Settle Orchestra are looking forward to another enjoyable season, including a further collaboration with Langcliffe Singers after our very successful performance of Brahms’ Requiem in 2023.  The conductor for this season will be Andre Chan, another graduate student of the Masters course at Manchester’s Royal Northern College of Music.  A native of Hong Kong, Andre has already assisted various world-class orchestras like the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and the BBC Philharmonic, and also conducted the Hallé, Manchester Camerata, and MAV Symphony (Budapest) in masterclasses. He is excited to be bringing music close to his heart to audiences in the Yorkshire Dales.

For the joint concert Andre has chosen Beethoven’s Mass in C, a wonderfully tender and personal interpretation of the Latin mass which is not performed nearly as often as it should be.  Other highlights for the year include Dvorak’s lyrical and nostalgic cello concerto, with the orchestra’s own Bob Buller as soloist, and a French-inspired concert with music by Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc – and Mozart.  (OK, so Mozart wasn’t French but he had a happy association with Paris and we are playing his Paris Symphony!)

We always welcome applications to join the orchestra, especially from younger players and from string and brass players.  We would also be very interested to hear from any composers who would like to write music for the orchestra.

We give two concerts each term, one in Settle and one in Skipton; this year the dates are 22 and 29 November 2025 and 21 and 29 March and 20 and 27 June 2026.  Full details are on our website, http://www.settleorchestra.org.uk/.   Do please come and support us and keep music live in the Dales!

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