bath orchestral gala concert
King Edward's School and Bath Philharmonia are proud to present this years exciting concert, themed around 'Home'.
- Wednesday 19th March
- Location: The Guildhall, Bath
- Doors open from 6.30pm
- Performance at 7.00pm
- There will be an interval during this performance with complimentary refreshments available
- Evening is expected to conclude by 9.00pm
Concert notes:
2025 proudly marks our 12th year of collaboration with Bath’s wonderful professional orchestra, Bath Philharmonia, and sees their players and conductor, Jason Thornton, work ‘side-by-side’ with KES’s talented orchestral musicians, in an imaginative, highly accessible and entertaining programme, to which all are welcome.
This year’s Gala Concert theme of ‘Home’ is not only a concept that deeply resonates with all of us but has provided much reflection and inspiration for countless composers from across the ages.
We will treat you to not only great orchestral music close to home from our own, deep, cultural heritage with works such as Ralph Vaughan Williams' English Folk Song Suite and contemporary Scottish composer, Sally Beamish’s Haven from Seavaigers, but also iconic orchestral works from across the wider Western Classical symphonic genre, such as Aaron Copland's Letter from Home, and of course, Bedřich Smetana's symphonic poem Die Moldau (Vltava) which beautifully depicts the journey of the Vltava River through the countryside of his homeland, Czechoslovakia.
For more modern music join us as we defend our ‘home’ from a zombie invasion in exciting video game music, Grasswalk from Plants vs. Zombies by Laura Shigihara or help us celebrate our wonderful ‘home’ planet of Earth with Jazz music from the legend, Louis Armstrong!
Fans of 80s music can look forward to fantastic orchestral arrangements of Madness’s Our House and a tumultuous closing number in true rock style, in a stunning new arrangement of Mark Knopfler’s (guitarist from Dire Straits) beautifully nostalgic and uplifting Going Home (theme from Local Hero).
We are also thrilled to showcase three talented KES pupils performing stunning concertos by Mozart and Haydn, as well as Invisible Ballet, a specially composed piece by our Composer in Residence, Mr Mark Boden.