Northern Chamber Orchestra: Strum

19 Jan 2025

Storyhouse

Join the NCO for an evening of musical exploration and discovery in a programme where tradition meets innovation. Chester Storyhouse are delighted to welcome back Christopher Jones to direct a musical journey beginning with Corelli’s Concerto Grosso, Op.6 No.2, a Baroque masterpiece that dazzles with its lively interplay between NCO soloists and orchestra.

Next, we explore the contemporary sounds of Jessie Montgomery’s Strum. Jessie Montgomery is one of America’s most exciting young composers and was named Musical America’s 2023 Composer of the Year. The NCO is excited to perform the work, which draws on American folk idioms and the spirit of dance and movement. The composer says, “The piece has a kind of narrative that begins with fleeting nostalgia and transforms into ecstatic celebration.”

Bach’s Harpsichord Concerto No.1 features the welcome return of Darius Battiwalla, who brings outstanding virtuosity and sensitivity to this masterpiece of the Baroque repertoire. To close, the NCO will celebrate the sumptuous melodies of Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings. Tchaikovsky wrote the Serenade in response to feeling restless and unwell. He wrote to his publisher that he “loved this serenade terribly”, and justifiably so, as it has become one of the most popular works in the string orchestra repertoire.