• Every one of our concerts for the past several seasons has been a sell-out; and
• At our last two concerts we were forced to turn away audience members who arrived without tickets because we would have contravened fire regulations had we admitted them.

Don’t take the risk of disappointing your guests!

Our performances of the Brahms and Mendelssohn at the May concert were a huge success and our June concert is sure to be a hit with our audience.  Please buy tickets in advance and encourage your family and friends to attend.

You can buy tickets by cash or cheque from members of the committee at the final rehearsals this Sunday, Monday and next Saturday, or you can buy by credit card through our online box office at www.endcliffeorchestra.org.uk/buy.

• Sunday June 16 Sunday 2.00 – 5.00 at Millhouses Methodists Upper Room
  • Mendelssohn (without Ralph) 2.00 – 2.30
  • Brahms 2.30 – 2.50 Break
  • Dvorak 3.00 – finishing with 3rd movement

• Monday June 17 7.30 – 9.30pm (but be prepared to run late) at our usual venue
  • Mendelssohn (with Ralph) Brahms
  • Dvorak run through finishing with 3rd movement

• Saturday June 22 10.00 – 1.00 at Ecclesall Church
  • Mendelssohn
  • Brahms
  • Dvorak

Thanks

The Rowan, located in Dore, is a small, special school for primary aged children who have complex speech, language and communication difficulties, many with autistic spectrum disorders.

“We find that music helps the children enormously in developing communication skills, nurturing their talents and improving relationships with family and friends” explains Professor Barry Hancock, chair of Friends of the Rowan School.  “That’s why we believe that music therapy is one of the most valuable ways in which we can support the children at the school.”

As confirmed by a recent scientific study, music therapy can be used to address physical, emotional, cognitive, and social needs of autistic individuals of all ages, including managing stress and improving communication.

As a parent to an autistic son, Ralph knows only too well the power of music in improving the lives of children with communication challenges. “Like many of those with Autistic Spectrum Disorders Stephen finds difficulty in expressing himself and communicating his needs,” he explains. “Through music Stephen is able to convey his feelings.  Musical activity has also developed his focus of attention, giving him identity and tremendous enjoyment”. Ralph has witnessed many others who have benefitted greatly from music therapy activities.

When Ralph learned of the Music Therapy appeal for the Rowan School he was eager to help.  “It will be wonderful if my concerto performance could help to provide music therapy sessions for Sheffield children who have significant life challenges.”

Ralph has been associated with Sheffield’s Endcliffe Orchestra since 2009 and, together with conductor and musical director Martin Lightowler, has made his mark in improving the standard of orchestral playing.  Performing the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto has been one of Ralph’s long-standing ambitions.

“When Ralph suggested the concerto I said ‘yes’ without hesitation” explained conductor Martin. “It is one of the nation’s most loved works for violin and a privilege to perform it with Ralph and the Endcliffe Orchestra”.

The Endcliffe Orchestra has a long tradition of raising funds for local charities through proceeds of concert performances, including a recent donation of £1,000 to “Lost Chord” which provides therapeutic music for dementia sufferers.  “How fitting that we will be able to support children with autism through music therapy, a cause so close to Ralph’s heart”, added Martin.

In addition to the Mendelssohn Violin concerto, the Endcliffe Orchestra will perform other orchestral works from the Romantic period at its concert on Saturday 22^nd June at 7.30pm in Ecclesall Parish Church, Ringinglow Road, S11 7PP.  Online box office www.endcliffeorchestra.org.uk/buy.

I realise that the May and June concerts were close but the June 22nd concert is our main event.  We have committed to raising funds for music therapy for the Rowan School for children with communication difficulties and there will be an address at the concert from the chair of the school charity.

Please, please do your best to sell tickets as they are currently going very slowly  – we have sold only 49 out of 350 and we are concerned that we may lose money.

To fill the venue means every member will need to take responsibility for selling seven tickets each.  Please start now!

Tickets: £8, £5 (concessions) available on the door.

Mozart: Ave verum

Victoria: Ecce sacerdos

Purcell: Funeral Sentences

Dowland: Come, heavy sleep

Elgar: Songs from the Bavarian Highlands

Tippett: Go Down Moses

Dove: Into Thy Hands

Britten: Prelude and Fugue

Part: Magnificat

Copland: Old American Songs

In this concert the choir explores the work and lives of the composers surrounding Benjamin Britten in order to examine his significance in a wider musical context.  They will try to understand the music that inspired Britten, not just as a composer, but also as a recording artist. The first half of the evening looks at the composers that inspired Britten.  The second half of the program looks at Britten’s contemporaries and some of their notable choral works, together with composers who have since been influenced by Britten in more recent years. The concert includes music for choir and organ in additional to pieces for baritone and piano performed by soloist Matthew Palmer.

