Featured

18th April 2024

The Bardi’s concert on 19^th May will be Claus Efland’s last appearance with the Orchestra as Music Director. 

Since his appointment to the post in 2008 his inspirational leadership has taken the Orchestra to what one reviewer described as ‘levels of performance rare in an orchestra of this kind’. There have been many notable performances over the years and soloists of the highest calibre have performed with the Orchestra – including Jeneba Kanneh-Mason performing with the Orchestra in Claus’ final concert next month. In addition there have been performances with a range of choruses over the years including the Leicestershire Chorale, Leicester Bach Choir, Leicester Philharmonic Choir, London Philharmonic Choir and the Choristers of Leicester Cathedral. 

There have been many memorable orchestral concerts over the period in De Montfort Hall, with others including one to a capacity audience in the open air at De Montfort Hall, and collaborations with the young dancers of Dance Activate in ballet programmes. Innovative orchestral programmes have played to Claus’ strength in Scandinavian music with a memorable series of Nielsen symphonies rarely heard in Leicester, as well as a fresh approach to favourite classics. The Orchestra would like to thank Claus for everything he has done for the orchestra over the years he has been with us, and we wish him very well for the future.

Going forward the Orchestra intend to pursue a different style of programming with four concerts next season at De Montfort Hall each conducted by high calibre conductors with international reputations. Programmes are planned to both entertain with well-loved favourites and be challenging with one or two perhaps less familiar works. Equally high-profile soloists will join the Orchestra on the stage. Full details of the 2024-25 season will be published in May.

You can book tickets for Claus’ final concert here. Featuring Mahler’s First Symphony and star soloist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason performing Mozart Piano Concerto No.23, it is going to be a memorable concert for Leicester audiences.

Claus conducting film music at open air DMH concert; conducting Britten’s War Requiem in 2018; Claus rehearsing with the orchestra.

---

17th January 2024

On Saturday 27th January at Holy Trinity Church, Leicester, Bardi Young Musician 2024 Ewan Metcalfe performs his competition-winning concerto, Weber’s First Clarinet Concert in F minor.

17 year old Ewan Metcalfe is Leicester born and bred and is currently Head Boy at Ratcliffe College. Both of his parents have a scientific background but several members of his extended family are instrumentalists. He began playing the clarinet at the age of seven and has since studied piano and saxophone. He started orchestral playing in the Soar Valley Youth Orchestra and then began playing, composing and arranging for a variety of ensembles at school. Further orchestral experience was gained in the Leicestershire Schools Orchestra and he was delighted to play as a guest with the Bardi Symphony Orchestra in October 2022. He currently studies with Christine Taylor.

Ewan is currently studying for A levels in biology, chemistry and music and hopes to go on to study biochemistry at University. He is planning to make a career in that field but music is very important in his choice of university so a good music department is top of his list.

In between his academic studies, musical activities and responsibilities as a school prefect at Ratcliffe College he doesn’t have much time left in the week but enjoys spending time with friends before they all go their separate ways to university.  

To see Ewan’s concerto performance, as well as other classical favourites from Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart, click here to book your tickets today.

---

10th October 2023

The Force really was with the Bardi Symphony Orchestra on Sunday afternoon when they played to the largest Bardi concert audience seen for ten years.

The Bardi’s Celebration of John Williams ‘a film music extravaganza’ attracted an enthusiastic audience aged 5 to 90! Listeners were treated to the full range of Williams’ critically acclaimed film music from well-known favourites such as Jaws and E.T. to more reflective pieces such as Dartmoor 1912 from War Horse, Hymn to the Fallen from Saving Private Ryan and the haunting main theme from Schindler’s List which featured the exquisite solo violin playing of the Orchestra’s leader Adam Summerhayes.  

All the sections of the Orchestra had an opportunity to shine at one point or another and the whole concert experience was enhanced by subtle lighting from the De Montfort Hall’s newly improved lighting system.  A selection of music from the Star Wars films which ended the concert had conductor Claus Efland directing the orchestra with a splendid red Lightsaber (narrowly avoiding poking out the eyes of the cellists) and enthusiastic applause at the end of the concert was rewarded by the encore which everyone had been waiting for – Indiana Jones – in which Maestro Efland was transformed into Harrison Ford with the addition of the trademark battered leather jacket and Fedora hat. 

