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Bardi Wind Proms in the Park – Sat 4 Sep

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1st September 2021

The Bardi Wind Orchestra are delighted to be playing again after 18 months of silence in an open air concert in Hinckley’s Hollycroft Park this coming Saturday. Invited by Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council to give this special concert, they will be playing a host of upbeat popular favourites from stage and screen for the whole family, including Harry Potter, James Bond, E.T. and all your proms favourites.

Hollycroft Park, Hinckley
Saturday 4 September 2021
Gates open 5.30pm / Concert starts at 6.30pm
Free Entry

David Calow conductor
Jenny Saunders soprano
David Morris tenor
Colin Blackler compere

Appropriate covid-secure measures will be in place.
Visit hinckley-bosworth.gov.uk/events for more information.

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Applications now open for Bardi Young Musician 2022

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20th August, 2021

The Bardi are delighted to announce the Young Musician Competition 2022 is now open for applications!

With a chance to perform live with the Bardi Symphony Orchestra, this is a must for any aspiring musician aged 18 or under, and an opportunity for audiences to meet the next generation of classical musicians from Leicestershire and Rutland.

Ten years on from the first Young Musician concert, in 2022 the competition is being relaunched and will now be open to young players of any orchestral instrument (strings, wind, brass and percussion) so if you or someone you know would like to take part, apply today!

Good luck!

ENTER THE 2022 COMPETITION HERE

Closing date: Friday 24 September 2021.
Those selected for audition need to be available on Saturday 30 October 2021.

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The Bardi Launch the 2021-22 Season

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13th August 2021

After eighteen months of enforced silence the Bardi Symphony Orchestra are back with an enticing season of varied concerts appealing to all tastes. Their season opens in style in October with a blockbuster symphonic programme featuring not one but two soloists. The concert opens with Elgar’s sumptuous arrangement of Bach’s Fantasia and Fugue in in C minor. Former Bardi Young Musician Amalia Young joins the orchestra for a performance of Mendelssohn’s ever-popular violin concerto and, in the second half, the renowned De Montfort Hall Organ springs into life with a performance of Saint-Saëns ever-popular Organ Symphony featuring organist David Cowen.

November brings an afternoon of ‘Stage and Screen Favourites’. Join Claus Efland and the Orchestra for a lightening tour through decades of film and musical memorables. For an early spring Sunday afternoon treat, in March join the Bardi for ‘Fantasy and Adventure’ and immerse yourself in familiar but other-worldly sounds and let your imagination run riot. The programme opens with the mischievous Sorcerer’s Apprentice followed by the Suite from the tuneful and playful ballet Les Biches. The second half features Rimsky-Korsakov’s powerful Scheherazade portraying the timeless love story of the young Prince and Princess. 

In ‘The Essence of Elgar’ the Bardi’s De Montfort Hall season finale sees three works showing the different sides of one of England’s greatest composers, Sir Edward Elgar. The first half has the delightful String Serenade contrasting strongly with the passionate and powerful Cello Concerto. The mighty First Symphony brings the concert to a magnificent conclusion with one of Elgar’s most inspired themes.

VIEW CONCERT SEASON IN FULL HERE

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The Bardi Interviews: In Conversation with David Calow

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For the fifth in our series of interviews the focus turns to David Calow, conductor of the Bardi Wind Orchestra. David was born and educated in Leicestershire, receiving his early musical training from the Leicestershire School of Music and played flute and piccolo in The National Youth Wind Orchestra from 1978-84. David became Music Director and Conductor of the Bardi Wind Orchestra in 1995 and has conducted every concert since. In 2007 he was appointed Associate Conductor of the Rutland Sinfonia and has continued to develop the adventurous concert programming with the orchestra. In January 2015 David was appointed Music Director and Conductor of the Clarendon Park Orchestra, an enthusiastic group of local musicians. As well David’s a wide-ranging interest in classical music, the interview features music from another of his great interests, music theatre. In 1995 he was appointed Music Director of the I.D.O.L.S Operatic Group in Leicester for their Little Theatre production of South Pacific. Over the following ten years he directed shows including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Mack and Mabel and Kiss Me Kate.

To hear David’s selected pieces you can pause the video and listen to the music in the Spotify player below. Alternatively, click here to watch the video on YouTube where you can find links to all the pieces in the video description.

Watch more in the interview series

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A Short Concert from the Bardi

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30th July 2021

We’re pleased to bring you two performances from the Bardi’s recent play day on July 10th at Holy Trinity Church, Leicester. Bardi Wind Orchestra conductor David Calow opens with Mendelssohn’s rarely heard Overture in C major for Winds and Orchestra Leader Adam Summerhayes follows with Elgar’s sumptuous Serenade for Strings. Concert recording courtesy of the wonderful team at Holy Trinity Church. 

The Bardi’s 2021-22 season officially launches on 13th August – just two weeks to go! We can’t wait to bring back more live music to Leicester very soon!

Concert introduced by Orchestra Manager, Robert Calow.

