A Ripon orchestra is set to host its first concert of the year.

The St Cecilia Orchestra’s concert will be held at Holy Trinity Church, Ripon on Saturday, January 29, with a programme entitled ‘Glorious Strings’.

The concert showcases the orchestra’s string section in Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, along with two shorter works: the Romance in C by Sibelius and Webern’s Langsamer Satz.

The Serenade was written around the time Tchaikovsky was working on his 1812 Overture, but the two works could not be more different in style.

It is billed by Classic FM as among the best the composer ever wrote and one of the late romantic era’s definitive compositions and is particularly revered for second movement, a graceful waltz.

To complete the programme, clarinettist Tom Verity will join the strings in a performance of Finzi’s Clarinet Concerto.

The concerto, composed in 1949 in response commission from the Three Choirs Festival, is one of Finzi’s best-known and most widely performed works and shows the composer’s particular empathy for the clarinet as a solo instrument.

Tom is currently principal clarinet of the Welsh National Opera and has performed as guest principal with many orchestras including the Philharmonia and Hallé.

His chamber music highlights include working with Stephen Hough and with the Heath Quartet, and he also plays with Klezmer-ish, a classical/world music fusion quartet, whose albums Music of the Travellers and Dusty Road have been described as ‘a joyous combination of playfulness and precision’ by The Times.

Tickets are £15 for adults and free for under 18’s. Available online from the St Cecilia website, from the Little Ripon Bookshop and Henry Roberts, or reserve by phone on 01423 531062.

In line with current guidance, audience members should wear face coverings and the seating will be socially distanced. There will be a short interval, but unfortunately no refreshments in order to minimise mingling.

Ripon Choral Society will perform Verdi’s Requiem in its first live performance for 20 months.

The music was chosen because it fits the theme of remembrance, which the concert has adopted to honour the victims of covid.

Musical director John Dunford said:

“In choosing music for our return to rehearsals, I was conscious of the great loss of life, nationally, across the world, and from within our own membership.”

“The Verdi Requiem is a monumental, moving and theatrical work and few choral works capture the imagination like it.”

The 140-member choir will make its return at Ripon Cathedral on Saturday, November 13.

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The soloists include Samantha Hay (soprano), Anna Burford (mezzo-soprano), Gareth Daffyd Morris (tenor) and D’Arcy Bleiker (bass), accompanied by Orchestra D’Amici.

The choir welcomes anyone to its evening rehearsals at St John’s Church in Sharow, near Ripon, every Wednesday from 7.30pm to 9pm.

Dunford said:

“I am convinced there are a lot of people who think this is not for them and I am even more convinced they would love what we do if they gave us and themselves a chance to experience it.

“This requires time and is not instant, particularly if you have not done this sort of singing before, but it can all be learnt.”

The concert will start at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £23 for reserved seating or £20 for unreserved.

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Ripon’s St Cecilia Orchestra will return to the city’s cathedral next month with its first performances since March last year.

Two hour-long performances will be staged on Saturday, October 2 at 4pm and 7.30 pm.

The concert will feature Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending, which in April topped the Classic FM hall of fame chart for a record eleventh time.

Violinist Charlotte Scott will join the orchestra for the performance which marks 100 years since The Lark Ascending was first performed in its orchestral version.

The audience will also hear Wagner’s symphonic poem Siegfried Idyll and Beethoven’s light-hearted Symphony No. 8.

Ms Scott said:

“It’s always a joy to be asked to perform The Lark Ascending.

“I love searching each time I play this masterwork for new colour and lines in the music that truly represent the lark and its surrounding nature: the possibilities are endless.”

Charlotte Scott. Picture: Matthew Johnson Photography

The Wagner and Beethoven represent a more intimate performance than might usually be seen by St Cecilia in Ripon Cathedral, which last year saw the performance of Mahler’s epic second symphony.

To ensure audience and orchestra safety, the concert is shorter than usual and there will be no intervals.

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Conductor Xenophon Kelsey, who founded the orchestra and has been with it throughout its 26-year history, said it was excited to be back:

“I can’t wait, It’s going to be fantastic to see our wonderful players together again after 18 months of no concerts.”

Tickets are available online (www.st-cecilia.org.uk) or in-person from the Little Ripon Bookshop and Henry Roberts and will also be sold on the door.