What could be a better introduction to classical music than the latest in Ely Sinfonia’s highly successful series of family concerts? The magnificent setting of Ely Cathedral contrasts with the relaxed atmosphere in which children under 16 can attend free (with a paying adult) and sit on the floor right in front of the orchestra.

The concert will feature an orchestral version of Mussorgsky’s romantic Pictures at an Exhibition suite, which he wrote because he was so moved by a posthumous exhibition of the paintings and drawings of his great friend, the artist Viktor Hartmann who, like him, was devoted to the cause of Russian art. This highly popular piece turns Hartmann’s images into sounds: bells, chants, clocks, feathers and flames, ascent and descent, sometimes triumphant, sometimes joyful and sometimes sad.

Also on the programme is the glorious Symphony no 2 by the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, full of the warmth and brightness of the Italian sun (he wrote it while spending the winter there). This is a highly dramatic symphony, full of musical energy and determination. As Sibelius himself said about it: "It is as though the Almighty had thrown the pieces of a mosaic down from the floor of heaven and told me to put them together."

Complementing these will be an exciting new piece by Alex Woolf, the Cambridge Young Composer of the Year 2012. This has been commissioned by Ely Sinfonia especially for this concert.

In celebration of Pictures at an Exhibition, Ely Sinfonia will also be running an art competition for 7 to 11 year-olds, to be shown in Ely Cathedral in the week before the concert and will then move to Ely Library for the next two weeks. To find out more, go to www.elysinfonia.co.uk/picture_competition, call 01638 742004 or email picturecomp@elysinfonia.co.uk.

Tickets £20/£15* (reserved)
£5 (unreserved)
Concessions £10 in £15 seats.

Will Todd Te Deum, Finzi Prelude, Ešenvalds Long Road, Grieg Holberg Suite

Sparkling wine will be served during the interval

For more information and to buy tickets: http://www.fairhavensingers.org.uk/2013/10/19/te-deum/

Local violinist and conductor celebrates his 50th birthday by staging one of the most unusual charity concerts ever witnessed in Cambridge.

Steve Bingham’s Fire and Ice concert to combine full orchestra with electric and traditional violins in a programme featuring mythical glowing birds, icy wastes, JS Bach and a looping masterpiece, all in aid of Camsight.

West Road Concert Hall, Sunday 16 June 2013, 7.30pm

Cambridgeshire-based violinist and conductor Steve Bingham has chosen to mark his 50th birthday by hiring West Road Concert Hall in Cambridge and putting on a concert in aid of Cam Sight, the local charity for people with sight loss.

Steve, who has played with some of the UK’s top orchestras as well as leading the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra and conducting the Ely Sinfonia, is a champion of the idea that a training in classical music is just the start in making music of all types an adventure for everyone. His concert, Fire and Ice, will feature modern classical, world music and film scores, as well as a full concerto for recorded birdsong and orchestra.

The concert will include Rautavaara’s Cantus Arcticus concerto for birdsong and orchestra, the suite from Stravinsky’s The Firebird, Bach’s Chaconne in D minor for solo violin, Keeling’s You Cut The String for electric violin and live looping, and Michael Nyman’s Suite of Film Music Pieces, including two brand new arrangements by Phil Toms.

Tickets for the concert are available from the ADC Theatre box office, tel 01223 300085, or online at http://www.adcticketing.com/whats-on/concert/fire-and-ice.aspx

Ely Cathedral provides the magnificent setting for a concert of music from the romantic era, a concert for veteran concert-goers, people who'd like to know more about music and aspiring young musicians alike.

Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture (otherwise known as "Fingal's Cave") echoes with the full grandeur and mystery of the Scottish islands, and especially the breathtaking Fingal’s Cave, radiant with the colours of its vaulted ceiling and magnificent basalt columns.

Richard Strauss’s Horn Concerto no 1 is one of the major works for virtuoso French horn player. He wrote it when he was only 18, but it could have been written by someone much older. It has all the elements of a true romantic piece: dark drama, lyricism, sweetly haunting melodies and the call of the hunt.

