Southbank Sinfonia launches its 2020 season

Soutbank Sinfonia

The Southbank Sinfonia has re-stocked with 33 new musicians and is about to launch its 2020 season. Tonight (13 February 2020) Simon Over conducts the orchestra in Louise Farrenc's Overture No. 2 and Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony at the first of their Rush Hour concerts at St John's Church, Waterloo. Future Rush Hour concerts include Chloé van Soeterstede conducting Haydn and Mendelssohn (27/2/2020), Christian Curnyn conducting a suite from Rameau's Les Paladins and Mozart (5/3/2020), Lee Reynolds conducts Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in a performance which combines the orchestra with students from Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School (19/3/2020), and Adrian Butterfield takes the orchestra back in time with a programme of music by Biber, Rebel, Matthew Locke, Vivaldi, CPE Bach and Handel (2/4/2020).

The orchestra travels up the road to the Southbank Centre for Kurt Weill's Seven Deadly Sins, conducted by Jessica Cottis (6/6/2020), Mendelssohn conducted by Gábor Takács-Nagy (2/11/2020), and Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915 with Sian Edwards and soprano Chloe Morgan.

Works by women composers remains a feature, not only Louise Farrenc at the season opener, but Ruth Gipps (1921-1999), the English composer, pupil of RVW and founder of the London Repertoire Orchestra (12/3/2020), and two contemporary American composers Caroline Shaw (3/5/2020) and Jennifer Higdon (14/5/2020). And there are commissions from Nonclassical Associate Composers Yfat Soul Zisso (4/10/2020) and Lola de la Mata (6/6/2020).

The orchestra was founded in 2002 by Simon Over to graduate musicians with a much-needed springboard into the profession. Each year, Southbank Sinfonia welcomes 33 of the world’s most promising graduate musicians to embark on its renowned fellowship. The orchestra is now in its 18th year, and has helped over 500 young musicians launch their careers.

Full details from the Southbank Sinfonia website.