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Meet the Finalists!

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Two amazing mornings of auditions for the ERSO Soloist of the Year competition – we were totally blown away by the level of talent and variety of wonderful performances.  We were completely spoilt for choice and picking only 4 candidates to move forward was incredibly hard.

However, we finally picked our four finalists.

Watch this space to find out more about them….

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The Final will take place 10 – 1pm on Sunday 21 January at Camden Girls School.  The winner will have the hugely valuable opportunity to perform their concerto in our February 11 Concert under the baton of our esteemed Conductor Emeritus Peter Stark.

Be Our Guest…..

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be our guest pic widescreenJoin us at 4pm on 19th November Concert at Camden School for Girls for a wonderful family concert conducted by Chris Stark and presented by Tim Keasley.  We will be joined by talented young musicians from the Camden Training Orchestra.

The concerts has the theme of “the Universe of the Imagination” and will be extremely family friendly, lasting about an hour.

Programme

Ives  – The Unanswered question 
Ravel  – Mother Goose Suite
Milhaud  – Le boeuf sur le toit op. 58 

Entry free, collection at the end of the concert

What does 2018 hold at ERSO?

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We have a lot of exciting plans for 2018 at ERSO.  Members please note we have a slightly revised rehearsal schedule – click to download rehearsal dates Jan – May 2018

We’ll start the year with a wonderful concert in February with our esteemed Conductor Emeritus, Peter Stark.  The evening will include Vaughan Williams’ London Symphony and will feature a concerto performance by the Winner of our ERSO Soloist of the Year.

Our March Family Concert with Tom Hammond will see us working with talented young musicians from the Camden Sinfonia in a concert themed on Musical Globetrotters – huge fun for the family!

May sees us working with some of the most talented in the next generation of conductors.  Our Behind the Baton concert will enable these young conductors to develop their craft, mentored by the well respected conductor Mark Shanahan, whilst illuminating the role of the conductor to our concert audience.

And we hope to announce our new Principal Conductor too, so lots going on.

Get involved – as a player or as audience!

 

What makes ERSO’s childrens concerts so special?

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Our founder Ernest Read put on his first concert for schools in 1929.  He knew that the length, content and style of a concert needed to reflect the audience.  He developed an innovative format that many professional symphony orchestras still follow today with short programmes, accessible introductions to the repertoire and audience participation.

We’re proud of our history and delighted to continue his work.  Here’s why the Family Concert in Camden (19 November) and the Family Concert in Kew (26th November) will be so special!

Come and join us if you can

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Music for a Charlie Chaplin film?

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Did you know that Milhaud said his popular work Le Boeuf sur le Toit was “suitable music for a Charlie Chaplin film”?
 
Sadly that wasn’t to be, but it was turned into a surrealist ballet by Milhaud working with Jean Cocteau and Raoul Dufy.
 
This crazy piece was inspired by Brazilian popular melodies and the ballet was set in a Prohibition-era bar frequented by colourful characters: a bookmaker, a dwarf, a boxer, a woman dressed in men’s clothing and a policeman who is decapitated by the blades of an overhead fan before he is revived……….
 
Check it out at our fabulous family concerts in Camden on 19 November and in Kew on 26th November
 

ERSO Children’s Concerts in Camden & Kew

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What makes our Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra Children’s concerts such a great experience for the musicians who take part?  
kids concert publicity
We have space for a couple more experienced (grade 8+) violinists and also a trombone (only for the 19th November concert).   Contact us on ersoinfo@gmail.com if you are interested.

Click here for  more details on rehearsal & concert dates

Meet Tim, our November Presenter

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We are delighted to introduce our presenter for the November Children’s Concerts in Camden and Kew – Tim Keasley.tim keasley
Tim is an oboist and young animatuer who studied Music at Oxford University and later at the Royal Academy of Music with Melanie Ragge, where he was been appointed a Student Fellow.
Tim has just started working as the Trainee Music Leader at Wigmore Hall, a highly prestigious and much sought after position, giving him the opportunity to run workshops for Wigmore’s Learning programme. These workshops give people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities the opportunity to take part in inspiring, inclusive music making through creative projects and concerts.
Tim enjoys performing in a variety of ensembles, from recently playing as guest principal with the Oxford Philharmonic Orchestra with Maxim Vengerov to touring with flashmob group, Street Orchestra London.

ERSO Soloist of the Year, 2018

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Applications for our ERSO Soloist of the Year competition have now closed and we are delighted to have sixteen fantastic applicants who will be auditioning on 5 and 12 November.  Its a great mix of strings, wind and brass players and some really unusual concerti.  Applicants will audition before a panel made up of ERSO Committee members, our professional leader John Crawford and up and coming conductor Chris Stark.

This competition falls under our new ERSO Talent Programme, which is inspired by our founder Ernest Read and which brings together all our work with emerging professional musicians (soloists, conductors, animateurs, paid section leaders etc).

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Peter Stark

Four semi-finalists will be selected to work on their concerto with ERSO and our the eminent conductor Peter Stark at an open rehearsal on January 21, 2018.

The winner will have the opportunity to perform their concerto in our 11 February Concert with Peter Stark – a fabulous prize!

Watch this space for more news on who will be the “fab four” semi-finalists…

And don’t worry if you didn’t apply in time – there’s always next year

Fabulous evening of Romantic Music

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Last night’s ERSO’s concert of Romantic music under the baton of Sam Burstin was a truly special event. Our wonderful soloist Ana Sinkovec gave an amazing rendition of the Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto and the emotional performance of Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique Symphony left the audience spellbound. Thanks to Sam and Ana and all of our wonderful players – and to the hugely appreciative audience!ana rach concert 1

Which concerto would you play?

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Would you like the chance to play a concerto with ERSO under the baton of the eminent Peter Stark?

Then the ERSO Soloist of the Year 2018 competition could be of interest.

This competition is open to anyone over 18 years of age, of any nationality, who has played in at least concert with ERSO, including the concert on October 8th, 2017 with Samuel Burstin.  We still have a few spaces left in our string sections for this concert.

Auditions will take place on mornings of 5 and 12 November.  Candidates will be asked to perform part of one movement of their chosen concerto, accompanied by piano.

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Peter Stark

Up to 4 semi-finalists will be selected to work on their concerto with ERSO and Peter Stark at an open rehearsal on January 21, 2018.

The winner will have the opportunity to perform their concerto in our 11 February Concert with Peter Stark, which will also include Walton’s Portsmouth Point and Vaughan Williams’ London Symphony.