News

20th April 2022

The Bardi Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director Claus Efland has just returned from conducting concerts in Denmark and Romania. The latter included a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.6 which, giving the present worrying circumstances in neighbouring Ukraine, he said was ‘incredibly moving’.

He has now turned to preparing for the orchestra’s next concert on 15th May at De Montfort Hall and has shared his thoughts ahead of conducting an all-Elgar programme:

“Elgar is one of my favourite composers. I got to know his First Symphony during my time at the Royal College of Music and have conducted it many times since. The music is powerful, intense and incredibly beautiful. I am hugely looking forward to conducting the Bardi Symphony Orchestra in such a key work of English orchestral literature – it will be the first performance in the Bardi’s history”.

Almost exactly two years since it was originally programmed (for a concert in May 2020) the Orchestra’s players are eagerly looking forward to playing this wonderful work again. The orchestra last rehearsed the piece at a workshop day weeks before the first lockdown. Here is the finale to the Symphony performed at that workshop on 15th February 2020:

---

Latest News

29th March 2022

In support of the people of Ukraine the Bardi Symphony Orchestra played the National Anthem of Ukraine at the start of their ‘Fantasy and Adventure’  concert in De Montfort Hall on Sunday 20 March. You can watch the performance below.

The concert was in support of the the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine appeal (www.dec.org.uk) and our generous audience contributed over £1,000 to buckets at the concert. There is still time to make an online contribution as this appalling situation continues to unfold. Thank you all!

---

Latest News

22nd March 2022

The ‘Fantasy and Adventure’ concert given by the Bardi Symphony Orchestra on Sunday 20 March provided an afternoon of pure classical music escapism for early Spring.  An attentive audience were guided knowledgeably and humorously through three contrasting pieces from the classical repertoire by Tom Redmond a well-known figure from BBC Radio 3. 

Evocations of Mickey Mouse in Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ were followed by arguably the least well known item (but perhaps the jolliest) a set of movements of music from Poulenc’s ballet Les Biches. This conjured up a French country house setting in the 1920’s where some perhaps less than proper activities went on around a large blue sofa in a drawing room with a group of young girl and boy ballet dancers.

The second half consisted of a spirited account of the enchanting Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov before which Tom Redmond asked the orchestra to demonstrate various aural ‘signposts’ in the piece for the audience. Violin solos in the piece were played with brilliance by Mihkel Kerem, an old friend of the Orchestra who stood in at 24 hours notice for a covid-stricken Orchestra leader Adam Summerhayes.  

The icing on the cake of a wonderful afternoon was the raising, via a bucket collection from the audience, of just over £1,000 for the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine appeal. A big thank you to everyone who came to the concert and donated on what was a very enjoyable afternoon.

Don’t forget to join the Bardi on Sunday 15 May at De Montfort Hall for an all-Elgar concert featuring the Cello Concerto and Symphony No.1. A concert not to be missed! Find out more here.

---

Latest News

16th March 2022

Off on the magic carpet!

Just four days to go to the next Bardi Symphony Orchestra concert at De Montfort Hall, an early spring venture into the land of Fantasy and Adventure. Our guide for the trip will be presenter Tom Redmond, perhaps best known for his work on BBC Radio 3, who will provide special insights into each of the three pieces that the Orchestra will play. 

We will begin with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Dukas – who can forget Disney’s Mickey Mouse running around on film with his magical brooms in Fantasia? Then the suite from the ballet Les Biches by Francis Poulenc. Think you don’t know it? You will as soon as it starts, it often features on Classic FM and BBC Radio 3. 

The second half consists of Scheherazade by Rimsky-Korsakov, a real magic carpet ride depicting tales of ‘The Arabian Nights’ featuring violin soloist Adam Summerhayes. Scheherazade is the main character who spins wondrous tales for a thousand nights to the King so saving her life. It is one of the composer’s most popular and well-known works. 

In Support of Ukraine

The Bardi Symphony Orchestra is supporting the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) appeal for the Ukraine and collecting buckets will be around at the concert, please give generously.

---

Latest News

2nd March 2022

At the Bardi’s next concert, Fantasy and Adventure, the orchestra will be performing the suite from Poulenc’s ballet Les Biches. Perhaps unfamiliar by name, the suite contains a selection of movements in a range of styles with the first, Rondeau, probably the most well known. Here is an excerpt of that movement in rehearsal at the Bardi’s recent workshop day.

Written in the early 1920s for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes, French composer Francis Poulenc’s Les Biches (literally “the does,” a somewhat derogatory 1920’s slang for coquettish young women), is a one-act ballet about a group of young men and women at a summer party. It has no real story – instead it shows the various romantic, and sometimes risqué, relationships between different couples at the gathering through each musical number. This made it a simple task for Poulenc to extract five numbers from the ballet and turn them into a suite for the concert hall.

Composed in the neo-classical style (that is, a modern 20th century piece with elements of traditional classical woven in), the score is reminiscent of Pulcinella, another one-act ballet suite by Poulenc’s contemporary and friend, Igor Stravinsky. Both feature classical elements with a little 1920’s Jazz thrown in, and an emphasis on the woodwind and brass sound, over the traditional string colour of most orchestra works. Combining a myriad of different styles, Les Biches features the tarantella, a Parisian rag and even hints at a Brazilian tango. All in all Poulenc’s ballet suite presents a energising and unique sound that is not to be missed, and is sure to become a Bardi favourite in the future!

---

Latest News

9 February 2022

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of Christina Warner, after a short illness. Christina had been a member of the cello section since the Bardi’s earliest days during the 1980s. Messages have reached us from all over the UK and beyond which signify the high regard and affection with which she was regarded within the Orchestra family and further afield. 

Christina last played in concerts with the Bardi Symphony Orchestra in the autumn of 2021. Music was her life; she was not only a gifted cello teacher in Leicestershire schools for over four decades, but also a member of the City of Birmingham Symphony Chorus holding a long-service award from the Chorus. Christina left us far too soon and will be remembered with great affection.

Christina in rehearsal in 2020; before a concert in October 2021 (second left); and in concert.

---

Latest News

14th January 2022

Bardi Young Musician 2022: FRANCESCA PENNY (French Horn)

The Bardi Symphony Orchestra is delighted to announce that 18 year old French horn player, Francesca Penny, has been selected as Bardi Young Musician 2022. Francesca was chosen following a selection process which culminated in a round of auditions last autumn. A student at Wigston College she has been playing the French Horn since she was 8 and studies with her Father, French Horn player Mark Penny. She currently plays with the Rutland Sinfonia, Bardi Wind Orchestra and is also a member of the CBSO Youth orchestra in Birmingham. Francesca is currently studying for A levels and considering further study and career options in either music, or her other main interest which is modern dance.

The Bardi Young Musician Concert 2022 – POSTPONED

The concert, a valuable part of the Bardi Young Musician prize, was originally scheduled for Sunday 30 January 2022 but has been postponed due to current covid conditions but we plan to announce an alternative date very shortly – watch this space!

When the concert does take place, the programme will be as follows:

Mozart – Overture Marriage of Figaro
R Strauss – Horn Concerto No. 1
Bartók – Romanian Folk Dances
Beethoven – Symphony No. 4

---

Latest News

20 December 2021

Wishing you a Merry Christmas from all at the Bardi!

In the absence of this year’s Christmas Festival concert, here is an annual favourite, In the Bleak Midwinter. Harold Darke’s beautiful setting of Christina Rossetti’s text is arranged here for wind band by Orchestra Manager, Robert Calow and conducted by Musical Director David Calow from the 2019 concert.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday, hopefully full of lots of music and joy.

---

Latest News