In the Moment
The County’s own professional orchestra, The Lancashire Sinfonietta, is well known to concert-goers for sterling performances of classical music in a variety of venues across Lancashire – particularly in the fine setting of St Peter’s Cathedral here in Lancaster.
There’s more to the Sinfonietta’s activities than that, though. Last Saturday the audience at the Round in The Dukes, Lancaster, were treated to an evening of a ‘Classical’ approach to Jazz – or was it the other way round?
The chamber ensemble, consisting of a string quintet, piano, drums and saxophone, performed a range of pieces, mostly recent arrangements or new compositions, in idioms that tantalisingly defied categorisation.
And therein was the joy, the eccentric, electrifying exuberance the eight players performed these finely written, moving pieces. ‘In The Moment’ was a nicely-balanced selection of musical snapshots of traditions, cultures and peoples of across the globe and down the decades, from Latin-American tangos to Sondheim-like numbers, from ‘Golden Age’ of jazz to more recent worlds of sound.
The audience loved the lot. There were feet tapping, visible and audible throughout the auditorium right from the first number. And The Round, with its intimate acoustics, was the perfect venue for the evening.
Imaginative ventures like these aren’t often seen across the UK, so it was a particular coup for our own local professional orchestra to collaborate with our leading local producing theatre. A wonderful evening, and a fine May Day celebration for our local, vibrant, home grown Arts scene.
by Michael Nunn, Lancaster Guardian/ Lancashire Evening Post