There are some interesting classical concerts dropping by The Apex in Bury St Edmunds this year. Entertainment writer Wayne Savage takes a look.
You won’t believe your eyes or ears when the Aurora Orchestra perform Mozart by Memory – The Musical Memory Palace.
They will perform his Symphony No. 40 on February 4. With no chairs or stands, etc, between them and the audience. The orchestra will be joined by grand memory master Ed Cooke, who will help improve memory retention with his imaginative and often funny techniques.
He’ll invite the audience to astonish themselves with the power of their own memories as he illuminates the genius and drama of Mozart’s writing. Aurora performed to great acclaim at both the 2014 and 2015 BBC Proms and this sounds like a different and fun way to engage with symphonic music.
Nicholas Daniel is one of the UK’s leading oboists. He founded the Britten Oboe Quartet with his colleagues and co-principals of the award-winning Britten Sinfonia. The quartet are recording their debut CD at The Apex before appearing in a concert of works by Mozart and Britten on January 28.
Led by composer and piano virtuoso Robert John Godfrey, The Enid fuse progressive rock with the power, dynamics and scale of classical music. Last year’s album The Bridge saw them explore the classical elements of their music in more detail, with orchestral and choral arrangements accompanied by symphonic guitar textures. The Enid bring their ambitious new audio-visual production Dust to The Apex on February 5.
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is one of the world’s premier chamber orchestras. Alongside popular works by Bach, Britten, Elgar and Tchaikovsky, their February 17 concert will include a new piece by one of the key figures of British contemporary classical music, John Woolrich, the day after its world premiere in London. It will include performances by four academy principal soloists.
The Academy of Ancient Music brings a programme of Bach, Vivaldi and Telemann to Bury St Edmunds on April 15.
Composers such as Bach and Telemann were challenged and delighted by Vivaldi’s new concertos, whose flamboyance and exuberance constituted an innovative new sound.
Directing from the harpsichord, Richard Egarr explores the cross-continental connections of this fruitful age of classical music embracing the violin, recorder, oboe, horn and trumpet.
This spring also sees visits by some amateur groups, along with their special guests.
East Anglia Chamber Orchestra and the Cann twins perform on February 6, Wolsey Orchestra and Clare Presland on February 1, St Edmundsbury Male Voice Choir with special guest Laura Wright on February 20 and Bury St Edmunds Friendly Orchestra with Liliana Luongo on February 28. Bury Bach Choir sing Cherubini Requiem on March 12 and Prometheus Orchestra are joined by John Paul Ekins on April 17.
Visit www.theapex.co.uk for more details.
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