January 26, 2012

A new Pictures at an exhibition

Amadeus Orchestra has commissioned ten composers to each re-orchestrate one of Mussorgsky’s ‘pictures’ from the original piano score. These will be performed by the orchestra in Exeter Cathedral on 19th July and Wells Cathedral on 20th July. The ten composers are Alastair King, Roger May, Tolibkhon Shakhidi, David Butterworth, Philip Mackenzie, Simon Whiteside, Daryl Griffiths, Natalia Villanueva, James McWilliam and Julian Kershaw. The programme will also feature original music by Tolibkhon Shakhidi and Peter Hope as well as Bruch’s more familiar Violin Concerto in G minor.

October 26, 2011

Text a donation to us

The Amadeus Orchestra has just signed up to Vodaphone’s “JustTextGiving” which enables people to donate up to £10 to the orchestra. Gift Aid is then added automatically. Donors should text “AMAD11 £5″ or the amount they wish to give to this number: 70070.

March 14, 2011

Silverstone Classic

The Amadeus Orchestra has been invited to perform at the world’s largest classic motor racing festival. On Sunday 24th July from 1 pm until 2.30 you can hear the orchestra play a selection of uplifting classics on the main stage.

February 7, 2011

Francesca Barritt

After five years of loyal service, Francesca Barritt is to stand down as leader of the Amadeus Orchestra. Our loss will be the professional music world’s gain as her career develops at a rapid pace. We wish Fran all the best in her future career and hope that she finds time to come and guest lead from time to time. She will be a hard act to follow.
She will be succeeded by Michael Foyle. Michael was appointed leader of the National Youth Orchestra in 2009 and now studies at the Royal College of Music.

January 19, 2011

Eighteenth International Week of Beer and Music

The dates have been announced for the Eighteenth International Week of Beer and Music. It will be held in Somerset from July 17th – 23rd and will include concerts in Exeter Cathedral on July 21st and Wells Cathedral on July 22nd. The repertoire will include Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony and yet another Amadeus World Premiere: Almas Serkebayev’s Violin Concerto. The guest soloist will be international superstar Marat Bisengaliev who has previously worked with Philip Mackenzie in both India and Thailand.

October 30, 2010

James May’s Man Lab

Four members of Amadeus Orchestra (past and present), Philip Mackenzie, Jonny Stokes, Claire Beard and Dawn Hardwick appear in James May’s new series on BBC2, Man Lab. Their task is to train a group of men who passed grade one as a child and haven’t touched their instruments since, to perform as an orchestra, in a concert in St Martin in the Fields. The results are painfully funny. Man Lab will be shown on BBC2 on Sunday 31st October, Sunday 7th November and Sunday 14th at 9pm.

August 17, 2010

New commission for China Tour

The Amadeus Orchestra, with funding from the RVW Trust, has commissioned British composer Alastair King to write a new work for large orchestra that they will take on tour to eight Chinese cities between December 26th 2010 and January 7th 2011. Alastair has had several of his works premiered by Amadeus over the past 15 years and is as at home in the Hollywood studio as he is on the concert platform, having been a finalist in Masterprize (LSO) and also having worked on films such as the Harry Potter series, Pirates of the Carribean and Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

June 28, 2010

Correction

The most recent news item titled “YCAT success” should have read:
On Friday 21st May 2010 Michael Gurevich, our principal guest leader and David Edmonds, our principal cellist, were selected for representation by YCAT (Young Concert Artists Trust) at the Public Final Auditions held at Wigmore Hall. Michael and David will be performing concertos with the orchestra on our next tour of China which takes place from 26th December 2010 – 7th January 2011. See http://www.ycat.co.uk/rhodes-piano-trio for more details.

June 17, 2010

YCAT Success

Michael Gurevich, our principal guest leader and David Edmonds, our principal cellist, have just been awarded the Elias Fawcett award in the Royal Oversees League Ensemble Awards finals. Michael and David will be performing concertos with the orchestra on our next tour of China which takes place from 26th December 2010 – 7th January 2011.

May 24, 2010

Concert Dates

Our main summer concerts will take place in Exeter Cathedral on 22 July and Wells Cathedral on 23rd July. The programme will consist of Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony with Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Janis Kelly (Soprano) and Richard Morrison (baritone), Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending with Francesca Barritt, and Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel. This year sees the 80th birthday of one of Britain’s most important living composers: Peter Hope. We will be celebrating with him by performing his sizzling piece, Kaleidoscope.

