Previous Concerts

Saturday 20th May 2023, 7.30pm
St Laurence's Church, Ludlow

Jonathan Lyness - conductor
Ilid Jones - Oboe
Claire Tocknell - leader

Prokofiev - Symphony No. 1 "Classical"
Strauss - Oboe Concerto
Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 4 "Italian"

Saturday 20th May 2023, 7.30pm
St Laurence's Church, Ludlow

Jonathan Lyness - conductor
Gaynor Keeble - mezzo soprano
Claire Tocknell - leader

Vaughan Williams: The Wasps Overture
Vaughan Williams: Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1
Edward Elgar: Sea Pictures
Doreen Carwithen: Suffolk Suite
Benjamin Britten: Four Sea Interludes from
Peter Grimes

For the first time since 2017 the Ludlow Orchestra performs English repertoire, with two definite themes: the counties of East Anglia and the ever-enduring musical inspiration provided by the sea. Doreen Carwithen was one of our leading composers for the screen and her 1964 work Suffolk Suite - engaging, tuneful and direct - derives from music composed for her earlier film East Anglian Holiday. Vaughan William’s Norfolk Rhapsody is based on five sea songs collected from the fishing community of King’s Lynn. Elgar’s famous song cycle Sea Pictures atmospherically sets the words of five different poets and was premiered in Norwich, Norfolk in 1899.

Britten’s operatic masterpiece Peter Grimes is set in a Suffolk costal village and depicts the dark and troubled Grimes as he struggles with both the antagonism of the local community and the power of the sea. To cover the scene changes Britten composed six orchestral interludes, later re-working four of them into a concert work, the last of which is one of music’s greatest depictions of a storm at sea. In contrast, and to open this concert, Ludlow Orchestra presents Vaughan William’s ever popular The Wasps Overture, a piece of unadulterated joy, optimism and high energy.

Saturday 19th November 2022, 7.30pm
St Laurence's Church, Ludlow

Jonathan Lyness - conductor
Claire Tocknell - leader
Gina McCormack - solo violin

Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Bizet: Symphony in C

The Ludlow Orchestra presents a programme of three lush works from the romantic era. Gina McCormack, last seen at St Laurence’s leading the Brodsky Quartet, returns to perform Mendelssohn’s timeless masterpiece. Framing this are Wagner’s passionate birthday present to his wife Cosima, and Bizet’s miraculous, effervescent symphony, discovered in a drawer some 60 years after his death and now loved and revered alongside his great opera Carmen.

Saturday 21st May 2022, 7.30pm
St Laurence's Church, Ludlow

Jonathan Lyness - conductor
Claire Tocknell - leader
Matthew Sharp - cello

Dvorak: Cello Concerto in B minor
Brahms: Symphony No. 4 in E minor

This bold, romantic programme features two major blockbusters from the late nineteenth century. Dvorak composed his big-hearted cello concerto during his three-year stay in America immediately after completing his Symphony No. 9 From the New World. It was premiered in London in 1896, since when, it has been widely performed, becoming universally loved and admired for its beauty and its passion. The orchestra is delighted to welcome the internationally acclaimed cellist Matthew Sharp to perform this glorious work.

Brahms’s mighty fourth and final symphony caused much anguish for the composer and was written over two consecutive summers in the mid 1880s. It is a work of contrasts, from its clear and expressive first movement, to its gently melancholic second movement, to the fiery energy and exuberance of its scherzo third movement. The extraordinary final movement - a Passacaglia consisting of thirty variations and coda – provides a formidable and powerful conclusion to the symphony.

Praise for Matthew Sharp:
'freewheeling exuberance & blistering virtuosity' (BBC Music Magazine)
'extraordinary cellist - raised the evening to a pitch of spiritual feverishness rarely encountered in either concert hall or theatre.' (Independent)
'Matthew Sharp’s playing is captivating - so full-bloodied, dramatic and supple.' (The Strad)

Saturday 20th November 2021, 7.30pm
St Laurence's Church, Ludlow

Our first performance in two years - what a special evening, in so many ways

Jonathan Lyness - conductor
Jane Hopkinson - leader
Alexandra Callanan - bassoon

Mozart: Symphony No. 40 in G minor
Weber: Bassoon Concerto
Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major

In 2020 we had to cancel both our live concerts due to the coronavirus pandemic, but in May 2020 we posted an alternative online version of our Prokofiev, Mozart and Beethoven 'Eroica' concert.

