I recently found myself sitting next to a resident of Old Basing and Lychpit at a classical concert commemorating the life of an internationally renowned viola player, Roger Tapping who grew up in Basingstoke and came through the ranks of the Hampshire County Youth Orchestra (HYCO) before going on to become one of the most eminent classical musicians from the town. We got chatting to one another in the interval and I told her that I was Chair of the Basingstoke Symphony Orchestra, a fellow viola player and that at our last concert our audience had raised over £350 for a fund sponsored by Rogers family and HYCO to purchase a fine viola for a talented young local player.
About the orchestra
As we continued to talk, I was surprised to hear that this classical music fan from Old Basing had never heard of the town’s orchestra. I proudly told her that the orchestra has a rich heritage, is 94 years old and is made up entirely of volunteer players who rehearse each week for our brilliant concerts. We have many long-standing orchestra members and also frequently welcome new and younger members. We also have many members who have a passion for classical music and play in the orchestra around work, friendships and raising their families. The orchestra performs at The Anvil three times a year in February, June and November and at the Petersfield Festival in March.
We pride ourselves on inviting young up and coming musicians as our soloists for each concert. These talented individuals are following a professional music career and need to amass full symphony orchestra experience to progress as soloists. The Anvil was built with its amazing acoustic specifically for classical music and we are all lucky enough to have this on our doorstep. Our orchestra President is the renowned cellist Julian Lloyd Webber OBE, who was the first soloist to play at The Anvil when its doors opened in 1994.
Flyer for upcoming event
Enclosed in Basinga (and available by clicking on the small images on this page) is our concert flyer and we do hope you will join us for our next concert on Saturday, November 18th in The Anvil. I would recommend this concert in particular if you, your family and friends want to try a classical music concert for the first time as we are playing Beethoven’s 5th symphony, perhaps the most famous classical symphony ever written with its iconic easily recognisable opening four notes.
Grieg’s Piano Concerto
Grieg’s piano concerto in A minor will also be performed by the huge international talent, Roman Kosyakov and it will no doubt be a sumptuous performance. Grieg wrote this piece of music when he was only 25 years old and it was an instant success. It starts with the thunderous timpani in the opening bars, followed by the piano which dances all the way through the concerto. The second movement is one of the lushest, most beautiful pieces of music you will ever hear. Interestingly Grieg was expected to write more symphonies after its success but intriguingly never did.
More information about our concerts, tickets and the orchestra can be found on our website www.bso.org.uk or please scan the QR code on the flyer which will take you straight to The Anvil Box office.