Ulster Orchestra to perform in Strabane

THE Ulster Orchestra will bring a cacophony of sound to Strabane next month when they perform music by English composer Elgar and Austrian maestro, Schubert at the Alley Theatre.

The orchestra will be joined by Jonathan Mann (conductor), Ioana Petcu-Colan (violin) and Wenhan Jiang (Viola) for a concert to warm the severest of winter chills.

Elgar’s Serenade for Strings is a gentle, charming work, full of lilting rhythms that suggest folk dances and with a little hint of wistfulness to temper the serenity.

Arthur Benjamin’s name may not be familiar, though film buffs will recognise his work from the Hitchcock film The Man Who Knew Too Much. His Romantic Fantasy for Violin, Viola and Orchestra is a dramatic, virtuosic showcase for the two solo instruments with Ioana Petcu-Colan and Wenhan Jiang, in the solo roles.

The performance will close with another Ulster Orchestra favourite, Schubert’s Eighth Symphony, known as ‘Unfinished’. This is a masterful piece of writing, with two movements so complete it’s hard to imagine how there might have been room for two more. By turns tragic and tender, it resolves in a mood of uplift and peacefulness that will send you out into the February cool with a contented smile.

This forthcoming event will take place on Friday, February 2 at the Alley Theatre and is part of the orchestra’s ‘On Your Doorstep’ concert series.

During this short series of shows the Orchestra will also perform In Armagh with more dates to be announced shortly.

For ticket information you can visit www.alley-theatre.com or contact the Box Office. Tickets are also available at www.ulsterorchestra.org.uk.