Professional chamber orchestra Southern Pro Musica are promising Great Classics, the title of their concert on Saturday, May 17 at 7.30pm in St Paul's Church, Chichester, PO19 6FT.
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00:00Good morning. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Always lovely to
00:06speak to Jonathan Wilcox now. Fabulous Sunday concert coming up on Saturday, May the 17th,
00:12St Paul's Church, which is a fabulous venue, isn't it? And it's great classics from Southern
00:17Pro Musica, of which you are artistic director. Now, this is part of a project, isn't it? Because
00:23this is three successive years that you've had an orchestral concert in Chichester. What's the
00:28plan behind it all? The plan really was the orchestra has been performing in Chichester for
00:35many years, both in the cathedral as partner to Chichester singers, and also the concerts that
00:42we give each year for many children in the Chichester Festival Theatre for children aged 6 to 11,
00:48which always go down very well. This year we play to over 2,000 children aged 6 to 11,
00:53many of whom will never have heard live orchestral music before. And our thought was,
00:58you know, we're doing children's concerts, we're doing choral concerts. Why don't we in such a
01:03fantastically active city artistically as Chichester offer, offer adult concerts as well?
01:09And two years ago, we put on a programme in St Paul's, which was very well supported and went
01:14very well. And last year, again, with Mozart Clarinet Concerto. And this year, on May the 17th,
01:20in St Paul's, we're doing a great classics programme, which has two of the truly great symphonies from the
01:26classical period. That's Mendelssohn Italian Symphony, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 8. And then as the
01:32central filling of the concert, the wonderful 20th century concerto by the Spanish composer Rodrigo,
01:38the Concerto de Ruanjuez, which is probably one of those popular of the 20th century concertos for solo
01:47guitar and orchestra. And we've got a wonderful soloist in Amanda Cook, who's got a very strong
01:52history. She was born and brought up near Chichester in Bognor, and still still lives actually quite
01:59close. And she's now developed into an internationally renowned guitarist.
02:04And what makes her such a special guitarist, do you think? What does she have?
02:08Well, I mean, she's a wonderful player, technically, but what really makes it stand out and what I look
02:13for, whether it's instrumental soloists or vocal soloists, is those who have that magic ingredient
02:19of being able to communicate with an audience? Because that's what music's all about, the
02:24communication. And Amanda is not only a lovely player, a very expressive player, but she has
02:30this natural sense of ease and communication with the audience. And in this piece, which has so many
02:37opportunities, colourful opportunities, the Spanish guitar tradition, and also the beautiful central
02:43movement, which is so often played on the radio, is one of the most popular pieces, the gentle duet
02:51that the guitar has with the solo corps anglais in the orchestra. And we're really excited to be doing
02:55this programme in St. Paul's on May the 17th. And we hope to get a really strong audience, because you
03:03will love the concert.
03:05Fantastic. Well, lovely to speak to you. Good luck with that. May the 17th.
03:10Well, thank you, Phil. And look, look forward to lots of other musical collaborations.
03:15Absolutely. Thanks very much indeed. All the best.