Chester Cathedral Organ at Full Blast

Chester Philharmonic’s new season at Chester Cathedral starts on Saturday 12th November 2022.

Chester Philharmonic’s new season at Chester Cathedral starts on Saturday 12^th November 2022 at 7:30 pm with Saint Saëns’ Organ Symphony, Oetomo’s Marimba Concerto with soloist Calum Huggan, Barber’s First Essay for Orchestra and his famous Adagio for Strings.

This is a rare opportunity to bring a Marimba into an orchestral setting in an atmospheric yet jazzy work. The marimba is a member of the percussion family and consists of wooden bars struck with mallets.

The two works by the American composer Samuel Barber. Essay for Orchestra No. 1, portrays a simplicity and elegance characteristic of the composer. The Adagio for Strings, is probably Barber’s best known work, played on solemn occasions

The Organ Symphony contains melodies that were used in certain film featuring a piglet and will be familiar to many. Philip Rushworth, the Cathedral’s Director of Music, will be at the organ.

The concert will be conducted by Stephen Threlfall. Stephen directed the orchestra and local choirs in the Cathedral to a full house for a moving performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on 1^st October in aid of the DEC appeal for Ukraine which raised £5,600.

Stephen said he is pleased direct the Orchestra again particularly for a rare performance of the Oetomo Marimba Concerto with a leading soloist.

The Chester Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the North West’s premier non-professional orchestras. Further details of upcoming concerts, can be found on the Orchestra’s web site:

www.chesterphilorchestra.co.uk

chesterphilhorchestra@gmail.com

For further information please contact Andrew Ball by email on or 07398 295239 or 01606 593260.

The Marimba

The marimba is a member of the percussion family and consists of wooden bars struck with mallets.

Under each bar is a resonator pipe which amplifies the harmonics of its sound.

Attached are photos of Calum in action. Other photos are available of Stephen Threlfall and the orchestra.

Calum Huggan

Award-winning percussionist Calum Huggan has captivated audiences and critics alike with his musicality and personality.  

Throughout his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Mannheim Musikhochschule and the Royal College of Music, Calum showed an affinity towards the marimba, winning his first BBC solo broadcast at the age of 18.  A winner and finalist in many prestigious competitions, Calum was taught and nurtured by international marimbists Jasmin Kolberg and Eric Sammut. 

Calum’s passion and dedication to performance has allowed him to perform solo and concerto debuts within the major concert houses across the UK, Europe and United Arab Emirates.   

In addition to his solo performance, Calum's passion lies in cross-arts collaborations. He has worked alongside some of the most recognised and talented creatives in the arts, co-creating, recording and performing in spectacular spaces across the globe. 

Calum is an active and highly sought-after clinician and educator, holding teaching positions at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, the Royal College of Music, the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and as a visiting professor at several other institutes in the UK.   Truly passionate about music education, Calum challenges the boundaries of classical music, pursuing accessible pathways to ensure that every young person has an equal chance for success.   

A pioneer of classical music, Calum’s mission is to address equity and access to a music education, be a voice for LGBTQ+ musicians and introduce audiences to the truly fascinating and magical world that is percussion.

Calum is a Yamaha Artist and an Acoustic Percussion Signature Artist.  

Stephen Threlfall, Conductor

From 1995 Stephen Threlfall was Director of Music at Chetham’s School of Music, the UK’s leading music school - a happy culmination of many years’ experience in the professional music world. After 24 years he decided to relinquish this post in order to expand his conducting and creative work. 

An alumnus of the Royal Northern College of Music, Stephen’s career took him first to the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was sub-principal cellist, before becoming Director of Music at Benenden School.

 As a conductor, Stephen has earned much acclaim for his performances, recordings and broadcasts having conducted at many major venues and festivals throughout the UK and alongside many renowned international solo artists.

Stephen combines a natural sense of performance with his strong creative instinct, inspiring others through his artistic direction and expertise alongside innovative programming of festivals, projects and concerts. 

He programmed a number of special performances and projects spanning 2019 to mark Chetham's 50th anniversary. The centrepiece was the highly acclaimed performance of Mahler's 8th Symphony which he conducted in July 2019 and was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. 

Future concerts include guest engagements nationwide incorporating the complete concertos and symphonies of Brahms, a concert with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and visits to the US, Oman, Italy, Sweden and Hong Kong. Stephen will also complete a Beethoven symphonic cycle with The Hanover Band performing the 9th Symphony at the Chichester Festival in June. 

In October 2020 Stephen became Artistic Director of the Lake District Summer Music Festival set in the UNESCO world Heritage site of the Lake District. 

‘Stephen Threlfall reminded me so much of my father as he moulded their performances, always leading with love, never fear’ Nina Bernstein Simmons

 ‘The performances are uniformly excellent…under their inspirational conductor Stephen Threlfall’ (Music Web International, reviewing Marcus Blunt CD) 

'The most distinctive quality of the whole performance was created by Stephen Threlfall: his skills as a conductor have long been clear to all who have seen him in action over the years here, and the geniality, cheerfulness and energy of the man shone through every bar of this concert' The Arts Desk from review of Mahler 8 July '19

Chester Philharmonic Orchestra

Chester Orchestral Society can trace its origins back to 1883, when the then Cathedral Organist Dr John C Bridge organised a performance of the Messiah to an audience of over a 1000 at Chester Music Hall. The following year saw the first concert of the newly formed Orchestral Society, with a performance of Beethoven’s Ruins of Athens. 

Dr Bridge continued to conduct the orchestra until the latter part of the century, when he handed over the orchestral baton to the Cathedral’s assistant organist, J T Hughes. 

Following the Great War, the orchestra was revived under A J Armstrong, and was later taken over by the Cheshire Regiment’s former Bandmaster E P Martin, who was followed by R A Sutton, David Lyons and finally Roger Fisher, the Cathedral Organist.

In 1982 the Society adopted a policy of engaging different professional conductors for each concert. Edward Warren was the first of these in October 1982, and the following season he was invited to become our Principal Conductor. 

Under Edward Warren's direction the orchestra established an ongoing link with the rising young conductors and performers of the Royal Northern College of Music. Currently the orchestra’s Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor is David Chatwin who teaches at the RNCM and was the principal bassoonist with the BBC Philharmonic.

The Orchestra’s repertoire maintains a balance between challenging and more familiar works to produce varied programmes throughout its season of concerts at Chester Cathedral. The Chester Philharmonic Orchestra is now recognised as one of the North West’s premier non-professional orchestras