MUSIC lovers in Worcester can enjoy an evening of classical and popular favourites to bring the curtain down on this year’s Worcester Festival.
The ESO are performing at the Swan Theatre on Bank Holiday Monday, August 27 to mark the end of the 2018 event with a programme chosen to set the scene for the festival finale fireworks display which follows.
Under the leadership of conductor Kenneth Woods and soprano Sofia Larsson, organisers promise an unforgettable evening of music.
Founded by William Boughton and former members of the Midlands Radio Orchestra in 1976 as the Vivaldi Chamber Orchestra, and then later the English String Orchestra, the ESO soon earned an international reputation for performances of English music, made more than fifty recordings and began touring regularly in Europe.
Over time, the orchestra’s repertoire expanded to include the full breadth of orchestral music, and the ESO grew to become the English Symphony Orchestra.
Ever since then, ‘ESO’ has served as an acronym with a dual meaning.
Appropriately for an orchestra based in Elgar’s home town, the ESO has made many acclaimed recordings of that composer’s music, and that of other major 20th Century British composers including Vaughan Williams, Britten, Butterworth and Bridge.
The ESO’s discography also includes Baroque masters such as Boyce and Handel, and composers as diverse as Schnittke, Strauss, Shostakovich, Sibelius and Respighi.
The show kicks off at 7.15pm at the Swan Theatre and tickets are available through the Box Office on 01905 611427.
