At ERSO we’re so proud of “Team Cello” and not just because they take fabulous “cellfies”.
We’re delighted that we can showcase the team in our forthcoming “Behind the Baton” concert.
Last night saw our first planning session with ERSO’s new Principal Conductor Christopher Stark, best known as co-Artistic Director of the award-winning Multi-Story Orchestra, with whom he made a critically acclaimed BBC Proms debut in 2016.
We’re all really excited about working with Chris on next season and beyond and will be finalising details for next season v soon, so watch this space!
A few tasters – our October concert will include Dvorak 7 & the Strauss Oboe Concerto, played by the talented Michael Stowe, one of last years Finalists in the ERSO Soloist of the Year competition. We’ll also have a Russian themed programme in Feb 2019 with Shostakovitch 6.
Like the sound of this? Come to hear us
Interested in playing with ERSO? Find out more on how to join us
You’d think a concert with THREE conductors would mean that was plenty. But no – lurking “behind the baton” are a couple more and we wanted to let you know more before we kick off rehearsals for this great concert!
ERSO’s great friend Tom Hammond was an integral part of the audition process, helping us to work out the best way to choose between the fantastic conductors who were recommended by the main conservatoires. His insightful advice and his feedback to the candidates was invaluable.
We’re also really excited that Mark Shanahan will be acting as a mentor for the young conductors during the project. Mark will advise the young conductors on ways to improve their conducting technique and to work more effectively with the orchestra.
Come and join us for a great evening of music!
Tickets available on the door for £10 (£8 concessions) or at the reduced rate of £8 in advance from We Got Tickets
Sunday 20 May 2018 – St John’s Waterloo – 6:30pm
ERSO Young Conductors Concert – “Behind the Baton”
Conductors: Vicente Chavarria, Minhyung Lee and Finan Jones
Leader: Jaga Klimaszewska
Rachmaninov – The Rock
Tchaikovsky – Romeo & Juliet
Gershwin – An American in Paris
At ERSO we are justifiably proud of our wonderful cello section, who are expertly led by Barbara Mohorko. We’re so excited that they will be showcased in our forthcoming “Behind the Baton” concert.
They also take amazing “cellfies” too!
Check out this recording of one of their chosen pieces – Mendelssohn’s Andante Religioso (arr. V.Despalj) – to get in the mood for the concert.
We’re so lucky at the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra that our Principal Bass, Matt Berry, is also a talented artist – check out his flyer for our May “Behind the Baton” concert.
If you are London-based music lover, fascinated by the role of the conductor or a fan of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky and Gershwin then come and join us for a great evening. We can’t wait to work with the talented young conductors!
If you’re a grade 8+ player and interested in playing with us in this concert or in future, please get in touch on ersoinfo@gmail.com.
The Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra are delighted to announce the appointment of Christopher Stark as our new Principal Conductor, following an extensive selection process which has seen us working with some fantastic conductors over the last two years.
Chris has worked with ERSO in two successful concerts, which included Brahms 3rd Symphony in February 2017 and our November 2017 Children’s concert with the Camden Training Orchestra. We are all very excited to see what the future will bring as we embark upon planning future seasons together.
He’ll be following in the footsteps of our previous distinguished Principal Conductors, who include internationally acclaimed Howard Williams, ERSO’s Conductor Emeritus Peter Stark whose reputation as a conductor, teacher and trainer is internationally renowned and Ballet Rambert’s Paul Hoskins.
Christopher is best known as co-founder and co-Artistic Director, with composer Kate Whitley, of the RPS Award-winning Multi-Story Orchestra with whom he made a critically acclaimed BBC Proms debut in 2016.
Christopher began as a cellist, playing in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain before studying at Trinity College, Cambridge and with Peter Stark, Jorma Panula and Stephen Layton.
He has worked extensively with the English Touring Opera and as Assistant Conductor for the Glyndebourne Festival and Glyndebourne on Tour where he was awarded the Lefever Study Award in 2014 for his work on Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Christopher has recently been appointed as Musical Director for the Blackheath Halls Orchestra.