The concert ends with Brahms’ lyrically beautiful Symphony No 2, inspired by nature and full of romantic symbolism – often called his Pastoral Symphony. First impressions might be that this is easy listening, but between the vibrant harmonies and dances are passages of eerie shadows and solemnity: a true reflection of the romantic era.

A concert that will be loved by all the family, with special tickets for under 16s to sit on the floor right in front of the orchestra.

Tickets £20/£15* (reserved)
£5 (unreserved)
Concessions £10 in £15 seats.

* includes a free ticket for a child under 16 to sit on the floor in front of the orchestra (bring a cushion and a thick coat). Children’s tickets should be requested at the time of the main ticket purchase.

Tickets available from:
Ely Cathedral Box Office (Tel 01353 660349) https://tickets.elycathedral.org/
Ely Sinfonia enquiries (07798 826880/01353 721007), email publicity@elysinfonia.co.uk

Haydn's oratorio 'The Creation' depicts and celebrates the creation of the world as described in the biblical Book of Genesis and in Paradise Lost. It is scored for soprano, tenor and bass soloists, chorus and orchestra. Celebrated soloists: Ruth Jenkins (soprano), Greg Tassell (tenor) and Andri Björn Róbertsson (bass) will be accompanied by the Ely Choral Society chorus and the Ely Festival Orchestra. The concert, conducted by Andrew Parnell, will be held in Ely Cathedral at 7:30 pm on Saturday 23rd March 2013. Tickets will be on sale from February 1st 2013 from Ely Cathedral Box Office.

Poulenc and Britten

Sunday, March 10th, 2013 at 7:30pm

West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge

Fairhaven Singers

with Emily Rowley Jones, Bridget Hardy, Julian Forbes
Choirs from St Mary’s School and The Stephen Perse Foundation
and Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus

Conducted by Ralph Woodward

Poulenc Gloria

Britten Spring Symphony

Tickets £25/£20/£16, £15/£12/£10 (under-18s)

Tickets will be available on this website, by emailing tickets@fairhavensingers.org.uk, or from Cambridge Corn Exchange Box O ce (Tel. 01223 357851)

A programme of rapturous works for string orchestra, English Romantic partsongs, and Cecilia McDowall's Ave maris stella for choir and strings. Sparkling wine will be served in the interval (included in ticket price).

Autumn Tones

Saturday, November 10th, 2012 at 7:30pm

Queens’ College Chapel, Cambridge

Fairhaven Singers

Conductor Ralph Woodward

Allegri and MacMillan Miserere settings

Bach Komm, Jesu, komm

Poulenc Mass in G

£16, £7 (under-18s)

Tickets will be available on www.fairhavensingers.org.uk, by emailing tickets@fairhavensingers.org.uk, or by phoning 07711 384218

A light-hearted summer evening of choral works.

Free strawberries and sparkling wine will be served on the banks of the Cam during the interval.

Tickets will be available on http://www.fairhavensingers.org.uk/2012/07/07/music-for-a-summers-evenin... , from Cambridge Corn Exchange Box Office (tel. 01223 357851), or by emailing tickets@fairhavensingers.org.uk. This concert always sells out, so do book early!

Full programme:

Bainton: To Music
Walton: Where does the uttered music go?
Piano solo – Mozart: Adagio in B minor
Mozart/Woodward: Daphne
Schubert: Glaube, Hoffnung und Liebe
Schubert/Woodward: Wanderers Nachtlied
Schubert: Schicksalslenker
Schubert: Der Vollmond strahlt
Will Todd: “A Song of Peace” & “Into the Stars” from Songs of Peace
arr. Woodward: Rodgers and Hammerstein In Love
Wilbye: Draw on, sweet night
Traditional/Woodward: Fidgety bairn
Whitacre: Sleep

Using the rhythms and natural melody found in Irish speech, composer and producer Gerry Diver has created a unique collection of new music.

The Speech Project features exclusive spoken word contributions from seminal Irish folk musicians including Shane MacGowan, Damien Dempsey and Christy Moore.

Key phrases from recorded interviews are the seeds from which his compositions grow into ground-breaking and stunningly beautiful works.