Saturday 2nd November 2019 at 8.00pm in St. Laurence's Church, Ludlow

Jonathan Lyness conductor
Rebecca Afonwy-Jones mezzo soprano

Smetana    Overture to "The Bartered Bride"
Sibelius   The Swan of Tuonela
Mahler      Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)
Dvorak Symphony No. 7 in D minor

This programme from the Ludlow Orchestra under our newly appointed conductor, Jonathan Lyness, exploded into life with Smetana’s scintillating overture to his most famous opera, The Bartered Bride, and ended with another Czech masterpiece, Dvořák’s mighty seventh symphony, a work full of contrasts, from dark passion and fiery storm to celebration and triumph.

In between we performed one of Jean Sibelius’s most popular works – his wonderfully atmospheric tone poem The Swan of Tuonela with its evocative cor anglais solo. And to complete the programme, the orchestra was delighted to welcome the acclaimed Welsh mezzo soprano Rebecca Afonwy-Jones, who traveled from just across the border to sing Gustav Mahler’s hauntingly beautiful and uplifting song cycle ‘Songs of a Wayfarer’, the folksong-inspired story of a jilted young man in search of forgetfulness.

Thank you so much for yesterday - what a lovely evening and so much praise and enthusiasm for the programme and playing - and Jon seemed very pleased.

Well done and thank you to Jon for his first concert now that he is officially our conductor! And a very good choice indeed to choose to do the Mahler and with Rebecca Afonwy-Jones.

Thank you all. Thank you to our guest players for all your fabulous playing.

As I left St Laurence's, the church team were telling me "It was your best concert ever", "You sound like a professional orchestra!" Ha ha! Maybe not quite but we are doing very well!

I hope you had a rest today.

a remarkable achievement to produce such an interesting and challenging programme

From Rebecca: Please pass on my thanks to everyone in the orchestra for making me feel so welcome and do send my congratulations on a really wonderful evening - all the hard work (and counting!) is always worth it when you experience such a warm audience response. It reminds us all why indeed we make music together.

One of your best yet - fantastic ensemble playing

Saturday 25th May 2019 at 7.30pm in St Laurence's Church, Ludlow
And a fond farewell to Tom!

Thomas Payne conductor
Daniel Browell piano

Shostakovich - Symphony No. 5
Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No. 1
Liadov - Kikimora

A great concert last night and a good send-off for Tom!

Congratulations to all. A truly memorable evening, a fitting finale to Tom's time with the orchestra.
A standing ovation. Wasn’t that amazing? The strings were the best we have ever heard them play. In the Prok slow movement and throughout the Shost I thought I heard luscious, rich strings which I do not recall having heard before. Fantastic... An atmosphere of warmth, togetherness and joy.
A big thank you to you and the committee, for yet another excellently prepared concert.
Without doubt, it was the best thing I have heard in St Laurence's Church.
Standing ovation!! Many curtain calls; friends/neighbours searching me out at the end brimming over with congratulations "Shostakovitch playing more enthusiastic than the CBSO's!" "Best concert ever" ; "So glad I came" (this from a neighbour who was extremely doubtful that the programme would be her kind of music.) So... a triumph! We're all thrilled.
Thank you for introducing me to Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No.1. I love it. And the Shostakovich was a thrilling experience.
You pulled off the big one without a doubt... so smooth and well oiled
Such a wonderful farewell concert for Tom. He can be in no doubt of his popularity after the standing ovation at the end! As we walked back to the car last night, several people came up to us and said what a wonderful concert/evening/event it had been. We have never had that happen to us in the street before!
Saturday was immense and such a huge achievement for the orchestra
It was a wonderful evening and Ive had a lot of positive feedback. One person said we sounded like a professional orchestra. I thought your speech for Tom was pitched just right. I do hope he was pleased with the way it all went. He really did us proud and it was great that he had enough confidence in us to play such challenging music.
Accolades all round, then. Very very well deserved indeed.

Mendelssohn and Dvořák

3 November 2018 in St Laurence's Church, Ludlow

Mendelssohn - Symphony No. 3 'Scottish'
Dvořák - Violin Concerto
Beethoven - Egmont

Jonathan Lyness conductor
Susanne Stanzeleit violin

A great success

What a lovely concert – fantastic choice of music and such a lovely atmosphere

Just a note of thanks for last night's concert. A most professional sound, I thought. I hope that you enjoyed it as much as I did. Here's to the next programme.

A fantastic performance all round

Another great concert… it was a memorable evening

What a triumph! Saw a dozen or so friends in the interval and they were all hugely enthusiastic (as indicated by the increased number of curtain calls at the end)!

