Rebecca completed her Masters at the Royal Academy, and prior to that studied at Chetham's School of Music, Corpus Christi College Cambridge, and the prestigious Eastman Eastman School of Music in the USA. Rebecca has already won numerous prizes and awards, and was selected as the principal cellist of the 2012 London Sinfonietta Academy. Rebecca has recently been playing with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the London Sinfonietta, the Irish Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia. Also in our concert we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sibelius with his ever-popular and patriotic Finlandia.
Concert 144:Sunday 26 April 2015 from 11:30 to 18:30 (concert at 17:00)
"Maestro 2015 Conducting Masterclass" Silk Hall, Radley College, Abingdon OX14 2HR
Suppé
The Beautiful Galatea: Overture
Strauss, J II
Emperor Waltz
Strauss, J II
Die Fledermaus: Overture
Offenbach
Orpheus in the Underworld: Overture
St Giles Orchestra has been invited to partner with the Abingdon Music Festival, for "Maestro 2015" - a conducting competition led by internationally recognised expert Peter Stark. Maestro is based on the BBC programmes of the same name to which Peter was series consultant. For Maestro 2009 and 2011 the participating musicians were aged between 15-22 years, and Maestro 2013 focused on a conducting masterclass for musicians aged 25 years and over. This year, applications are invited from aspiring conductors who will be between 16 and 21 on 25 April 2015. Maestro is open to the public and anyone is welcome to come and watch all or any part of the day. Past audiences have thoroughly enjoyed watching the conductors develop as a result of Peter's inspiring coaching. SGO's Conductor and Musical Director, Geoffrey Bushell, observed all the masterclasses and assisted Peter in selecting a winner. The first prize is the opportunity to conduct Verdi's Force of Destiny Overture in a public concert with SGO in April 2016. The runner-up will win a two-hour rehearsal conducting SGO.
Concert 145: Saturday 20 June 2015 at 19:30
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
Goldmark
Sakuntala Overture
Grieg
Seven Orchestral Songs including Solveig's Song from Peer Gynt (Emma Griffiths) 60
Sibelius
Symphony no 1 in E minor
Rachmaninov
Vocalise (Emma Griffiths)
Emma Griffiths was a member of the Bicester Choral and Operatic Society, where she has sung solos and performed in shows such as Calamity Jane. She studied at Coventry University reading Music Performance and Professional Practice. We also continue to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sibelius, plus the 100th anniversary of the unjustly neglected Hungarian composer Karl Goldmark. Emma will return at the end for the delicious Vocalise by Rachmaninov.
Concert 146: Saturday 7 November 2015 at 19:30
"Magic and Mystery" Cornerstone, Didcot OX11 7NE
"Magic and Mystery" - a programme of classical musical that goes bump in the night.
Mussorgsky
Night on the Bare Mountain
Saint Saens
Danse Macabre
Williams, John
Harry Potter Symphonic Suite
Dukas
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Dvorak
The Noonday Witch
Rachmaninov
The Isle of the Dead
Concert 147: Saturday 23 January 2016 at 19:30
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
Suppé
Light Cavalry Overture
Sibelius
King Cristian Suite: Elegie
Korngold
Violin Concerto (Leo Appel)
Dvorak
Symphony no 7 in D minor
We welcome exciting young soloist Leo Appel to play the demanding but popular and enjoyable Violin Concerto by Erich Korngold.
Concert 148: Saturday 17 April 2016 at 19:30
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
Verdi
Force of Destiny: Overture (to be conducted by the winner of the 2015 Maestro Conducting Competition)
Delius
Irmelin: Prelude
Ippolitov Ivanov
Caucasian Sketches
Brahms
Piano Concerto no 1 in D minor (Bethe Levvy)
After her SGO debut with the Brahms Piano Concerto no 2, Oxford pianist Bethe Levvy returns to play the First Concerto.
Concert 149: Saturday 18 June 2016 at 19:30
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
Duparc
Lenore
Bruch
Canzone (Jacqui Johnson)
Tchaikovsky
Rococo Variations (Jacqui Johnson)
Delius
Florida Suite
Oxfordshire cellist Jacqui Johnson plays Tchaikovsky's ever popular Rococo Variations, plus the little known but tuneful Canzone by Max Bruch. There is also a rare opportunity to hear Delius's Florida Suite - arguably the closest he came to writing a symphony.