March 25, 2010

Seventeenth International Week of Beer and Music

The dates of the Seventeenth International Week of Beer and Music have been announced as 18 – 24 July 2010. The course is an orchestral training course for music students and young professionals and will feature concerts in Wells and Exeter Cathedrals. Tutors on the course include Philip Mackenzie, Edwin Roxburgh, Peter Bassano and Mark Messenger.

February 23, 2010

Bournemouth Symphony Chorus

One of Britain’s leading choruses, the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, is to join forces with Amadeus Orchestra in a performance of Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony in Exeter Cathedral on 22 July and Wells Cathedral on 23rd July this year. The soloists will be Janis Kelly (Soprano) and Richard Morrison (Baritone). The programme will also feature the Lark Ascending and music by Strauss and Peter Hope.

December 16, 2009

Playing for the King

Two Amadeus musicians were recently selected to form part of an international orchestra to play for the King of Thailand’s 82nd birthday celebrations in Bangkok. They played to nearly 1.5 million people live over the course of three evenings.The musicians were Leah Evans (cello) and Biff Norton (percussion).

August 28, 2009

Michael Gurevich

Michael Gurevich (member of Amadeus Orchestra since 2006 and guest leader of the 2007 China Tour) has been notching up a number of notable successes recently including being asked to trial for the post of Leader of Manchester Camerata (one of the UK’s finest chamber orchestras) and being asked to join the London Haydn Quartet.  He will appear with this quartet at the Carnegie Hall in New York in March 2010.

June 12, 2009

China Tour dates announced

The dates for the fourth tour of China undertaken by the Amadeus Orchestra will be 26 December 2009 – 8th January 2010.  The orchestra will perform a selection of English and Chinese pieces to audiences in seven Chinese cities.

May 5, 2009

Kathleen Ferrier Award

Britain’s most prestigious award for singers, the Kathleen Ferrier Award, has been won by Sarah Jane Brandon.  Sarah Jane has been a regular with Amadeus over the past two years, having performed ten concerts with us and undertaken a tour of China with the orchestra.

April 17, 2009

Symphony Orchestra of India

The Symphony Orchestra of India has invited 25 members of the Amadeus Orchestra to work alongside them in Bombay for two weeks in September.  The orchestra last visited Bombay at the invitation of the British Council in 2001 and is looking forward to a fruitful collaboration with SOI.

April 15, 2009

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

David Edmonds, principal cellist of the Amadeus Orchestra since 2006, has been accepted on the academy course in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam.  He will play with the orchestra for six months while receiving lessons from their principal cellist.  This prestigious post is only offered to one cellist each year.   Read more here: http://www.concertgebouworkest.nl/page.ocl?pageID=44

March 5, 2009

You Tube Symphony Orchestra

One of Amadeus Orchestra’s percussionists, Owain Williams, has been selected to play in the You Tube Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in New York.  Owain, 23, has been selected in a world wide on-line vote along with 90 other musicians from 30 different countries.  He was chosen from 3000 audition videos submitted to You Tube from amateur and professional musicians.

December 1, 2008

Week of Beer and Music 2009

The dates of the Sixteenth International Week of Beer and Music are to be 19th – 25th July 2009.  It will be held as usual at Perrott Hill School in Somerset with concerts in Wells and Exeter Cathedrals.  The programme will include Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto with Alexander Karpeyev, Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and Shostakovich’s First Symphony.  Applications for this summer orchestral training course are invited via the Amadeus Orchestra website.

October 3, 2008

Radio 3 Performance

The Amadeus Orchestra will appear on Radio 3 on Thursday 16th October, between 7pm  and 9.15 pm.  They will play one movement of Mahler’s Second Symphony, recorded live at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester on March 30th 2008, conducted by Philip Mackenzie. 

September 24, 2008

Amadeus chosen to launch new Ford Fiesta

The Amadeus orchestra has been chosen to provide the live music at the launch of the new Ford Fiesta on Tuesday 30th September 2008 at the Tower of London.  The orchestra was selected for its quality and youthful vitality.  We will be accompanying Mark Ramprakash and some dancing cars, playing two Tangos by Piazolla.

September 20, 2008

Our Musical Director

Our Musical Director, Philip Mackenzie, has just been appointed Principal Conductor of the London Mozart Symphony Orchestra.  He will combine this international role with that of MD of the Amadeus Orchestra.

July 8, 2008

Summer concert dates

You can hear the Amadeus Orchestra in a number of locations this summer: on July 23rd at Exeter Cathedral with Eduard Diadiura, the famous Russian conductor and on July 24th in Wells Cathedral with their musical director, Philip Mackenzie.  They appear in chamber form in Chipping Sodbury on July 26th and will give an outdoor fireworks concert at Burntwood Wakes on August 9th.  On August 20th they appear at Ipswich School.  For more details, see our concerts page.

