Southern Pro Musica develop their Chichester presence

SussexWorld

Professional chamber orchestra Southern Pro Musica are promising Great Classics, the title of their concert on Saturday, May 17 at 7.30pm in St Paul's Church, Chichester, PO19 6FT.

Transcript

00:00Good morning. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Always lovely to

00:06speak to Jonathan Wilcox now. Fabulous Sunday concert coming up on Saturday, May the 17th,

00:12St Paul's Church, which is a fabulous venue, isn't it? And it's great classics from Southern

00:17Pro Musica, of which you are artistic director. Now, this is part of a project, isn't it? Because

00:23this is three successive years that you've had an orchestral concert in Chichester. What's the

00:28plan behind it all? The plan really was the orchestra has been performing in Chichester for

00:35many years, both in the cathedral as partner to Chichester singers, and also the concerts that

00:42we give each year for many children in the Chichester Festival Theatre for children aged 6 to 11,

00:48which always go down very well. This year we play to over 2,000 children aged 6 to 11,

00:53many of whom will never have heard live orchestral music before. And our thought was,

00:58you know, we're doing children's concerts, we're doing choral concerts. Why don't we in such a

01:03fantastically active city artistically as Chichester offer, offer adult concerts as well?

01:09And two years ago, we put on a programme in St Paul's, which was very well supported and went

01:14very well. And last year, again, with Mozart Clarinet Concerto. And this year, on May the 17th,

01:20in St Paul's, we're doing a great classics programme, which has two of the truly great symphonies from the

01:26classical period. That's Mendelssohn Italian Symphony, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 8. And then as the

01:32central filling of the concert, the wonderful 20th century concerto by the Spanish composer Rodrigo,

01:38the Concerto de Ruanjuez, which is probably one of those popular of the 20th century concertos for solo

01:47guitar and orchestra. And we've got a wonderful soloist in Amanda Cook, who's got a very strong

01:52history. She was born and brought up near Chichester in Bognor, and still still lives actually quite

01:59close. And she's now developed into an internationally renowned guitarist.

02:04And what makes her such a special guitarist, do you think? What does she have?

02:08Well, I mean, she's a wonderful player, technically, but what really makes it stand out and what I look

02:13for, whether it's instrumental soloists or vocal soloists, is those who have that magic ingredient

02:19of being able to communicate with an audience? Because that's what music's all about, the

02:24communication. And Amanda is not only a lovely player, a very expressive player, but she has

02:30this natural sense of ease and communication with the audience. And in this piece, which has so many

02:37opportunities, colourful opportunities, the Spanish guitar tradition, and also the beautiful central

02:43movement, which is so often played on the radio, is one of the most popular pieces, the gentle duet

02:51that the guitar has with the solo corps anglais in the orchestra. And we're really excited to be doing

02:55this programme in St. Paul's on May the 17th. And we hope to get a really strong audience, because you

03:03will love the concert.

03:05Fantastic. Well, lovely to speak to you. Good luck with that. May the 17th.

03:10Well, thank you, Phil. And look, look forward to lots of other musical collaborations.

03:15Absolutely. Thanks very much indeed. All the best.

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