Archive for category: News

Happy New Year from everyone at Firebird!

It’s that time of year when many of us are making resolutions for the year ahead. Have you made yours yet?

The three most common resolutions people make are to:

* sort out their finances
* eat more healthily
* exercise more.

One other you might like to add is ‘Make the most of 2020 with Firebird. We have a fabulous line up of concerts this year, so make sure these are on your agenda for 2020…

FROM THE EARTH TO THE SKIES

Tuesday 25 February 2020, 7:30 pm
St George’s, Hanover Square, London, W1S 1FX

Mozart Overture to Idomeneo, re di Creta, K, 366
Beethoven Piano Concerto no. 2 in B flat, Op. 19
Mozart Ilia’s Arias: Quando avran fine omai & Padre, germani, addio! (from Idomeneo)
Mozart Symphony no. 41 in C, K. 551 (Jupiter)

Conductor Michael Thrift
Piano Marc Corbett-Weaver
Soprano Rosanna Harris

THE FIRST CUCKOO: NATURE UNWRAPPED

Sunday 22 March 2020, 6:30 pm
King’s Place, London, N1 9AG

Delius On Hearing the First Cuckoo
Delius Spring Summer Night on the River
Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64
Mozart The Queen of the Night Arias: Der Hölle Rache & O zittre nicht (from The Magic Flute)
Haydn Symphony no. 83 in G minor, Hob.I:83 (La Poule)

Conductor George Jackson
Violin Emmanuel Bach
Coloratura Samantha Hay

FIREBIRD FOR SCHOOLS

Thursday 14 May 2020, 1:30 pm
St George’s, Hanover Square, London, W1S 1FX

Programme to include:
Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf, Op.67

Conductor George Jackson

B MINOR WITH LOVE

Thursday 11 June 2020, 7:30 pm
St George’s, Hanover Square, London, W1S 1FX

Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Winner of the Firebird Young Composer of the Year Competition New Work (World Première)
Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 (Pathétique)

Conductor Michael Thrift
Cello Aleksei Kiseliov

NORTHERN LIGHTS

Thursday 24 September 2020, 7:30 pm
St George’s, Hanover Square, London, W1S 1FX

Glinka Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35
Sibelius Symphony no. 2 in D, Op. 43

Principal Guest Conductor George Jackson
Violin Yury Revich

FIREBIRD FLIES TO THE EAST

Thursday 22 October 2020, 7:30 pm
St George’s, Hanover Square, London, W1S 1FX

Borodin In the Steppes of Central Asia
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Puccini A Selection of Arias from ‘La Bohème’
Stravinsky The Firebird Suite (1919)

Principal Guest Conductor George Jackson
Piano George Harliono
Soprano Sky Ingram

French Horn player Helena Jacklin began performing with the London Firebird Orchestra in February this year. Several concerts later we find out more about her career in music…

Tell us a bit about yourself, your instrument and your training to date…

I began the horn at the age of nine and soon after gained a scholarship to study at the Purcell School of Music with Sue Dent, supported by the government’s Music and Dance scheme. I was then awarded a scholarship by the Royal College of Music in 2011 as holder of the Michael Quinn Award. I graduated with a First Class Bachelor of Music (Hons) degree.

My studies continued as holder of the Oliver Green Memorial Trust Award and as part of the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund of the Philharmonia Orchestra. In 2017 I graduated with a distinction in Masters in Performance.

Can you say more about your involvement in orchestral playing?

I see myself primarily an orchestral musician and have performed with orchestras such as the Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, RTE Symphony Orchestra and London Concert Orchestra, among others. I was a member of the Southbank Sinfonia in 2018 and am currently on trial for Principal Horn of the Scottish Ballet. 

I am also active in chamber music and have given solo and chamber music recitals at the Royal Festival Hall, Kings Place, Wigmore Hall and St Martin-in-the-Fields. I began performing with the London Firebird Orchestra in February this year, playing first horn.

And what about your future ambitions?

My musical ambition is to have a varied playing career, whether in a symphony orchestra or in an orchestral pit.

Outside of music, my ambitions include travelling to as many different countries as possible and completing all of the recipes in Meera Sodha’s cookbooks!

What do you see as the value of an orchestra like London Firebird to younger professional musicians like yourself?

London Firebird Orchestra offers young musicians the chance to bridge the gap between study and the demands of professional life in a collegiate and supportive artistic environment.

It is also a great opportunity to cover basic repertoire. Some of my most memorable dates including Beethoven’s 5th and 7th symphonies with conductor George Jackson.

Join us for the next Firebird concert on Tuesday evening at St George’s Hanover Square for an evening of fantastic music including the world premiere of Yury Revich’s fresh look at Paganini’s 24 Caprices

Violinist Yury Revich has taken a fresh look at those incredibly demanding pieces by presenting all 24 Caprices for the first time with his newly composed accompaniment for full symphony orchestra.