May 8, 2008

More outside gigs for Amadeus Orchestra

More and more promoters of classical music are turning to the Amadeus Orchestra for their live music.  Two more Choral societies, the Frome Festival Chorus and the Athenaeum Singers of Warminster have booked us to accompany them in May and June this year.  We will be playing Bach’s B minor Mass in Wells Cathedral on May 26th and Brahm’s Requiem at the Minster in Warminster on June 7th.

January 24, 2008

Third visit to Burntwood

The Burntwood Wakes have invited the Amadeus Orchestra back for a third time this August to give a fireworks concert that includes playing the Dambusters while a Spitfire flies overhead.

November 29, 2007

World’s Newest Concert Hall?

The Amadeus Orchestra is to play in what is perhaps the world’s newest concert hall.  Opened in July 2006 the Shanghai Oriental Arts Centre will host the Amadeus Orchestra in January for two concerts titled “Imagine Olympics”.

Skandia and LSO St Lukes

Three more dates are announced for the Amadeus Orchestra.  Skandia, (savings, pensions, investments etc) has booked Amadeus to add a sense of occasion to their forthcoming conference in Newport in January.  We have also been booked to play at LSO St Lukes on May 23rd.  February will see the entire orchestra play at a private wedding. Now there’s style!

September 5, 2007

Concerts in Ipswich and Chelmsford

As the fame of the orchestra spreads, our bookings increase.  After the success of this year’s concert, Ipswich school have asked us back next year and Bishops Stortford Choral Society have made their first booking with us to perform Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius in Chelmsford Cathedral.

August 13, 2007

Amadeus goes Carbon Neutral

As our forthcoming tour to China is likely to use around 2 tonnes of CO2 per person in flights alone, we decided to do something about it.  We will therefore be planting 200 trees in Gloucestershire this autumn.  This will replace the CO2 over the course of the trees’ lifetimes.  Players in the orchestra will be invited to come and help dig!

July 26, 2007

New CD released by Musical Director

Our Musical Director and Principal Conductor, Philip Mackenzie, has just released a new CD on the Dutton Digital label.  “Over the Water” was recorded by Philip and the Manchester Camerata last summer and features John Turner as soloist.

June 23, 2007

School visit

The orchestra has been booked by Ipswich School to give workshops and a concert on 22nd August this year. See the concerts page for details.

June 12, 2007

3rd Tour to China

The dates have now been fixed for the 3rd Amadeus Tour to China. These are 26th December – 9th January. More details will be published on the website when they are available.

May 21, 2007

Getty Images

The photographs that Getty Images took of the Amadeus Orchestra last year are now up on their website. These pictures are used by newspapers worldwide to illustrate stories as well as being bought by advertising companies etc.

May 17, 2007

New Trustees

The appointment of four new Trustees of the orchestra was confirmed yesterday at the Trustees’ Annual Meeting.  The new Trustees are: Nick Ayling OBE, Veronica Faulks, Bridget Hanbury and Ian Warren.

May 16, 2007

Faure Requiem

The Amadeus Orchestra has been booked to perform Faure’s Requiem at St Botolph’s Church, Bishopsgate, on Thursday 12th July at 6pm. The conductor will be Peter Asprey.

April 27, 2007

Rawsthorne World Premiere

We are to give the world premiere of Alan Rawsthorne’s newly reconstructed Kubla Khan at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester, on Sunday 30th March 2008.  This was to have taken place at the Royal Albert Hall but with Rawsthorne’s strong Manchester connections, it was decided to move the event to the more prestigious Bridgewater Hall.

March 29, 2007

Harry Potter!

Our Composer in Residence, Alastair King, is currently orchestrating and conducting the music for the next Harry Potter film, The Order of the Phoenix

March 17, 2007

New video clips of the Amadeus Orchestra in action

We’ve added some video clips to the website, of the orchestra performing in the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford.

The clips include excerpts from the Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring

We’ve also updated our forthcoming concerts page, and there’s still time to register for this year’s International Week of Beer and Music

March 5, 2007

We launch our new website!

Welcome to the new Amadeus website, where you can discover more about the orchestra.

Find out about the 14th International Week of Beer and Music and how you can get involved,
as well as details of our upcoming concerts

We hope you’ll enjoy exploring the site

© Amadeus Chorus & Orchestra 2007. All rights reserved