HSO Concert of Remembrance 2018

Aim

Help Hertford Symphony Orchestra mark the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day through Music

In order to mark the 100^th anniversary of the end of World War I Hertford Symphony Orchestra is planning a very special concert in Ware Drill Hall on Sunday Nov 11th 2018.

The Programme ...

The concert will feature the prominent pianist and Steinway Artist Simon Callaghan who will perform Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand, written especially for a musician who lost an arm in the conflict. In addition we are delighted to be joined by choirs from two local schools, Presdales in Ware and Richard Hale in Hertford who will be performing with the full orchestra during the first part of the concert.  Both schools already enjoy a good tradition of singing, so this project would celebrate that fact as well as giving the students the exceptionally rare chance to perform live with a large symphony orchestra.  The concert will conclude with Holst's The Planets, one of the most famous pieces of classical music written by a British composer, and very popular with audiences. The final movement requires an offstage chorus of female voices, which will engage the girls from Presdales school.

Why we need financial support ....

Unfortunately ticket sales rarely cover the full expenses associated with symphony orchestra concerts. For our November 2018 concert, Hertford Symphony Orchestra is seeking financial support from trusts, local businesses and individual donors to cover the significant and additional costs associated with such a prestigious and ambitious concert.   Not unexpectedly, our expenses include the fees for our conductor, pianist and percussion section together with the costs associated with venue and piano hire.  However more unusually, for this important collaboration with local secondary school choirs,  HSO hopes to raise funds to commission composer Adam Saunders’ to write a new work for choir and orchestra. Adam is poised to begin work this Summer should funding be forthcoming.

Adam Saunders writes: "I am very excited about the prospect of composing a piece to be performed by the Hertford Symphony Orchestra (HSO) and SATB Choir. The text will be drawn from 'A Shropshire Lad’ by A.E. Housman.   "As part of the rehearsal process, I will run a vocal workshop with the choirs involved, looking at specific aspects of the music including blend, sound and intonation. From previous experience with these kinds of projects, it can be quite rare for pupils to work with the actual composer of a piece. As part of the workshop, I will introduce the students to the compositional process and answer any questions they may have.

"The piece will be harmonically and vocally challenging yet accessible to the age group. I will provide the students with an online resource containing practice tracks which they can use at home to help facilitate their learning."

Please support HSO

• help us to inspire the younger generation of musicians in our area
• help us make history by commissioning a new piece in memory of the end of WW1
• help us to help audiences in Hertford and Ware mark this very special event

HSO pictured here in March 2018 at Hertford Theatre with conductor Tom Hammond

This project successfully funded on 4th June 2018