At Barbican to see our colleague, Claire Turner in a charity concert with a full orchestra and a huge choir.
EC4 Music at Barbican
Aaron Copland, Fanfare for the Common Man
Camille Saint-Saëns, Dance Macabre, op. 40, Claire Ashby, violin
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, An Orkney Wedding, with Sunrise, Pipe Major Jim Banks, bagpipes
Carl Orff, Carmina Burana, Claire Seaton, soprano, Daniel Joy, tenor, Koji Terada, baritone, The Boys of St Albans Cathedral Choir
EC4 Music is a part-time orchestra comprised of professional workers from the city (hence the postcode inspired name). This was the group’s fourth concert at the Barbican. Like much of their work, this concert was in aid of The Prince’s Trust.
The evening featured the enduringly popular Fanfare for the Common Man, and Orff’s Carmina Burana, performed by a huge choir.
Have you ever seen James Naughtie (from Radio 4)? No, neither had I. But I have now; he was the Prince’s Trust advocate who introduced the concert.
Watching one of your fiends and colleagues, stepping into a different role as an accomplished classical musician is more than a little humbling. The way this part-time orchestra and massive choir filled the Barbican Hall with such a professional richness of sound was truly impressive.
I’ll get it out of the way – I can’t stand the self-referential smugness of ‘Peter Maxwell Davies’s An Orkney Wedding, With Sunrise’ but I loved everything else and it was wonderful to see Claire revelling in the rightful glory.