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Meet Prakash Easwar, our Bardi Young Musician 2025

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17th January 2025

On January 25th, at Holy Trinity Church, Regent Road, you can watch a star of the future performing with the Bardi alongside other classical favourites.

For his prize-winning performance, Bardi Young Musician 2025 Prakash Easwar, performs a charming, rarely heard suite for Saxophone by French composer Paule Maurice. Written between 1948 and 1955, Tableaux de Provence (Pictures of Provence) is a programmatic suite dedicated to French saxophone virtuoso, Marcel Mule. The movements describe the culture and scenery of Provence, south east France, where the Mules, Paule Maurice and her husband, composer Pierre Lantier, spent vacation time together. 

A 15-year-old academic and music scholar at Leicester Grammar School, Prakash is a passionate musician who plays the violin, saxophone and piano. Supported by the school’s music department and inspired by his saxophone teacher, John Barker, Prakash holds Grade 8 qualifications in both piano and violin and has recently completed his ARSM diploma in saxophone, achieving a high distinction. He is an active member of the Big Band and First Orchestra, enjoys performing Bollywood, folk and jazz music, and has played violin with the Market Harborough Choral Society. Prakash has won several piano competitions at Leicester MusicFest and regularly performs in local cultural celebrations.

In addition to his musical pursuits, Prakash balances his interests with a passion for sports, particularly cricket and tennis. He is a member of his School 1st Team Cricket and plays for Kibworth Cricket Club. He finds inspiration in his violinist brother and hopes to pursue music further alongside a medical career, aspiring to become a doctor while keeping music as an integral part of his life.

Prakash’s performance is programmed alongside, in the first half, Vaughan Williams’s sumptuous Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus one of his most popular works with audiences and the composer himself, who said he loved the tune all his life. Opening with Beethoven’s The Creatures of Prometheus Overture, the concert concludes with the last of Haydn’s 104 symphonies, the ‘London Symphony‘.

Click here to book your tickets today for this concert showcasing a star of the future!

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Merry Christmas from the Bardi!

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23rd December 2024

For almost a quarter of a century, Christmas for many Leicester folks has begun with the Bardi Wind Orchestra’s Christmas concert!

With its engaging blend of the familiar and the less familiar music interspersed with carefully chosen seasonal readings (which allow the players to get their breath back!), Saturday’s ‘Christmas Festival’ was the 23rd concert and, like vintage wine, the concerts just get better and better!

A large audience in the beautifully decorated Holy Trinity Church, Regent Road, were treated to a concert of two halves. The brightly dressed players performed music by Leroy Anderson, Bach, and suites seasonal films along with Christmas carols and specially arranged Christmas music done by a couple of the BWO players.

After the interval, the Orchestra was transformed by a colourful array of fancy dress costumes some of which had the audience wondering how they would play their instruments. Play them they did when all the popular Christmas favourites were given an airing: Walking in the Air, White Christmas, Sleigh Ride and of course Merry Christmas Everybody which sent everyone out into the night (sadly no snow) all set for Christmas. Thanks to all who attended another highly successful Bardi Wind Christmas concert!

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A Truly Memorable Concert At De Montfort Hall

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2nd December 2024

Bardi’s biggest audience this year, almost 900 concert goers, enjoyed a fantastic concert on Sunday afternoon, and the enthusiastic comments from the enthusiastic audience are still coming in!

The music was a celebration of centenaries for three of the four pieces which featured in the programme: Sibelius Symphony No.7, Respighi’s Pines of Rome and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. 

Conductor Jonathan Lo struck up an immediate rapport with the Orchestra in rehearsals and the result was an electric performance. Joining the Orchestra for the Gershwin was internationally known pianist Tom Poster, an old friend of the Orchestra, and he and Jonathan clearly enjoyed themselves in the piece. 

Many have commented on the mesmeric performance of Ravel’s Bolero too, including several who had never heard it live before. More guests joined for the Pines of Rome in the shape of the Kibworth Band who appeared on stage in their striking green jackets and featured in the stirring last movement evoking Roman legions marching down the Appian Way. The piece reached a crescendo when joined by De Montfort Hall’s magnificent Taylor organ with all the stops out.  

Certainly a concert which will remain long in the memory of those who came, and those who played.

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Photography by Chris Roe

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Jonathan Lo previews Sunday’s concert of centenaries

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25th November 2024

The Orchestra spent an enjoyable and very rewarding day rehearsing with conductor Jonathan Lo on Sunday.

Jonathan is the second of our guest conductors this season and this was the first time that he had met the Orchestra, and players immediately formed a bond with him. 

Jonathan leads an interesting and varied life as Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Australian Ballet as well as being a staff conductor for the Royal Ballet in London. He has conducted in concerts, broadcasts and recordings for orchestras such as the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, London Sinfonietta and the Manchester Camerata. He is currently in the UK to conduct a virtually sold-out run of performances in December and January of the Royal Ballet’s production of Cinderella at the Royal Opera House.

In a very busy day rehearsing with the Bardi he even found time to record an introduction to the concert, which you can watch above, in which he described the Orchestra as ‘sounding fantastic’. As Jonathan says, the concert features a range of centenary performances including Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with soloist Tom Poster. The programme also includes Sibelius’s Symphony No.7, Respighi’s rousing Pines of Rome and, just four years in advance of its centenary, Ravel’s iconic Bolero.  

Ticket sales for this concert are going very well and Sunday promises to be very memorable indeed. Book your tickets today.

Pines of Rome in rehearsal on Sunday

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Students from LGS Perform Alongside The Bardi

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12th November 2024

An impressive array of talent was on show on Sunday in the annual Bardi/Leicester Grammar School concert.

