Friday 15 November 2013

Aurora Orchestra into 2014

Nicholas Collon and the Aurora Orchestra
The Aurora Orchestra has announced its 2014 programme and, as you might expect, the result is a rollercoaster of amazing music, ranging from a road trip across America to second Viennese school classics, with artistic director Nicholas Collon conducting many of the concerts. Guests include counter-tenor Iestyn Davies, mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, tenor Robert Murray and hang player Manu Delgado, there will be live visuals and even swing dancing.


Road Trip on 4 January 2014 at Kings Place sees the orchestra conducted by Nicholas Collon travelling across America with John Adams Chamber Symphony, Charles Ives The Housatonic at Stockbridge from Three Places in New England, Copland's Appalachian Spring and folk song arrangements by Nico Muhly, sung by the Kentucky born singer-songwriter Dawn Landes.


At the Wigmore Hall on 9 February, Andrew Gourlay conducts the orchestra in a Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, Rudolph Barshai's arrangements of Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 and Mahler's Lieder einer Fahrenden Gesellen in a new chamber arrangement by Iain Farrington, with mezzo-soprano Alice Coote, tenor Robert Murray and horn Nicholas Fleury.

Counter-tenor Iestyn Davies joins the orchestra and conductor Nicholas Collon at LSO St Lukes on 1 May 2014 for a programme which contemplates the heavens and includes music by Herbert Howells, Thomas Ades and Franz Schubert plus music from Gluck's Orfeo and Bach's cantata Widerstehe doch der Sunde.

Thomas Ades's Four Quarters is the centre-piece of the orchestra's programme on 13 June 2014, at Kings Place, with Ravel's Introduction and Allegro and Mozart's Serenade No. 10 'Gran Partita'

20  July 2014 at LSO St Lukes sees the orchestra moving into dance, with an eclectic programme of music by Paganini, Rameau, Stravinsky, and Gershwin, plus swing arrangements by Man Overboard with live dance from Swing Patrol.

Nicholas Collon conducts the orchestra in a programme of high Viennese seriousness on 20 September 2014, with Webern's Six pieces for large orchestra (in a chamber version), Alban Berg's Chamber Concerto, Erwin Stein's arrangement of Mahler's Symphony no. 4. The orchestra will be joined by violinist Anthony Marwood and pianist Alexander Melnikov.

Things get a bit wackier on 15 November at LSO St. Lukes when Collon and the orchestra are joined by Manu Delago on hang and percussion (no, I'm not really sure what a hang is either!), in a programme of music by Mendelssohn, Takemitsu and Martinu, plus Delago's own Music for Two Acoustic Toothbrushes and his new piece for hang, electronics and string quartet. There will also be visuals from Stanton Media.

Their 2014 concert season finishes on 20 December when they are performing Faure's Requiem (twice, at 7pm and 9pm) with Lucy Crowe, Ronan Hallet and Aurora Voices, at Kings Place. They will be performing the work in Faure's original chamber scoring - hurrah!  

Further information from the Aurora Orchestra's website.


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