Our spring/summer programme
Fantasia Orchestra has released details of our 2024 spring / summer concert programme.
Fantasia Orchestra was founded in 2016 by conductor Tom Fetherstonhaugh and is home to the best of young British classical music talent today. It has forged strong artistic partnerships with eminent soloists including Alim Beisembayev, Jess Gillam, Thomas Gould, Isata Kanneh-Mason, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Vadym Kholodenko, Jennifer Pike, Laura van der Heijden, and Steven Osborne.The connections in the orchestra were forged at the Royal Academy of Music, where Tom and many of the other musicians and soloists met and studied together from 2011 onwards.
Spring / Summer 2024 programme:
Saturday 13 April, 7.30pm
St Gabriel’s Church, Pimlico, London SW1V 2AD
Fantasia Orchestra with Jess Gillam
Saxophonist Jess Gillam returns to Fantasia Orchestra for a vibrant and virtuosic evening of music. Jess brings two pieces linked by Scotland: Dave Heath's dance-filled The Celtic and Scottish composer James MacMillan's Saxophone Concerto. The haunting and meditative On the Nature of Daylight, by Max Richter, here for saxophone and strings, will float through the beautiful gothic arches of St Gabriel's Pimlico - as will Barber's Adagio for Strings in the second half. The programme is bookended by two works that show off the strings of Fantasia Orchestra: Anna Clyne's Stride and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.
Thursday 13 June, 6.30pm
Northern Aldborough Festival
St Andrew’s Church, Aldborough, YO51 9EP
Alim Beisembayev, piano
Fantasia Orchestra makes its debut at Northern Aldborough, opening the 2024 festival which this year marks its 30th anniversary. Alim Beisembayev, winner of the 2021 Leeds Piano Competition, returns to Fantasia for Chopin's Piano Concerto no. 1.
Saturday 22 June, 7.30pm
Proms at St Jude’s
St Jude’s Church, London, NW11 7AH
An American Celebration, with Martin James Bartlett, piano
A celebration of American composers with works including Bernstein’s West Side Story overture, Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue marking the 100th anniversary of its first performance and An American in Paris inspired by the sights and sounds of 1920s Paris. Overlooked until quite recently, African-American composer Florence Price’s Adoration, is a simple yet beautiful work of deep devotion and sincerity, and Ives’ Three Places in New England portrays scenes from the American War of Independence and Civil War.Tom Fetherstonhaugh said, “Fantasia’s spring / summer season champions our ongoing artistic partnerships with wonderful soloists and festivals. Creative connections are at the heart of what we do, and we’re thrilled to have Jess Gillam and Alim Beisembayev return to the orchestra. We’re also looking forward to opening the Proms at St Jude’s Festival with Martin James Bartlett, a festival we always love playing at.