Nottingham Youth Voices & East Midlands Youth String Orchestra: Autumn Serenade

Kingswood Methodist Church
26th September
By Peter Palmer

Mozart wrote his nocturnal serenade Ecco quel Fiero (KV 436) for three-part chorus. The charm of the piece was delicately captured by Nottingham Youth Voices with Richard Cox as their accompanist. The former Youth Chamber Choir presented a typical diversity of styles and moods. Under Jane McDouall's direction, their Wollaton concert ranged from a swinging Handel transcription to the Hebrew song Hashivenu and an arrangement of a Native American love lyric. Matt Beckingham drew effective performances of Give Me Strength – another number with American roots – and a song of peace set to the Largo theme of Dvorak's “New World” Symphony.

East Midlands Youth String Orchestra opened the evening with a pulsating Gordon Jacob overture. Later, conductor Ting Chiu contrasted lyrical Bach with Gustav Holst. An exuberant violin solo enhanced the choir's Irving Berlin song Blue Skies. Introduced by Angela Kay, Saturday's event launched a Music for Everyone season that will culminate in a Nottingham Albert Hall prom next summer. As a foretaste of this Saturday's concert at St Barnabas' Cathedral, Christian Rudolph and Isobel Bounford played the Adagio of Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin (BWV 1060).