Northern Chamber Orchestra: Winds Unleashed

Director John Roberts

Ruth Gipps Seascape
Raff Sinfonietta for winds
Mozart Serenade for 13 winds ‘Gran Partita’

Saturday 1 April 2023 7.30pm
The King’s School, Macclesfield

This concert is devoted to the NCO’s outstanding wind section and is directed by John Roberts, principal oboe of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra since 2013 and a regular performer with orchestras such as the LSO, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the LPO and the Philharmonia.

Mozart’s Serenade for 13 Winds, the ‘Gran Partita’, is without question a masterpiece for wind ensemble. It covers much ground, from lyrical expressions of yearning to the music of the beer garden. Joachim Raff is an unjustly neglected composer, remembered primarily for his Sinfonietta for Winds, written in 1873 and full of wit and good humour. Following a considerable resurgence of interest in her music, Ruth Gipps is now regarded as one of the foremost English composers of the 20th century. Her ‘Seascape’ (1958) is a short reflection on the sounds of the sea.

This concert has been generously sponsored by the Friends of the Northern Chamber Orchestra.