News

Bardi Wind Prepare for return to De Montfort Hall to celebrate 200 years of the RNLI

by

29th May 2024

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.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress
Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason stars in Bardi season finale

by

20th May 2024

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.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

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.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

The Bardi prepare to welcome star pianist Jeneba Kanneh-Mason to perform with the Orchestra

by

13th May 2024

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.

You can see Jeneba Kanneh-Mason perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 with the Bardi Symphony Orchestra on Sunday 19th May at De Montfort Hall. Book your tickets here today.

Jeneba Kanneh-Mason © Berghorn / Sony Classical

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

The Bardi say goodbye to Music Director Claus Efland after 16 years as Maestro

by

18th April 2024

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.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

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

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

A Scandinavian Triumph at De Montfort Hall

by

26th March 2024

The music of Finland, Norway and Denmark added to the enjoyment of a sunny early Spring afternoon when the Bardi played a programme of Sibelius, Grieg and Nielsen at De Montfort Hall on Sunday.

The programme opened with a performance of Grieg’s Peer Gynt suites Nos 1 and 2 which was followed by a rare performance Nielsen’s Flute concerto by flautist Anna Wolstenholme, an internationally known player based in Norway. The piece demands a virtuoso player and Wolstenholme was certainly the right choice for the piece.

The second half of the concert was occupied by a performance of Sibelius Symphony No. 2 in D major.  Probably the most well-known of Sibelius’s Symphonies and certainly the most frequently performed, the piece runs through a wild gamut of feelings from a depiction of pastoral peace and quiet, through patriotism, the depiction of a national uprising and a positive finale portraying hope and victory over oppression.  The Bardi did justice to all of this in good measure and the overall mood of the departing audience was certainly life affirming and happy.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress
Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

Flautist Anna Wolstenholme completes an all-Scandinavian line up for the Bardi’s return to DMH

by

13th March 2024

The Bardi Symphony Orchestra’s next concert at De Montfort Hall on Sunday 24th March is all set to be a Scandinavian extravaganza!

Not only does the concert feature favourite works from Grieg and Sibelius, the Bardi are once again led by our Danish Maestro and Music Director Claus Efland. To complete the line up, the Orchestra are to be joined by Norwegian soloist Anna Wolstenholme to perform Nielsen’s virtuosic Flute Concerto in the first half.

Anna’s hybrid career as flautist and educator spans several countries and institutions. She has held positions in orchestras from Brazil (OSESP) to Norway, where she has been Principal Flute of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra for a decade.  She can often be heard on film and TV soundtracks (Anna was prominently featured on the 2022 score of Mrs Harris Goes to Paris) and regularly works as a guest principal with the UK’s major symphony orchestras including the LSO, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Philharmonia, BBC, Royal Opera House, Halle, Opera North, RTE, CBSO, ENO, Sinfonietta and RSNO, with whom she has also toured and recorded for Chandos, BIS, NRK, Sony, Landor and the BBC for live and studio performances including the Proms.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

Anna Wolstenholme, flute; Danish composer Carl Nielsen

Having been an Associate Professor of flute at the University of Bergen, Anna is now a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Academy of Music in Artist Development and Chamber Music. She has been an examiner for the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall, as well as a visiting professor at flute festivals and the National Youth Orchestra. Her immersion in talent development has also led to work with the Drake Calleja Trust where she is now a mentor, panellist and Creative Development consultant. Anna has reviewed a variety of new music publications for Rhinegold Press and worked extensively in outreach across a wide spectrum including Jessie’s Fund, Prince’s Trust, LSO Discovery and the Beddgelert Music Festival which she co-founded in 2013.

Book your tickets today to hear Anna perform Nielsen’s Flute Concerto alongside Grieg’s incidental music from Peer Gynt and Sibelius’ soaring Second Symphony.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

Well done BYM24 Ewan Metcalfe on an excellent concerto performance.

by

29th January 2024

The Bardi Young Musician concerts go from strength to strength!

Last Saturday’s concert saw 2024 winner Ewan Metcalfe give a breathtaking performance of Weber’s Clarinet Concerto No. 1 to a large audience in what has become the Bardi Young Musician concert’s annual home – Holy Trinity Church in Regent Road, Leicester. 

The Orchestra revelled in the excellent acoustic of the venue with some well-chosen pieces from the classical repertoire, beginning with the overture to Mozart’s opera Cosi fan Tutte and the second half was taken with a comparatively rare opportunity in recent times to hear Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in the concert hall. 

In a speech at the end of the first half Vice Chair Mary Moore said she was heartened, with all the gloomy news in the media about music education in schools, that Bardi have been able run the competition since 2012 with a consistently high standard of winners. 

In a surprise move she invited Joseph Geary, last years’ BYM winner who was in the audience for the concert, to present the trophy to Ewan neatly rounding off the competition.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress
Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress

Bardi Young Musician 2024 – Ewan Metcalfe performs Weber Clarinet Concerto No.1 on 27th January.

by

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.

Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress
Visual Portfolio, Posts & Image Gallery for WordPress