RNS: Spring has Sprung
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Paul McCreesh conductor
Royal Northern Sinfonia
Delius On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring
Thea Musgrave Green
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Schumann Symphony No.1 ‘Spring’
Unfortunately, Jennifer Pike has had to withdraw from this concert due to unforeseen circumstances. We’re thrilled that Maria Włoszczowska (Guest Leader) will perform The Lark Ascending at short notice.
Spring marks a new beginning for nature every year, and one of the most evocative sounds of the season is the sound of the cuckoo – you may not have heard one yet this year, so listen out instead for the cuckoo calls in Delius’ sublime tone poem. Continuing the spring theme, Thea Musgrave’s Green is all about ‘the freshness of youth, and the plant life in our world on which we all depend’. Then revel in the soaring beauty of Vaughan Williams’ ascending lark, before ending the evening with Schumann’s energetic and lyrical ‘Spring’ symphony itself, full of the optimism of spring and the shedding of winter gloom. Paul McCreesh makes a welcome return to Sage Gateshead for this feel-good programme.
Download the concert programme here.
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Tonight’s concert will be streamed live, then from midnight it will be available on demand for a further 48 hours.
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Vaughan Williams' Lark Ascending
How much do you really know about the man and the music?
Find Out MoreThea Musgrave's Green
Explore more about this phenomenal composer and her music.
Explore NowPaul McCreesh, conductor
Paul McCreesh is the founder and Artistic Director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players which he established in 1982 and with whom he has toured world-wide and made many award-winning recordings. McCreesh is well-known for the energy and passion that he brings to his music making and is especially enthusiastic about working with young musicians and broadening access to classical music; he works regularly with youth orchestras and choirs and is active in building new educational initiatives whenever possible.
In 2019/20, he conducted Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.2 and excerpts from Schubert’s Rosamunde with the New Japan Philharmonic, Haydn’s Creation with Royal Northern Sinfonia, Handel’s Messiah with the Casa da Música Baroque Orchestra & Choir, Haydn’s London Symphony & Beethoven’s C Major Mass with Filharmonia Poznanska, with whom he conducts again this season.
In the previous season, he conducted works by Elgar, Haydn and Brahms with the Kammerakademie Potsdam, a programme of Elgar, Britten and Mendelssohn with the Bamberger Symphoniker, he returned to the Filharmonia Poznanska for some Rossini and Britten, and conducted performances with the MDR Sinfonieorchester at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and the Basel Chamber Orchestra.
McCreesh has guest conducted many of the major orchestras and choirs across the globe, including most recently the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Bremen Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonia, Arctic Chamber Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, Bergen Philharmonic, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, Verbier Festival orchestras, and Berlin Konzerthausorchester. McCreesh also enjoys regular and ongoing collaborations with Saint Paul and Basel Chamber Orchestras.
Royal Northern Sinfonia, orchestra of Sage Gateshead, is the UK’s only full-time chamber orchestra. Founded in 1958, RNS has built a worldwide reputation for the North East through the quality of its music-making and the immediacy of the connections the musicians make with audiences.
The orchestra regularly flies the flag for the region at major festivals, including the BBC Proms. They appear frequently at venues and festivals in Europe, including La folle journée in Nantes. In recent seasons they have toured to Vienna, Budapest, Istanbul and Tokyo.