Ed,

Having been starved of live orchestral & choral music since 2019, the audience was abuzz with anticipation awaiting ‘An Afternoon at the Proms’.

After opening with a stirring Shostakovich ‘March’ the atmosphere immediately changed to quiet contemplation with ‘The Lord is My Shepherd’ with Lisa Butcher and the beautiful Chorus. This was followed by the moving ‘Adagio’ from Mozart’s ‘Clarinet Concerto’ with Peter Morgan as the talented soloist.

We were delighted with the quirky ‘Marionette Funeral March’, particularly after recognising the Alfred Hitchcock theme, performed with aplomb on bassoon.

It was time for Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ with Simon Tedeschi in his element. What a treat this was! Such an ambitious work, performed to perfection by Simon, ably accompanied by the Orchestra. Simon later performed a light-hearted ragtime piece, written by Gershwin at the age of 15.

Again, a change of pace with Leroy Anderson’s ‘Bugler’s Holiday’ featuring no less than three solo trumpets playing at full throttle.  What fun!

Stravinsky’s ‘Danse Infernale’ and Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Slava!’ certainly put the Orchestra through its paces. What mind-boggling rhythms!

It was time for the Chorus to shine once more with the glorious ‘For the Beauty of the Earth before Lisa Butcher wowed us with her rousing renditions of ‘Love Me or Leave Me’ and ‘Orange Coloured Sky’.

 No Proms Concert would be complete without the beloved staples – ‘Jerusalem’, ‘Radetsky March’ and the grand finale, ‘Pomp and Circumstance’. Needless to say, the roof was well and truly lifted!

Thank you, Greg Butcher, and the Clarence Valley Orchestra and Chorus for working so hard to provide us with such a wonderfully entertaining afternoon.

Joan Moy, South Grafton