We are hugely pleased to announce that St Paul’s Sinfonia has become the Associate Orchestra with the Gipsy Hill Federation of schools. The Sinfonia will be working in partnership with all the schools in the future to further increase the students’ access to high quality music education and professional live performances. Not only will members of the orchestra be working with children on projects in school, but the whole school communities will have the opportunity to attend our performances at discounted ticket prices. There are already plans for a Summer Concert which will feature a collaborative performance including some of the GHF children at a venue close to Gipsy Hill. Watch this space for further details!
Change of programme – and soloist!
We’re very sorry to have to announce that Chris Hopkins, originally scheduled to perform Mozart’s piano concerto no. 21 with us in our February concert, has had to pull out. However, we are delighted to be able to welcome Christopher Guild instead, who will perform a similar Classical classic – the effervescent and witty concerto in D by Haydn. You can see Christopher’s own website here.
St Paul’s and New Sussex Opera – Best of the Year!
We’ve been mentioned in Rupert Christiansen’s round-up of the best opera of 2012! He says: “This year I was particularly delighted to hear for the first time the original four-act version of Puccini’s luscious Edgar, performed with total commitment by New Sussex Opera.” You can read the whole article here. Here’s to a continuing collaboration into 2013 and beyond!
4-star review from Daily Telegraph for Edgar!
We’ve had a very nice review from Rupert Christiansen for our performance of Puccini’s Edgar at Lewes Town Hall. ‘Sumptuous music … that glows with enthusiasm, lovingly conducted by Nick Jenkins…. Utter bliss, of a slightly dirty kind’. Read the full review here: http://ow.ly/eTaOi …
Lovely review of our Otello performance
We’ve had a great review of our performance of Otello on Friday night from David Gillard, ex-opera critic of the Daily Mail: ‘The driving dramatic pulse was superbly provided by always gripping and stirring playing from the St. Paul’s Sinfonia…. A splendid occasion.’ Read the full review here: http://www.sceneone.biz/content/otello …
2012-13 season announced!
The programmes for our new season are now up on the website – visit the 2012-13 season page for full details, or you can download a pdf of the entire 2012-13 season here. We think it’s going to be the best season yet – don’t miss a single note!
St Paul’s Sinfonia to play for New Sussex Opera, October 2012
St Paul’s Sinfonia is very pleased that it has become the resident orchestra for New Sussex Opera, a company that specialises in productions of rarely-heard and unfairly-neglected works. We began our collaboration with NSO in 2010 with its production of Vaughan Williams’s Hugh the Drover, and scored a notable triumph last year with Gounod’s Mireille. This was reviewed very warmly, including four stars from the Daily Telegraph (read the full review here).
This year we will be performing Puccini’s early masterpiece Edgar – in fact, this will be the UK premiere of the original 4-act version. We will be at Cadogan Hall in central London at 5pm on Sunday 28 October – come and see us there! Visit the NSO website to see further details…
Great concert reviews on Seen and Heard
We’ve been very lucky in the last couple of months to have had very favourable press attention from the music review website Seen and Heard. Comments include:
- ‘Full marks for this important and timely revival of a major British composer whose time is too slow in coming, and for a superb performance’
- ‘Morley’s performance of Mozart’s last Symphony was fabulous’
- ‘Marvellous stuff and a truly memorable evening.’
Read the full review of our January 2011 concert
Read the full review of our February 2011 concert
TCM Composition Prize won by composer Litha Efthymiou
St Paul’s Sinfonia has had close links with its closest conservatoire, Trinity College of Music, since its inception. Many of its players are alumni of TCM, and some are still studying there now. The Sinfonia has also always been keen to promote new music, and is particularly supportive of younger, up-and-coming composers. To combine these two interests, the Sinfonia is sponsoring a new Composition Prize for composition students at TCM, which in the 2010-11 season has been won by Litha Efthymiou. Click here to visit Litha’s Myspace page.