Last night ERSO and the Camden Sinfonia went on a magical voyage around the world in our Musical Globetrotters Family concert, directed by conductor Tom Hammond. We travelled to a Persian marketplace courtesy of Nielsen’s Aladdin, to sunny Spain via Carmen and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol and the USA to see the cowboys in Copland’s HoeDown.
We were delighted to be joined by almost 30 talented young players from the Camden Sinfonia and their conductor Richard Martyn, and the young musicians blended expertly into the orchestra, creating some really beautiful music as we all played side-by-side together.
A truly special event for performers and audience alike!
Following a really exciting selection process, we can now reveal the conductors who will be given the opportunity to conduct ERSO in our “Behind the Baton” concert on May 20th
It was exceptionally difficult to choose, due to the extremely high standards demonstrated throughout the audition process. We wish we could have picked them all!
Meet the three fantastic young conductors who have won the chance to take part in this exciting concert:
Vicente Chavarria, who will be conducting Rachmaninov’s the Rock. Vicente is studying at the Royal College of Music with Peter Stark and Howard Williams.
Minhyung Lee, who will be conducting Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. Minhyung is currently in his first year of a Master’s degree at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, studying with Garry Walker.
Finan Jones, who will be conducting Gershwin’s An American in Paris. Finan is studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Then get in touch with us at the Ernest Read Symphony Orchestra (ERSO), one of London’s leading and longest established amateur orchestra, which prides itself on high quality performance of diverse and challenging repertoire. We play 5 or 6 concerts a year and hold around 3 or 4 rehearsals per concert on Sundays at Camden School for Girls.
We would love to hear from experienced (grade 8+) string and brass players who would like to join us and we are especially keen to find strong first violin players.
Our membership is diverse and includes conservatoire students, music teachers, professionals at the start of their careers and skilled and experienced amateur musicians.
We are a really friendly group playing to a very high standard under the direction of excellent professional conductors. Our string sections are led and coached by our professional leader John Crawford (Trinity professor and ex-BBC Symphony) and a team of young professional string players. And we have a lot of REALLY good cake….
We have some amazing concerts planned: our May 20th concert involves working with talented young conductors on fabulous repertoire including Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet and Gershwin’s An American in Paris and next season includes works such as Shostakovitch’s 6th Symphony and Prokofiev Cinderella.
If you are interested in playing in our May concert (see info below) or in joining us more permanently, please get in touch on ersoinfo@gmail.com
ERSO Young Conductors Concert – “Behind the Baton”
Sunday 20 May 2018 – St John’s Waterloo – 6:30pm
Brahms – Variations on a Theme of Haydn
Rachmaninov – The Rock
Tchaikovsky – Romeo & Juliet
Gershwin – An American in Paris
Rehearsals (all Sundays) at Camden Girls School:
22 April 2-5pm
29 April 2-5pm
13 May 10am-1pm and 2-5pm
20 May 2.30–5.30pm
We’re all very excited at ERSO that Matthew Sharp will be our presenter for our Musical Globetrotters Family Concert.
Matthew and our conductor Tom Hammond will be taking us on a trip round the world – join us!
Want to know more about Matthew? He’s a multi-talented guy!
‘Virtuoso of the arts’ (The Times), Matthew Sharp, has performed worldwide as solo cellist, baritone, actor and director – solo appearances with the RPO, LPO, RLPO, CBSO; singing principal roles for Opera North and ROH; acting principal roles at the Young Vic and NT Studio. From Glastonbury to Glyndebourne, he has worked with an extraordinary spectrum of leading artists from Sir John Tavener to Marta Eggert to Dave McKean to Caryl Churchill. His own music and theatre works have toured to major festivals globally. He has given over sixty world premieres and recorded for Sony, EMI, Decca, Naxos, Somm, NMC, Avie and Whirlwind.
ERSO 