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Settle Orchestra, under our charismatic Colombian conductor Maria Camilla Barboza, will be concluding our 2023-24 season with another varied and magical programme.  The concerts, back at our normal time of 7.30 pm, will take place in Christ Church, Skipton on 22 June and in the Parish Church, Settle on 29 June.

The programme starts with Mozart’s sparkling overture to his opera “the Impressario”, describing the trials and tribulations of a producer attempting to put on an opera (at his own financial risk) while managing the egos of his lead singers.  Today’s football managers know the score all too well!  Next comes Richard Strauss’ first horn concerto, an early work with all the composer’s characteristic elan and tunefulness.  And we end with Beethoven’s seventh symphony, the work which his contemporary Weber said showed that Beethoven was “ripe for the madhouse”.  Audiences then and since have adored this wonderful piece with its pounding rhythms in the fast movements, contrasting with the haunting melodies of the slow movement.

The soloist in the Strauss will be Will Padfield, a recent graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music and Royal Academy of Music who is now working as a freelance musician in London.  Alongside his orchestral work he is in demand as an actor and as a music presenter.  Skipton and Settle audiences are in for a treat! Further details and tickets from the orchestra’s website at http://www.settleorchestra.org.uk/

Settle Orchestral Society