I thought the concert was brilliant

The orchestra is going from strength to strength

Beethoven, Symphony No 9 'Choral'

28 April 2018 in St Laurence's Church, Ludlow
Joelene Griffith soprano
Chloe Pardoë mezzo Soprano
William Branston tenor
Derek Henderson bass
Ludlow Choral Society

A triumph! Thanks so much to TLO for having the bravery to programme such a masterpiece and to perform it so well. Lots of praise from the audience including those from away. And a pleasure to take part in as well. Please pass on thanks to all those who worked so hard to bring it about.

The concert was a triumph for you and your conductor. I was so excited watching it. Well done!

What a triumph! Well done playing such a mighty work. It must have been quite a journey for you. I really enjoyed listening and I am still humming.

Didn't it go excellently well? Certainly well received. Well done for all your very, very hard work - it really paid off.

What a stupendous performance!

A stunning and memorable performance

A truly exciting performance and overall, a great night's entertainment.

I have never heard the contrabassoon part played so well.

And the last word from the man himself, Beethoven (in response to a contemporary violinist who complained about the difficulties of his writing): "Do you suppose I am thinking about your wretched fiddle when the spirit moves me!"

Brahms - Eine Deutsches Requiem

9 December 2017 in St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury

Davidona Pittock soprano
Jack Holton baritone
with Shrewsbury Cantata

From Shrewsbury Cantata Choir:
"Thank you for getting yourselves so well organised and set up within that limited space that we had. But thank you especially for your lovely playing! It was a great experience to have such a strong orchestra playing so well in front of us, and we've had plenty of very positive feedback about the balance and quality of the performance. I agree with Thomas that it's lovely to be able to collaborate with Shropshire musicians in that way."

English music for Remembrance Day

11 November 2017 in Ludlow Assembly Rooms

George Butterworth - A Shropshire Lad
Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending - Tom Payne - violin
Vaughan Williams - Symphony No. 5 in D Major

Congratulations! It all went very well... and Tom played beautifully. Well done. Looking forward to the next one.

Wagner, Rachmaninov and Brahms

13 May 2017 in St Laurence's Church, Ludlow

Wagner – Overture Die Meistersinger
Rachmaninov - Piano Concerto No 2 in C Minor Op18 Soloist Liang Shan
Brahms – Symphony No 3

I got there early, expecting to get a good seat, but the place was more or less full already. Not to worry - I heard every note from the back. A dazzling, most competent display - and what a piano! I thought, too, that the Orchestra was in tip-top form and performed beautifully throughout. You must feel very proud of all the players.
Every concert just gets better and better.
The orchestra has improved so much under your conductor.
The whole concert was wonderful, every section of the orchestra was just marvellous, I've never heard you play so well.

A massive congratulations to everyone involved in last night's concert on a truly wonderful performance. Audience numbers were over 200 and several people said that they'd never heard us play so well. When I get a minute I will collate the feedback and send it out, along with a link to a recording of the concert (the bit we listened to at 1am after coming in from the pub last night sounded amazing!). Thanks to Liang for a mighty performance of the Rachmaninov - it was a joy to play alongside him. - Catherine Brown, Chair 15/5/17

Laing wrote after the concert, "I'd just like to say thanks to you and the orchestra. It was such a pleasure to play with you! I always enjoy working with Tom and it was also a great opportunity for me to play with an orchestra with such good quality."

Don Giovanni - Mozart

3 December 2016 in Ludlow Assembly Rooms

This production of Mozart’s dramatic opera, Don Giovanni showcased some of Britain’s finest young singers from amongst the top Conservatoires in the UK.

The opera charts the shocking infidelities of the infamous libertine Don Giovanni, as he works his way through a dizzying array of would-be suitors. Narrated between arias by Peter Road-Knight, this intimate semi-staged version of the opera enticed the audience every step of the way.

Don Giovanni was completely fab, what a wonderful group of singers. Has this opera the highest ratio of prestissimo to any other tempi ? The orchestra did really well, I loved the trombones coming from the back ...surround sound indeed. The Commendatore in the final scene never fails to be a total goosebump moment. Saturday was certainly no exception. Totally joyous evening !

Don Giovanni - Jack Holton Donna Anna - Eleanor Parsons
Donna Elvira - Eloise Fabbri Zerlina - Davidona Pittock
Leporello - Sam Carl Commendatore/Masetto - William Thomas
Don Ottavio - Steven Swindells