Chineke! is Europe’s first professional orchestra comprising a majority of black and ethnically diverse musicians. Each of their programmes include works by composers of ethnically diverse backgrounds - with their latest concert featuring Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Famously dubbed The Black Mahler, his light yet spirited Two Novelletten is actually inspired by German Robert Schumann’s piano miniatures, the eight Novelletten.
Completing the programme are Gustav Holst’s St Paul’s Suite, which takes its name from the Hammersmith school where Holst taught; Vaughan Williams’ Oboe Concerto, a wartime piece penned after his Fifth Symphony; and Beethoven’s enchanting Fourth Symphony, with its noteworthy second movement.
The soloist is Armand Djikoloum, the 20-something prize-winner who has appeared with such leading orchestras as Hannover Staatsoper, Staatskapelle Dresden, Stavanger Symphony, Frankfurt Opera, and Oslo Opera House.
Programme:
Gustav Holst St Paul's Suite for string orchestra
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor Two Novelletten Op. 52
Vaughan Williams Oboe Concerto
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No. 4 in B flat
Conductor: Kellen Gray
Oboe: Armand Djikoloum