THURSDAY 30th October at the Stratford-Upon-Avon Town Hall
TIME: 7:30pm (performance approx. 2 – 2 1/2 hours with an interval)
TICKET PRICE: £30 online, £35 on the door
Tickets available on the door or online using the link below:
SOLD OUT
Sheep Street, Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 6EF
Programme
- Vivaldi – 4 seasons
- Corelli – Concerto Grosso opus 6 No 4
- Pachelbel – Canon
- Purcell – Chaconne
- Bach – Violin Concerto in A minor
Orchestra of the Swan
Orchestra of the Swan, under the Artistic Direction of David Le Page, strives to captivate audiences through a blend of experimentation with both classical and non-classical music, embracing our role as storytellers. Our commitment to being distinctive drives us to push creative boundaries, offering performances that are both innovative and unique.
Founded in 1995 and based at the Warwick Schools Foundation (WSF), we work in close partnership with the WSF, The Courtyard Hereford, Drapers’ Hall Coventry, Stratford Play House and Number 8, Pershore alongside music education hubs, the Armed Forces, Coventry University and the Birmingham Conservatoire.
All our activity is designed for, and with, the communities in which we work in. Community organisations are at the heart of our operations and we are passionate about audience inclusivity, as exemplified by our adventurous and accessible programming, and pioneering work within the community.
Our innovative mixtape albums, which present an eclectic range of styles and often blur the lines between genres, have achieved over 14 million audio streams globally. Delivery of activities for people living with dementia, visual impairment, mental health issues and a range of disabilities, affirm the profound therapeutic power of music. Our regular family concerts, school and university workshops offer us the chance to explore and create fascinating musical experiences for new generations.
David Le Page
Born on the channel island of Guernsey, David Le Page began playing the violin at the age of seven. He was offered a place at the Yehudi Menuhin school aged twelve and has since forged a diverse career as a performer, composer, producer and arranger.
Le Page’s violin playing has a natural, warm tone and an instinctive, improvisatory style, while his eclectic approach to writing, arranging and performing has been formed by an interest in many musical genres; from baroque and folk through to jazz, contemporary classical and experimental rock, pop and electronica. A passion for audience inclusion and a readiness to blur the edges of musical boundaries have contributed to his unique approach to programming. This combines a rare ability to present audiences with something new and challenging whilst allowing them to feel relaxed and engaged.
He appears regularly as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader and has formed his own groups, the Le Page Ensemble, The Harborough Collective, Subway Piranhas and Mysterious Barricades. He is leader of the Stratford-Upon-Avon based Orchestra of the Swan.
His involvement with new music has led to participation in numerous commissions and world premieres that have included working closely with composers such as John Woolrich, Thomas Ades, Douglas Cuomo, Paul Moravec, Tansy Davies, Gerald Barry, John McCabe, Huw Watkins, Joe Cutler, Joe Duddel and Errolyn Wallen.
Cross-genre collaborations have included projects with Keith Tippett, Partikel, Seckou Keita, James Schlefer, Benet McLean, Harvey Brough, Clara Sanabras, Billy Jenkins and Roger Eno. In 2017 he was invited to join Propellor, a ten piece ensemble featuring members of folk groups Mcneill & Heys and The Fair Rain, to create a sonic landscape installation as artists in residence at Snape Maltings Open Space.
He has regular duo partnerships with pianists Viv McLean and David Gordon. With Gordon, who is also a jazz pianist, composer and harpsichordist, he created Blurred Lines, an ongoing project which aims to transform the conventional recital into something unexpected and intriguing.
David Le Page has curated programmes for Chroma Ensemble and Opera North including the Balkan-influenced Parklife which was also part of the Latitude festival in 2016. He was musical director for Opera North’s Entranced in the Autumn and Winter Wonderland and in 2014 he performed Paganini Caprices for Hilary Mantel’s Shaking Hands with Satan talk at the Howard Assembly Room in Leeds and at the Royal Opera House in London.
In 2013 David created Harmony & Imagination Recordings, a label through which he has released four albums of his own material (The Reinvention of Harmony and Imagination, As The Crow Flies, Midwinter and Glimpses of the Seagull), two albums of solo violin music (Between Heaven and Earth and Metamorphosis), Barcos, an album with Argentine composer and Bandoneon player Eduardo Garcia and a recording of works by Chopin performed by British pianist Viv McLean. A new album of his own pieces for violin and piano, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page was released in the February 2018 as well as Samvaad a Balkan/Indian influenced collaboration with cellist Clare O’Connell and drummer Eric Ford.
David is artistic director of the successful Harborough Concerts and also of Le Page Ensemble Concerts in Southwell presenting around twenty performances a year. Concerts this season included a complete live performance of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album reworked by David Le Page for its 50th anniversary.
In 2017 he created The Diving Bell with cellist Clare O’Connell, an experimental night of music that takes place in intimate venues across the UK. The Diving Bell brings together musicians from all genres and presents three contrasting sets, the last of which is an entirely new collaboration between all performers.
David plays on a violin made in 1874 by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume.