On Saturday, 1st July 2023, at 7:30 p.m. (with a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m.) Trinity Orchestra, Harrow, will perform works by Haydn, Dobrinka Tabakova, Dvorak and Mozart, under the baton of Adrian Brown (who will also give the pre-concert talk), at St. Peter’s Church, Sumner Road, Harrow, HA1 BX.
Tickets are £12 for adults, £10 concessions, £5 for students, and free for under 18s. They can be booked by phone (on 020 8428 5924), at the door (subject to availability), or online, by clicking here.
I asked Maestro Brown to provide Harrow Online readers with his thoughts about this concert. He writes, as follows:
“In 1972 I obtained one of my first conducting appointments; Harrow Symphony Orchestra!
“We performed in Hatch End High School Hall, and rehearsed there. It never changed, and – after a few years – I joined, in 1977, Harrow Young Musicians and conducted the Philharmonic (Youth Orchestra) for 25 years until, in 2001, I was very unwell and relinquished many hours and years of work as a conductor in Harrow.
“I’ve since then carried on working with many orchestras, and formed my own Elgar Sinfonia. I retired from Stoneleigh Youth after 42 years in 2013.
So, over 50 years in the profession, and still, coming to conduct for the first time the Trinity Orchestra is a thrill. To also perform the programme we have is an inspiration. Mozart 40: the elegiac music revealing his true soul and despair. Full of defiant vigour. Although, for Haydn, his ‘Mourning ‘ Symphony is an earlier work for him, from his Storm and Stress Period, it’s yearning, minor key music mirrors Mozart’s music.
“In both works the slow movements are soulful consolation. We play a Wind Serenade by Dvorak, full of wonderful melodies and dancelike tunes. The programme is completed by ‘Dawn’, a composition by Dobrinka Tabakova. Above sustained chords, the solo Violin and Cello weave a myriad of extemporised-type shapes and phrases. The peace and repose, expertly composed, will be a splendid contrast to two classic symphonies of energy and mastery.
“I am honoured to be invited to debut with Trinity. I have conducted Mozart many times, but it is always special to make music with many folks I know, and to return to Harrow, which was so important to me.
“Come and support a splendid orchestra.”