A whirlwind tour through music history from the Baroque to John Williams saw the Orchestra accompany gifted young LGS players in concerto movements, whilst others sat alongside Bardi players in the Orchestra. 

The concerto players chose movements from composers ranging from Vivaldi, through Mozart, to 20th century French composer Paul Maurice played on instruments including cellos, trumpets, bassoon and saxophone. The orchestra was showcased in the overture from Beauty and the Beast by Alan Menken, a movement from Brahms mighty Symphony No. 4 and the concert culminated in a John Williams Tribute selection of music from the composers best known film scores. Each concert item was greeted with loud applause and was pronounced ‘the best yet’ by audience and players alike.

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Prakash Easwar is our Bardi Young Musician 2025 Winner!

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8th November 2024

Bardi Young Musician 2025 is saxophonist Prakash Easwar, a 15-year-old academic and music scholar at Leicester Grammar School.

Prakash beat stiff competition in what the audition panel said was probably the highest standard field of candidates since the competition began in 2012. 

Prakash plays the Violin, Saxophone, and Piano. Supported by the school’s music department and inspired by his saxophone teacher, John Barker, Prakash also holds Grade 8 qualifications in both Piano and Violin and is soon completing his ARSM diploma on Saxophone. He is an active member of the school’s Big Band and First Orchestra, and also enjoys performing Bollywood, folk and jazz music. Away from school he has played violin with the Market Harborough Choral Society, has won several piano competitions at Leicester MusicFest and regularly performs in cultural celebrations. He plans to pursue music further and finds inspiration in his violinist brother, balancing his musical interests with cricket and tennis!

You can book tickets to see Prakash’s performance with the Bardi Symphony Orchestra on Saturday 25th January here.

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The Bardi’s New Horizons season off to a flying start at De Montfort Hall

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7th October 2024

There was a distinct air of anticipation building in the foyer of De Montfort Hall on Sunday afternoon in advance of the Orchestra’s first concert of the New Horizons season under conductor Natalia Luis-Bassa.

Orchestra Manager Robert Calow had to step in at the last minute to do the pre-concert talk as listed host John Florance was laid low with covid. Robert did a sterling job and said afterwards it was easy as Natalia and soloist Lydia Shelley were a real pleasure to talk to!  

The concert opener Kauyumari by Gabriela Ortiz brought smiles to the faces of audience and orchestra alike, with a very large orchestra and an amazing battery of percussion instruments. The main theme of the piece emerged and with repetition became a pleasing earworm remaining long in the memory.  

This was followed by a popular return by soloist Lydia Shelley who performed Dvorak’s Cello concerto and provided clear evidence of the rapport between conductor and soloist as they gave a powerful and memorable performance of the work which was clearly appreciated by the audience. 

New merchandise proved a talking point in the interval with the ‘Bardi bears’ making a welcome return to the Friends desk, lots of them went off to new homes after the concert.  

The second half consisted of a single work, Brahms Symphony No. 2 which was, under the dynamic direction of Luis-Bassa, clearly enjoyed by players and audience alike with enthusiastic applause at the end.

The new season is off to a flying start! See you all at the next one on Sunday 1st December for Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and more.

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Photography by Chris Roe

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The Bardi Welcome Natalia Luis-Bassa and a burst of Mexican sunshine to De Montfort Hall

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30th September 2025

Mexican Sunshine fills the air!

10 o’clock on a rather grey autumn morning in a distinctly chilly rehearsal venue was not a particularly auspicious start to an all-day Sunday rehearsal for the Bardi players. Things changed rapidly when conductor Natalia Luis-Bassa lifted her baton and the very large Bardi Orchestra came to life in Kauyumari, a short work written by Gabriela Ortiz, which was commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and  premiered in 2021 to welcome their audiences back after the Covid-19 pandemic. Orchestra Manager Robert Calow called it ‘a sort of Mexican Bolero with a slow introduction’. He said ‘the little Mexican earworm of a tune starts on the piccolo and goes all round the orchestra’ rising to a very loud, exciting ending. The hall was flooded with Mexican sunshine and players faces began tentatively to smile as the compelling eleven-minute piece began to unfold under Natalia’s energetic direction. The percussion section in an orchestra are often referred to as ‘the kitchen’ and the Bardi percussionists are kept fully occupied throughout with no less than 16 instruments to play including exotic sounding things such as bongos, claves, a jawbone and a seedpod rattle (as well as, reassuringly, timpani and a bass drum). 

Audience and players are guaranteed an exciting and memorable start to the Orchestra’s ‘New Horizons’ season on Sunday 6th October, with two favourites from the classical repertoire, Dvorak’s much-loved Cello concerto, with returning international cellist Lydia Shelley, and Brahms’ tuneful Symphony No.2 completing the programme.

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Dvorák Cello Concerto
Brahms Symphony No.2

Sunday 6th October at 3pm
De Montfort Hall, Leicester

BOOK TICKETS
MORE INFO
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Bardi Chair Jane Hanson takes on new role as Chair of Welsh Water

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11th September 2024

We’re thrilled to announce that our very own Jane Hanson CBE, Chair of the Bardi Symphony Orchestra, is taking on yet another impressive challenge. Already very busy with her various non-executive roles at the Civil Aviation Authority, His Majesty’s Treasury and John Lewis plc, and her duties as a JP, Jane has now been appointed as Chair of Welsh Water plc, effective 1 January 2025.

This prestigious role is a testament to Jane’s remarkable leadership and dedication. Clearly, she’s always up for a challenge, and we couldn’t be prouder. 

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Jane and wish her every success in this important new chapter!

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