Bardi Wind and Brass
Felix Mendelssohn – Overture in C Major for Winds Op.24
Conductor, David Calow.

Bardi Strings
Edward Elgar – Serenade for Strings in E Minor Op.20
Conductor, Adam Summerhayes
I. Allegro piacevole
II. Larghetto
III. Allegretto – Come prima

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The Bardi are back playing, again!

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16th July 2021

Collectively, the instruments of the Bardi Symphony Orchestra fell silent after a wonderful workshop day last October.  Attempts were made to hold further workshops in February and March but these were thwarted by lockdown restrictions so it was with great excitement (and not a little trepidation!) that players got together again just nine months to the week later in July and in the covid-secure surroundings of a very welcoming Holy Trinity Church, Leicester.

Well over 50 players, divided into two groups, wind and stings because of space constraints, got together to rehearse pieces specifically for those two groups: Mendelssohn’s Overture for Winds and Elgar’s Serenade for Strings. Sadly MD Claus Efland could not travel from Berlin because of quarantine restrictions but Orchestra Leader Adam Summerhayes (strings) and Bardi Wind Orchestra Conductor David Calow (wind) very capably put players through their paces (to the evident satisfaction of Claus who was watching via a special link from Berlin!). 

Feedback received by Orchestra Manager Robert Calow afterwards gave a big thumbs up to the Bardi board for all the organisation which went into arranging the day. All eyes are now on our first rehearsals for the 2021-22 season which begin in September with the new season to be announced very soon! 

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The Bardi Interviews: In Conversation with Jane Hanson

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The Bardi Interviews continue as we meet the Orchestra’s Chair Jane Hanson. An enthusiastic member of the first violin section, Jane joined the orchestra on moving to Leicester in 2017 and became Chair of the Orchestra in December 2020. Like many of the Bardi’s players she trained as a professional musician but chose to pursue a career elsewhere. She started in accountancy but more recently has been a Chairman, Non-Executive Director and Audit and Risk Committee Chair in a number of businesses and has over 25 years experience working at Board level in FTSE 100, regulated, typically financial sector organisations. In addition, she is the Honorary Treasurer and a Trustee of the Disasters Emergency Committee, a global humanitarian charity and is also a magistrate. Jane’s playlist choices are wide-ranging and reflective of a lifelong passion for all kinds of music. 

To hear Jane’s selected pieces you can pause the video and listen to the music in the Spotify player below. Alternatively, click here to watch the video on YouTube where you can find links to all the pieces in the video description.

Watch more in the interview series

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A flying visit from Founder Conductor, Andrew Constantine

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18th June 2021

The Bardi Symphony Orchestra’s founder Dr Andrew Constantine moved to the USA in 2004 but was recently back in the UK to adjudicate at the prestigious Donatella Flick Conducting Competition (of which he was the first winner in 1991) in London. Andrew’s career in the USA began as Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and he is now Music Director of the both the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra and the Reading Symphony Orchestra.

Andrew and his wife Jane remember their time in Leicester with great fondness and were keen to catch up with old Bardi friends.  Orchestra Manager Robert Calow managed to organise an ad-hoc gathering and rounded up some of Bardi’s original members for a great afternoon of reminiscences in the garden of Zeph’s café in Oadby before Andrew and Jane jetted off back to the USA.   

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The Bardi Interviews: In Conversation with Robert Calow

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For the third of our Bardi Interviews the spotlight is turned on our Orchestra Manager Robert Calow. Lynchpin of the orchestra’s activities, and well-known in Leicester and Leicestershire music circles, Robert received his early musical training on the Clarinet at the Leicestershire School of Music and then with the National Youth Wind Orchestra from 1978-84. He joined the Bardi Symphony Orchestra in 1988 and is also in great demand playing with several local orchestras including the Rutland Sinfonia, Knighton Chamber Orchestra and the wind ensemble Musicamici. In 1992 Robert, together with his brother David, founded the Bardi Wind Orchestra. He has held the post of Orchestra Manager of both ensembles for over 30 years. John Florance discussed his life, career and wide-ranging musical tastes from Wagner and Elgar to 1960’s TV themes and Rick Wakeman!

To hear Robert’s selected pieces you can pause the video and listen to the music in the Spotify player below. Alternatively, click here to watch the video on YouTube where you can find links to all the pieces in the video description.

You can view Robert’s final selection, the Elgar excerpt, by clicking here.

Watch more in the interview series

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Preview of the Bardi’s 2021-22 concert season

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5th June 2021

As a sneak peak at what is to come in the Bardi’s 35th concert season from October 2021, here is a snippet of the Bardi’s workshop on Elgar’s First Symphony back in February 2020, weeks before the world ground to a halt. The orchestra perform the finale to the symphony under the baton of Musical Director Claus Efland at Holy Trinity Church, Leicester.

The new 2021-22 season will be announced soon. Hopefully we can bring back the energy and excitement of live music to Leicester audiences in the autumn!

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