and it shows off the instrument to great effect, combining Ginastera's interest in folk music along with his later expressionist style. We are delighted that Jamaal Kashim will be playing this piece, having been a finalist at our Young Musicians' Competition in October 2022.
And then we come to Elgar's symphony No.1 - This work received immediate critical and public acclaim after its première in 1908.  It went on to receive over 100 performances in the years that followed and it has remained a firm favourite in the repertoire ever since. It is surely one of his greatest works.

Tickets: £20, £5 (student/child) 

A handling fee of 80p will be added to the price of adult tickets and 50p to student tickets to cover our box office costs

WMSO Summer Family Concert 2024

Sunday 16th June 2024 at 4pm
at Newbold College Church, Binfield

Walton  Johannesburg Festival Overture
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2
Tchaikovsky   Swan lake suite

Soloist Ryan Wang   
Winner, WMSO Young Musicians' Competition 2022

For our summer family concert we are pleased to present three very accessible masterpieces written for a large symphony orchestra. Walton's Overture was commissioned in 1956  by the Johannesburg Festival Committee to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the city, and includes some African melodies and rhythms. Walton described it as "A non-stop gallop, slightly crazy, hilarious and vulgar". By contrast, Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto is anything but...!  It is an ever popular work that established Rachmaninov as one of the greatest composers for piano and orchestra. The work is full of romantic tunes and with a virtuoso piano part that balances well with the orchestral writing.  No wonder the work has been used in film scores such as Brief Encounter  and The Seven Year Itch as well as regularly topping the ClassicFM Hall of Fame chart.

Today, Swan Lake is the most often performed ballet in the world and yet when it was first performed in 1877 the reception was very mixed.  This Suite is a selection of the highlights of the full score and is full of wonderful melodies and brilliant orchestration, all classic Tchaikovsky trademarks.


Tickets: £15, £5 (student/child) 

A handling fee of 70p will be added to the price of adult tickets and 50p to student tickets to cover our box office costs