A happy audience went off into the late afternoon eagerly asking the front of house team ‘when will the next one be?’

You can find out about the orchestra’s upcoming concerts here.

---

Latest News

27th September 2023

On Sunday 8th October, the Bardi Symphony Orchestra kick off their new season at De Montfort Hall with a film music extravaganza celebrating the music of John Williams. We’ve taken a look at the composer’s life and how he has become one of the greatest film composers of all time.

For more than five decades, John Williams has been captivating audiences with his music, transporting cinema-goers to World War II, down into the murky waters of the ocean, into outer space and even to a galaxy far far away. With a staggering 53 nominations and five awards to his name, he is one of the most decorated people in Oscar history and one of the world’s most beloved composers. 

John Williams in 1996; conducting Saving Private Ryan in 1998 © Alamy

Following in his father’s musical footsteps, John began composition training at school, but his studies were interrupted in the early 1950s when he was drafted into the US Air Force, serving three years as a performer, conductor and arranger for the Air Force band. After this he began to work as a jazz pianist, and it was this experience that led him to compose his debut soundtrack, Daddy-O in 1958. Whilst the film itself was rather forgettable, Williams’ score was not, and after this first success his illustrious career began in earnest.

“Without John Williams, bikes don’t really fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches, nor do men in red capes. There is no Force, dinosaurs do not walk the Earth, we do not wonder, we do not weep, we do not believe.”

Steven Spielberg

Perhaps the most important milestone of John Williams’ career, and indeed film history, is the day he met Steven Spielberg. Their first collaboration was on The Sugarland Express (1974) and this was the beginning of arguably the greatest director/composer partnership of all time. Together the duo has produced over 20 films such as the blockbusters Jaws (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) and Jurassic Park (1993). 

In 1977, director George Lucas needed a composer capable of taking on the epic task of scoring his space opera, Star Wars. Spielberg immediately recommended Williams for the job, who matched the stunning visual effects on screen by delivering an expansive score, reminiscent of the music of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Both the original film and its music were a huge hit winning Williams his third Oscar. In 2005 Star Wars was named by the American Film Institute as the greatest American film score of all time.

Williams has composed well over a hundred film scores, many of which have become instant classics, with some of the world’s most recognisable music. His ability to utilise grand, brassy ‘American’ colours and a romantic orchestral sound makes for a magical combination. He also makes regular use of ‘leitmotifs’: assigning a short theme to a certain character or idea, which is then expertly woven into the score to enhance the film’s narrative.
This is especially evident in franchises such as Star Wars, Superman (1978) and Harry Potter (2001), where these themes can be heard across several films.

Not just a film composer, John Williams is also a classical composer and distinguished conductor, directing many of the world’s best orchestras, most notably the Boston Pops from 1980 to 1993. 

Join the Bardi on Sunday 8th October at De Montfort Hall to hear many of Williams’ best-loved scores at A Celebration of John Williams

---

Latest News

16th June 2023

Congratulations to Bardi Chair Jane Hanson who yesterday received her CBE  for services to Charity from the Princess Royal, on behalf of the King, at Windsor Castle. 

Jane was named in the Jubilee Honours list for the late Queen Elizabeth II last year. Aside from Chairing the Bardi Symphony Orchestra, Jane has worked tirelessly for high profile charities the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) and the Reclaim Fund (RFL). On a perfect day for the occasion Jane said that she had a ‘great (longer than normal apparently) chat with the Princess Royal’ about the work of the DEC which brings together 15 leading aid charities to raise funds quickly and efficiently when large-scale disasters hit countries without the capacity to respond.

She was also asked about her work with the Reclaim Fund (RFL) an organisation which unlocks the potential of dormant assets (such as unclaimed bank accounts) whilst at the same time safeguarding the rights of dormant asset holders and optimising the financial benefits for good causes. Jane told us that she even had time for a few words about Bardi!

---

Latest News