Watch the video for a taster of what’s in store…

Yury explains: ‘I believe this new version of the Caprices brings a fusion of the mystery of Paganini’s music and the magic with a modern symphonic sound. I would like to invite you to experience the magic of Paganini in our own time.‘

Mission Paganini with Yury Revich

Tuesday 22 October 2019, 7:30 pm
St George’s, Hanover Square, London, W1S 1FX

Donizetti Overture to Don Pasquale
Paganini/Revich The 24 Caprices
Puccini Quando m’en vo’ (from La Boheme) & O mio babbino caro (from Gianni Schicchi)

Conductor George Jackson
Violin Yury Revich
Soprano Sky Ingram

This concert has been generously sponsored by Rory Graham in memory of James B Cairns

We find out more about the next Firebird concert on 22 October which will be one of the highlights of the new season and will feature the world premiere of Yury Revich’s arrangement of Paganini’s 24 Caprices for violin and orchestra…

Niccolò Paganini was a major reformer, a great violin virtuoso, and a musician with an incredible charisma. According to legend, he even sold his soul to the devil!

Among Paganini’s many compositions are his 24 Caprices for Violin Op.1. These are considered the most technically difficult works ever written for this instrument.

Violinist Yuri Revich has taken a fresh look at those incredibly demanding pieces by presenting all 24 Caprices for the first time with his newly composed accompaniment for full symphony orchestra.

Yury explains: ‘I believe this new version of the Caprices brings a fusion of the mystery of Paganini’s music and the magic with a modern symphonic sound. I would like to invite you to experience the magic of Paganini in our own time. Mission Paganini, is something you won’t want to miss!’blooded authority, fleet-fingered dexterity, innate musicality and substantial accuracy…’

Paganini was born in what was then the Republic of Genoa – now part of Italy – in 1782. At the age of 18 he was appointed first violin of the Republic of Lucca where his fame as a violinist is said to been matched only by his reputation as a gambler and womaniser. 

In 1805, the region was ceded to Napoleon’s sister, Elisa Baciocchi, who was to become the Grand Duchess of Tuscany. Paganini became a violinist in her court before becoming a travelling virtuoso and composer.

His first big break came in 1813 with an enormous success at La Scala in Milan. In 1827, Pope Leo XII honoured Paganini with the Order of the Golden Spur and his fame spread across Europe.

After a period of chronic illnesses Paganini returned to Parma in 1835 under the employ of Archduchess Marie Louise of Austria, Napoleon’s second wife. But after falling out with the orchestra and the court he left for Paris to set up a casino. Its immediate failure left him in financial ruin, and he auctioned off his personal effects, including his musical instruments before his tragic death in 1840.

Mission Paganini with Yury Revich
Tuesday 22 October 2019, 7:30 pm
St George’s, Hanover Square, London, W1S 1FX

Donizetti Overture to Don Pasquale
Paganini/Revich The 24 Caprices
Puccini Quando m’en vo’ (from La Boheme) & O mio babbino caro (from Gianni Schicchi)

Conductor George Jackson
Violin Yury Revich
Soprano Sky Ingram

This concert has been generously sponsored by Rory Graham in memory of James B Cairns

London Firebird Orchestra’s fantastic new season is ‘bookended’ by two concerts featuring music is specific keys. But what does this actually mean?

A Major Evening

On Thursday 26 September 2019 Firebird presents A Major Evening with music by Beethoven and Mozart – and predominantly in the key of A Major.

Beethoven Coriolan Overture, Op. 72
Mozart Clarinet Concerto in A, K. 622
Mozart Tamino’s Aria: Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön (from The Magic Flute)
Beethoven Symphony no. 7 in A, Op. 92

Conductor George Jackson
Clarinet James Meldrum
Tenor John Findon

B MINOR WITH LOVE

Thursday 11 June 2020 sees B Minor with Love, with music by Dvorak and Tchaikovsky – and centred around the key of B minor.

Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Winner of the Firebird Young Composer of the Year Competition New Work (World Première)
Tchaikovsky Symphony no. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 (Pathétique)

Conductor Michael Thrift
Cello Aleksei Kiseliov

In music, the key of the piece is the group of notes or scale which form the basis of the composition. Each key has certain characteristics which differentiates it from another.

Western music is usually grouped into two types – Major and Minor – although there are many other types or ‘Modes’ used in different musical styles around the world.

Science laboratories throughout the country will probably have a periodic table on the wall. Music classrooms will have something equally daunting to the uninitiated – The Circle of Fifths.

It all goes back to the Ancient Greeks and Pythagoras in 600BC. He had been experimenting with different lengths of vibrating string and had discovered the relationships between pitch frequencies.

He defined one of these relationships the octave and divided it up into twelve steps. This was what we call a scale. On a piano it is easy to see with a mixture of black and white keys:

This developed into the Pythagorean Circle and the version we have today – the Circle of Fifths – is like a map of the keys. Starting at the top in C major and moving clockwise, the adjacent keys are the most similar to each other with each one having an additional sharp (a step higher).

As you go round the circle counter-clockwise you keep adding flats (a step lower). Nestled snugly inside the major circle you find the relative minor keys which have all the same sharps of flats as their major counterparts.

But of course, understanding the cycle of fifths has absolutely no bearing on the enjoyment of this wonderful music – and this years season truly is a feast for the senses. We do hope you can join us for the opening concert of the season on Thursday 26 September for A Major Evening.