As you may know, our Conductor, Carlos Alvarado, also conducts a number of other choirs and orchestras.  He was recently appointed Principal Conductor of the Ryde Hunters Hill Orchestra.  The first concert of their 2015 season took place on Sunday May 3rd the Ryde Civic Hall, with Carlos conducting.  It was a beautiful programme with connections to Gallipoli.  For full details of the programme, click here.

The first part comprised a number of popular pieces, and after the interval there came one of Carlos’ masterpieces of programming.  Arutunian’s Trumpet Concerto, played brilliantly be Andrew del Riccio, set a military scene.  Then came Frederick Septimus Kelly’s wistful Elegy for Strings “In memoriam Rupert Brooke”, in which the string section of the orchestra captured Kelly’s evocation of the personal losses sustained in war in with poise and sensitivity.  Another thoughtful piece followed – “Nimrod” from Elgar’s Enigma Variations, in which Carlos masterfully brought off the long, sustained build up to the climax. By way of a Grand Finale, Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance March No 1 was played with bravura and panache.  There were almost sufficient members of MWC there for us to sing along with “Land of Hope and Glory”, but it would not have done to drown the magnificent sound of the orchestra.