Chesterfield Bach Choir

James Bingham (conductor)

Tickets: £10, £5 (students, under 18s)

Albion sings the music of “these islands” – England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales – and further afield, rich traditions of folksong, plainchant, madrigals, and part-songs, and from a literary heritage that spans a millennium and covers Burns, Blake, Chaucer, Traherne, and Owen. The choir draw inspiration from music and words ancient and modern, and from a deep connection to the land and its peoples. Working without a conductor and singing largely from memory, the choir strives to create a natural, beautiful sound that springs from a place deep within. The choir sing music that is familiar, but perform it in a new, different way that draws in listeners from all around.

Albion’s unique approach to performance celebrates Britten’s song repertoire from a refreshing angle. Alongside brand-new arrangements of folksongs popularised by Britten, the concert features solo repertoire by Britten and his contemporaries.

Tickets: £10, £8 (unwaged), £4 (students/children)

Britten: Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

+ music from film and TV including Dr Who, James Bond, Wallace and Gromit and Austin Powers arranged by Robin McEwan

In aid of Sheffield Hospitals Charity to support Cystic Fibrosis patients in Sheffield

Ten years after the premiere of Prokofiev’s ‘Peter and the Wolf’, Britten was asked to compose music for a short educational film introducing the instruments of the orchestra. Britten was greatly inspired by the music of Henry Purcell and used the hornpipe from Purcell’s ‘Abdelazer’ (The Moor’s Revenge) as a theme for a set of variations. Britten demonstrates the capabilities of each family of instruments in the orchestra, starting with the woodwind section, moving down to the brass and strings and then the percussion. Each group is explored through a set of variations, and the work concludes with a darting fugue, climaxing with the original theme majestically played on the brass.

Berlioz – 1st m. – 2 fl. 2 ob. 2 cl. 4 bn.       4 hn. 4 tr. 3 tromb.       perc. timps. harp.   str.

                   2nd m. – 2 fl. 2 ob. 2 cl. 4 bn.      4 hn.       harp.    str.

                  3rd m. – 2 fl. 1 ob. 1 cor. 2 cl. 2 bn.       4 hn.     harp.   str.

                   4th m. – 2 fl. 2 ob. 2 cl. 4 bn.      4 hn. 4 tr. 3 tromb. 1 tba.      perc. timps.     str.

Copland – Full brass & timps and perc

Sally’s – Full Orchestra

Please click on the link  Endcliffe Orchestra Questionnaire to access the survey. I’ll be happy to answer any queries at rehearsals, as well as bring printed copies if people prefer to write. 

Thank you for taking part. I look forward to receiving your responses!

Kunshan

Endcliffe Rehearsal Schedule June – July 2013

Concert:   Saturday June 22^nd 

Brahms: Tragic Overture

Mendelssohn: Violin Concerto

Dvorak: Symphony No.7 

June 3        Dvorak 4^th movement then 3^rd

June 10      Dvorak bits from all movements

June 16      Sunday Rehearsal 2.00 – 5.00         at Millhouses Methodists Upper Room

                       Mendelssohn (without Ralph) 2.00 – 2.30    

                       Brahms 2.30 – 2.50         Break

Dvorak 3.00 – finishing with 3^rd movement                                     

June 17      Mendelssohn (with Ralph)         Brahms

Dvorak run through finishing with 3^rd movement                  

June 22      Rehearsal 10.00 – 1.00 at Ecclesall Church

                       Mendelssohn         Brahms        Dvorak

                      Concert 7.30

For the rest of the term we work on:

Berlioz ‘Harold in Italy’, soloist Lindsay Aitkenhead

Schubert ‘Rosamunde’ Overture

Copland ‘Fanfare for the Common Man’

Jenny Jackson’s composition

June 24      Schubert      Berlioz 1^st and 4^th movements     Copland 

July 1         Berlioz 2^nd and 3^rd movements    Jenny Jackson 

July 8         Schubert      AGM           Berlioz 1^st and 4^th movements

July 15       Copland      Schubert      Jenny

July 22       Run through of Schubert, Copland and Berlioz followed by nibbles and drinks

Five weeks off then return Sept 2nd 

Dates for your diary – Dec 8^th rehearsal for concert Dec 14^th

June 22^nd rehearsal for concert June 28th

All Plans Subject To Alteration – CHECK PREVIOUS REHEARSAL!!

Mainly Baroque, Sheffield, Sunday 30 June, 2.30-5.30pm.

A string orchestra workshop tutored by Robin Ireland at Heeley Hall, Birkdale School, Sheffield S10 3DH. All welcome.

The programme :

Handel - Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No 2

Haydn - Concerto No 2 in D major Hob V11d, horn Frank Edenborough

Bruch – Romance, viola Robin Ireland

Kalinnikov – Serenade

Haydn – ‘Seven Last Words’ Sonata VII and Earthquake

Mozart – Divertimento No. 2

Cost £11 per player, £5 students, includes interval refreshments. For a leaflet with full details email:  natalie.wing@homecall.co.uk

Thanks

Thanks