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!
Bardi Wind Orchestra Music Director David Calow, Orchestra Manager Robert Calow and members of Oadby & Wigston Lions Club were at De Montfort Hall at the end of August to present a cheque for over £2,000 to Emma Cunnington, Community Manager of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. The cheque was raised at the annual Bardi Wind Orchestra charity concert held in association with the Lions Club back in June.
Over the past two years the Bardi Wind Orchestra and Oadby & Wigston Lions have raised almost £4,000 for the RNLI. The success of the concert held in 2023 led to an invitation to do a further concert this year. The 2024 concert was one of several musical and other events held nationally to mark the milestone 200th Anniversary of the RNLI. Dreadful weather on the day of the presentation led to this rather striking photograph on the stairs of De Montfort Hall.
Thank you to all who joined us for what was a very successful Bardi Wind Orchestra concert on Sunday afternoon celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
There was a real buzz of anticipation in the De Montfort Hall for an afternoon of ‘Fantasy and Adventure’, with music from Disney, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean featuring prominently, and the feet were soon tapping!
The Wind Orchestra, in association with Oadby and Wigston Lions Club, were under the baton of guest conductor Dan Watson making his debut appearance, together with local favourites David Morris and Jenny Saunders joining them for several vocal items. Presenting the concert in a last-minute change to the programme, the Wind Orchestra were also fortunate to be able to secure the services of well-known local broadcaster Dave Andrews, who was able to talk to representatives of the RNLI about the amazing and invaluable work that they have been doing over the last 200 years.
Final totals for the charity collections are still being tallied, but those collection buckets were certainly very heavy following another successful summer charity concert.
For their annual De Montfort Hall charity concert on 9th June, the Bardi Wind Orchestra are helping the Royal National Lifeboat Institution to celebrate their 200th Anniversary year!
With a theme of ‘Fantasy and Adventure’, the concert will feature well-loved music from Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Wars, Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings.
The orchestra, in association with Oadby and Wigston Lions, were invited to do this concert after last year’s highly successful event when, on a sweltering June day one of the crew from the Skegness Lifeboat took to the stage to talk about the work of the RNLI in his full waterproof seagoing kit! A small inflatable lifeboat stationed outside the De Montfort Hall attracted considerable attention but fortunately did not have to be put out to sea.
This year’s concert will be conducted by guest conductor Dan Watson, and bets are currently on as to whether he will don a pair of yellow wellingtons to conduct some of the second half as did BWO’s Music Director David Calow last year! Join the Bardi Wind for a great summer afternoon of music on 9th June at 3pm at De Montfort Hall.
A large and appreciative audience was at De Montfort Hall on Sunday for the last concert in Bardi’s 2023-24 season.
Jeneba Kanneh-Mason’s outstanding performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 set the bar high in the first half, and to the obvious delight of the audience she played a contrasting and unusual encore in the form of little-known Spanish composer Federico Mompou’s Jeunes filles au jardin from his piano suite Scènes d’enfants.
An enlarged Bardi Orchestra filled the stage for the second half of the concert for Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 appropriately subtitled ‘Titan’. Fine playing on the part of the orchestra was overlaid with visual excitement in the form of various special effects from the large brass and woodwind sections demanded by the score including wind players raising their instruments above their stands and the large horn section raising the bells of their instruments whilst standing as the piece reached its spectacularly triumphant conclusion.
As well as the season finale, this concert marked the final appearance of Claus Efland as the Orchestra’s Music Director. Associated with the Orchestra since 2005 and Music Director since 2008, Claus gave a short speech to the audience thanking them for their support over 19 years and urging them to continue to support classical music in Leicester.
He then went on to introduce a special encore the Oriental Festival March from the Aladdin Suite by his fellow countryman Carl Nielsen. He went on to explain that his first ever concert with the Orchestra had included an encore by Nielsen, so this was a fitting end to his final concert. The orchestra is grateful to Claus Efland for his immense contribution to the development of the Orchestra over the years.
At 22, Jeneba Kanneh-Mason has already achieved so much, performing with top orchestras across the world, including at the BBC Proms, captivating audiences with her “musical insight, technical acuity and engaging performing persona”. The Bardi are delighted to be able to welcome such a high-profile soloist to perform with the orchestra.
The third youngest sibling, of seven, in the world-famous family, Jeneba was a Keyboard Category Finalist in BBC Young Musician 2018, winner of the Murs du Son Prize at the Lagny-Sur-Marne International Piano Competition in France in 2014, and The Nottingham Young Musician 2013 here in the East Midlands. She was also winner of the Iris Dyer Piano Prize at The Royal Academy of Music, Junior Academy.
Her recent and forthcoming highlights include an extensive UK tour with the Hungarian Radio Symphony and Riccardo Frizza, a European tour with Chineke!, debuts with the Detroit Symphony, Philharmonia, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Belgrade Philharmonic, BBC Philharmonic, and the Sinfonia Viva for the New Year Gala. She also recorded Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 6 with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and Howard Griffiths, which was released on Alpha.
Jeneba was named one of Classic FM’s ‘Rising Stars’ and appeared on Julian Lloyd Webber’s radio series in 2021. She has also been featured on several television and radio programmes, including Radio 3, In Tune, The BAFTAs, The Royal Variety Performance, the documentary for BBC4, Young, Gifted and Classical, and the Imagine documentary for BBC1, This House is Full of Music. She has recorded for the album, Carnival, with Decca Classics.
The Bardi’s concert on 19th 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.
