THE JERSEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA‘S SUMMER CONCERT
Saturday 6 August 2022 – Les Quennevais School Hall – 7.30pm
The Jersey Symphony Orchestra is back after a two-year break caused by the pandemic: a welcome sign of a return to relative normality in the cultural life of the Island.
A number of concerts were planned since its last concert in 2019, but each one had to be cancelled because of the persistent Covid health emergency.
The JSO will hold its summer concert in Les Quennevais School Hall on Saturday 6 August, starting at 7.30pm.
There will also be a ‘Discovery Concert’ in the afternoon to which it hopes will attract youngsters to come along as an introduction to the music, from 3.15 – 4.15pm.
The musical director, Hilary Davan Wetton, will conduct his first performance by the orchestra since being appointed in January 2020. Gerard Le Feuvre, cellist, will play Elgar’s Cello Concerto which was scheduled for April 2020.
The programme will begin with Copland’s ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’ and the Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla by Glinka. Gerard Le Feuvre will then play Elgar’s Cello Concerto.
After the interval the programme will consist of ‘Die Moldau’ (Vletava) by Smetana followed by ‘Morning’ and ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’ by Grieg, and Bizet’s Carmen Suite No.1.
During the afternoon of 6 August there will be an opportunity to see the orchestra at work in a Discovery Concert starting at 3.15pm until 4.15pm when Hilary Davan Wetton will be looking in detail at a piece from the programme.
Gerard Le Feuvre, cellist, composer and director of the Kings Chamber Orchestra of London has been described by the international press as ‘a cellist of the highest class” he has performed concertos, recitals, and broadcast, enjoyed standing ovations for his performances from North America, Europe and the UK to Asia. He plays a magnificent 18th Century cello bought for him as a young player by an anonymous donor from Jersey.
Gerard’s first inspiration as a teenager was Jacqueline Dupre (also descended from a Jersey family) and at age 15 he performed for Jacqueline at the Commonwealth Institute in London. Gerard went on to win numerous scholarships. He studied with some of the greatest cello teachers in the 20th Century.
During his early years Gerard became the principal cellist of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain after an audition in which he broke three strings! He organised a chamber group and entered the first national schools chamber music competition, and won first prize.
As soloist and Chamber Musician, Gerard became Director of Education for the London Festival of Chamber Music, and freelanced playing principal cellist with many outstanding international orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra. He has given over 500 recitals with the distinguished British pianist and Royal College professor Nigel Clayton, and most notably they performed together at the National occasion in the Science museum in London to celebrate the life of Gerald Durrell after he passed away.
After the Berlin wall came down in 1989, Gerard conducted celebrations in the Royal Albert Hall and became one of the first musicians (with his wife Sarah) to play with members of East German orchestras.
In the year 2000 Gerard was awarded an Honorary ARAM (Associate of the Royal Academy of Music) for ‘outstanding contribution to the music profession’.
He performed as soloist in the first ever concert of the Jersey Symphony Orchestra and considers the JSO to be Jersey’s finest cultural gathering with its predominance of local talent and excellent collection of visiting players.
Hilary Davan Wetton is Musical Director of the City of London Choir and Alina Orchestra, as well as Associate Conductor of the London Mozart Players. He is Conductor Emeritus of the Milton Keynes City Orchestra (of which he was founding conductor) and of the Guildford Choral Society which he conducted from 1968 – 2008.
His extensive discography also includes the Holst Choral Symphony, with the Guildford Choral Society and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which won the Diapason d’Or, and several outstanding recordings with the City of London Choir, including Flowers of the Field with the London Mozart Players (number two in the Classical Charts for eight consecutive weeks) and The Nation’s Favourite Carols – with the RPO – which reached number one in the Chart. Orchestral recordings include Holst‘s The Planets with the LPO, which was the recommended version in the Penguin Guide.
In the opera pit Hilary has appeared on a number of occasions with Travelling Opera.
He has had a long career as a conductor and teacher and has conducted some of the leading British youth orchestras. He also has a continuing association with the National Children’s Orchestra. He appears frequently as a guest conductor with choirs and orchestras both in Britain and overseas, and has performed regularly on Radio 3.
Most recently, he has made landmark recordings with the Military Wives Choirs the 2018 disc, Remember, was created to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War.
Concert tickets will be £28 for adults and £10 for students to include a drink in the interval and are available via the ‘Buy Tickets’ button at JSO.org.je
The cost of tickets for the Discovery Concert will be £10 for adults or £5 for students, to be paid for at the door but free to Friends of the Orchestra.
In the event of difficulties with the booking or special needs, please telephone 852427.
