Spires Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus Spring Concert
Spires Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
From the New World - Dvořák & Beach, Spires Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus’ Spring Concert takes place Saturday 15 April at 2.30pm in Coventry Central Hall, Warwick Lane, Coventry CV1 2HA.
This unique concert features the UK Premiere of the Mass in E flat (1891) by American composer Amy Beach and Symphony no 9 'From the New World' (1893) by Antonin Dvorak. This concert completes Spires’ cycle of his symphonies that Colin Touchin, Founder and Artistic Director of Spires Music, aimed to conduct with his orchestra. Unfortunately, he was unable to finish his ambition, due to his untimely death in September 2022. This concert is dedicated to his memory.
Mass in E flat composed by Amy Beach had its first performance originally in 1892 in the USA, and was never performed in the UK. Its composer Amy Beach (1867-1944), in her time was an internationally celebrated American composer and performer, but like many women composers was forgotten after her death. She was an infant prodigy who had learned 40 different songs by the time she was one. By the age of two she was not only singing with her mother but harmonising with her. She gave her first piano recital aged seven. She wrote her Mass in E Flat at the age of 19 but it was not printed and published until a few years ago.
Spires Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
Spires Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, helped by the American Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy, and financial support from the Ambache Charitable Trust, will perform her Mass in E flat on Saturday 15 April at Central Hall. Also, they will perform Dvořák’s Symphony No 9 “From the New World” – he was a contemporary of Amy Beach.
Mike Torbes of Spires Music said, “We always try to perform pieces by women composers – you wouldn’t know that a piece has been composed by a woman, it is just as a matter of principal that we try to perform work by forgotten women composers. We love to uncover pieces of music that have lain untouched, waiting for us to breathe new life into them."
Tickets are £15 each and will be available on the door or book online:
Further details: https://www.spiresmusic.org/
