Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra are promising A Fairytale Christmas as they take to the stage in Worthing Assembly Hall on Sunday, December 15 at 3pm (tickets through Worthing Theatres).
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Leicestershire's Newspapers.
00:06Always lovely to speak to Dominic Greer, the Music Director of Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra,
00:11and you've got a fabulous-sounding Christmas event coming up, Fairytale Christmas, which
00:15is 3pm, Sunday 15th December, Worthing Assembly Hall. And it's a tradition that's come back
00:22in recent years, hasn't it? The Christmas concert for Worthing Philharmonic Orchestra.
00:26Why did it come back? And it's clearly done well, hasn't it?
00:30Yes, we've reinstated it in 2016, it's become one of the most successful concerts in our
00:35season, and I think it came back simply because people love music at Christmas, and we really
00:42do like to present them with something that gives everybody something to celebrate.
00:49And you're saying a really interesting thing, it's not a relaxation for the orchestra necessarily,
00:55you treat this just as seriously as any other concert, why is that?
00:59Well I think it's important that we keep stretching and challenging our players, that we don't
01:03just repeat the same stuff every year at the same time, and so I do tend to include some
01:11more meaty orchestral offerings if you like, and this year we have a fairytale theme, so
01:16we're including some excerpts from some of the most popular ballet music written, based
01:21on fairy stories such as The Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, The Nutcracker, Cinderella
01:26and Mother Goose, so that should be lovely for families and also for the players.
01:33It sounds brilliant. Is that good fun to be programming, or is that slightly daunting
01:37thinking what should we do?
01:40Well it seems like a lot of music when the players get the parts on the stands, there's
01:45a lot of pages flying around and they think gosh this seems like a lot for a two hour
01:50event, but actually once we start working on it it's all quite manageable and I think
01:57complements the rest of the programme quite nicely.
02:00And obviously the season starts in September but rounding off the calendar year, this is
02:04a lovely way to do that isn't it?
02:06It is absolutely, it's something we always look forward to, I look forward to personally,
02:11and so do our partner choirs, the Worthing Choral Society and the Sompton Village Primary
02:16School Choir are both involved, and the children sing a couple of numbers of their own as well
02:21as getting involved in the big audience participation carols, and the Adult Choir also performs
02:28standard John Rutter Christmas classics and things like that, so there really is something
02:32for everybody.
02:33It sounds like bookings are looking good, looking strong already for this one.
02:39Yes, yes, we've sold over 400 tickets and so…
02:42Plenty of time to go.
02:44Plenty of time to go, which is great, so all are welcome and the tickets are very reasonably
02:49priced and it's just a great way of ending the year and getting into the Christmas spirit.
02:54That's sick, well have a happy Christmas, lovely to speak to you, thank you.
02:58Thank you, nice to speak to you Phil, you too.