The English Chamber Orchestra performs a concert prorgamme celebrating English music which has been at the heart of its music-making for over 60 years.

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending is a favourite with audiences around the world. The piece is inspired by a poem of the same name written by George Meredith which tells the story of a skylark singing an impossibly beautiful, almost heavenly song. Vaughan Williams perfectly captures the tranquil beauty of the words in this poem with this stunning piece for orchestra and solo violin. The orchestra’s associate leader John Mills will direct the second half of the concert and perform the solo in Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece.

Our programme also includes two works by Sir Edward Elgar, his timeless Serenade for Strings and also Chanson de Matin. Marking the 150th anniversary of his birth this year, we will be performing Four Novelletten for String Orchestra by Coleridge Taylor. A delightful suite of pieces full of life and energy.

This concert also features the world premiere of a new work by British composer, Nimrod Borenstein. Borenstein’s works have been performed by orchestras around the world, and this new piece, Shakespeare Songs, is inspired by five Shakespeare sonnets, and performed here by the renowned soprano Sarah Fox.

The English Chamber Orchestra is one of the world’s great chamber orchestras and this promises to be a wonderful afternoon of music that celebrates the music of England.