Concert 150: November 2016
"Romeo and Juliet" Cornerstone, Didcot OX11 7NE
"Romeo and Juliet" - Classical music to celebrate a pair of star-crossed lovers, also celebrating the 500th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare.
Delius
A Village Romeo and Juliet: Walk to the Paradise Garden
Prokofiev
Romeo and Juliet: Suite no 2
Gounod
Romeo et Juliette: Ballet Music
Tchaikovsky
Romeo and Juliet: Fantasy Overture
Concert 151: January 2017
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
International violin vituoso Irmina Trynkos, who has recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra on Naxos, joins us for the Brahms Violin Concerto, and we complete our cycle of the mature symphonies of Dvorak with the tuneful Fourth.
Concert 152: April 2017
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
Berlioz
Hungarian March
Litolff
Concerto Symphonique: Scherzo and Adagio Religioso (Bethe Levvy) 211
Addinsell
Warsaw Concerto (Bethe Levvy) 146
Rachmaninov
Symphony no 2 in E minor 32
This programme features the popular Warsaw Concerto and two movements from the Litolff concerto that contains the famous scherzo. Rachmaninov's Second Symphony is unmissable.
Concert 153: June 2017
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
Svendsen
Zorahayda
Mozart
Sinfonia Concertante K297b (Estevan Ellul, oboe; Jackie Bushell, clarinet; horn to be announced; Jonathan Ross, bassoon)
Elgar
Enigma Variations
Norwegian composer Johan Svendsen opens our concert with his unjustly neglected Zorahayda, a love story between a Moorish princess and a Christian Knight. Elgar's Enigma Variations remain one of the most popular pieces of classical music of all time.
Concert 154: November 2017
"By the Sleepy Lagoon - Desert Island Discs" Cornerstone, Didcot OX11 7NE
"By the Sleepy Lagoon - Desert Island Discs" - a celebration of British Light Classical Music by Coates, Elgar and many others made famous in TV and radio signature tunes.
Eric Coates
London Everyday Suite
Ronald Binge
Elizabethan Serenade
Eric Coates
By the Sleepy Lagoon (Desert Island Discs)
Eric Coates
Calling All Workers (Mrs Dale's Diary)
Vivian Ellis
Coronation Scot
Eric Coates
Three Bears Phantasy
Edward Elgar
The Starlight Express: Waltz
Percy Grainger
Londonderry Air
Edward Elgar
Dream Children
Vaughan Williams
Fantasy on Greensleeves
Coleridge-Taylor
Petite Suite de Concert
Concert 155: January 2018
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
International violin vituoso Irmina Trynkos returns to play the long lost Violin Concerto by Ignatz Waghalter (1881-1949), after her acclaimed Naxos recording of the work with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. We are hoping that the concert will be attended by Waghalter's grandson David Green who has been instrumental in promoting his grandfather's works on their rediscovery almost 100 years since they were written and first performed.
Concert 156: April 2018
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
Wagner
Das Rheingold: Entry of the Gods into Valhalla
Bizet
Carmen: Excerpts (Mary Pope, soprano) 101
Shostakovich
Jazz Suite no 2 94
Wagner
Gotterdammerung: Brunhilde's Immolation Scene and Finale (Mary Pope) 219
We welcome a return visit of soprano Mary Pope (after last performing with SGO in 1993, 25 years ago!) to sing the contrasting repertoire of Bizet's lyrical Carmen and the dramatic end of Wagner's Ring cycle.
Concert 157: June 2018
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
Bushell
New work for choir and orchestra
Suk
Fairy Tale
Elgar
The Music Makers (choir and soloist to be announced)
A rare opportunity to hear the unjustly neglected Fairy Tale by Josef Suk and Elgar's stirring "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams".
Concert 158: January 2019
St Andrew's Church, Linton Road, Oxford OX2 6UG
Dvorak
The Golden Spinning Wheel
Mendelssohn
Two Concert Pieces for two clarinets (Peter Newman, Jackie Bushell)
Brahms
Symphony no 4 213
We could have called this concert "Master and Pupil" as Jackie Bushell and her former teacher Peter Newman are performing together for the first time since they met over 30 years ago. Dvorak's tone picture "The Golden Spinning Wheel" is not often played but has some memorable tunes, and the ever-popular Fourth Symphony of Brahms is not to be missed.
Later programmes and soloists subject to confirmation
2010 ranking
"Maestro 2015 Conducting Masterclass" 
