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The Jersey Symphony Orchestra is set to bid farewell to its principal conductor at its spring concert next month.
Hilary Davan Wetton – Music Director of the City of London Choir, Associate Conductor of the London Mozart Players, and Conductor Emeritus of the Milton Keynes City Orchestra – was appointed to his role in Jersey in 2019.
However, he had to wait until August 2022 for his inaugural concert with the JSO because of the impact of the pandemic, which curtailed the orchestra’s activities for more than two years.
Mr Davan Wetton will now take to the podium for the last time as principal conductor on Saturday 6 April with a programme entitled Variations, which includes two of the best-known sets of variations for orchestra, along with two lesser-known works showcasing the flute and guest soloist Ileana Ruhemann, principal with the BBC Concert Orchestra.
In the year marking the 90th anniversary of the death of Sir Edward Elgar, the main work in the concert is the composer’s popular Enigma Variations.
Brahms’ Variations on a Theme by Haydn will also be performed, while flautist Ms Ruhemann will play Gabriel Fauré’s Fantasy for Flute and Orchestra and the Flute Concertino by Cécile Chaminade.
In addition to her work with the BBC Concert Orchestra for over 30 years, Ms Ruhemann is active as a soloist and also appears regularly as guest principal flute with a number of other UK orchestras.
Teaching is another passion of hers and, while in Jersey, she will give a flute masterclass to students of Grade 5 standard and above as part of the JSO’s education initiative.
Tickets for the concert at Les Quennevais School on 6 April, which begins at 19:30, are available via the JSO website.
The full price is £28, but islanders aged 18 and under can buy them for £10 plus a TicketSource booking fee.
The ticket price includes a glass of wine or soft drink in the interval.
REVIEW: "A wonderful start to the Davan Wetton reign" (2019)
FOCUS: "Music is class blind, talent is class blind" (2019)
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