Artists:
Elena Schwarz – conductor
Sheku Kanneh-Mason – cello

Programme:
BACEWICZ Overture for Symphony Orchestra
HAYDN Cello Concerto No. 2
-interval-
BEETHOVEN Symphony No. 7

The Philharmonia returns to the Bedford Corn Exchange with superstar cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason who performs in Bedford for the first time. From winning BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016 to performing at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, his career has gone from strength to strength. Kanneh-Mason is the soloist in Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2, an effervescent piece full of sparkling passages across the instrument’s upper and lower registers.

Conductor Elena Schwarz takes to the podium for Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture for Symphony Orchestra – a charming whistlestop tour of a symphony orchestra that’s just a few minutes long – and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Despite his oncoming deafness, Beethoven was still able to channel positivity and optimism into this ebullient symphony.

“The performance of Grażyna Bacewicz’s Overture for Symphony Orchestra is made possible with funding from the ABO Trust’s Sirens programme, a 10-year initiative to support the performance and promotion of music by historical women composers.”

Free Insights Talk

6.30-7pm, Harpur Suite

Bacewicz and the role of women in music – panel discussion with Elena Schwarz (conductor) and Kira Doherty (Second Horn), chaired by Bekah Cork (Head of Concerts & Residencies)