Violinist Karen Sexton, one of the Ulster Orchestra’s 63 professional musicians, who appears in the UO’s poster campaign, pastes up one of the posters at Belfast’s Ulster Hall, the home of the Ulster Orchestra,

18 July 2012

50,000 new Season tickets go on sale for a Season of ‘Sonic Beauty’

As 50,000 tickets go on sale for the UO’s new Season today, Principal Conductor JoAnn Falletta, says that it will be one of ‘sonic beauty’.

“This is my second Season with the Orchestra and its fabulous musicians and we look forward to presenting a wealth of extraordinary music of cherished favourites and new discoveries this year in a Season that I think will delight, intrigue and hopefully inspire, JoAnn said.

“It will be a Season of colour, drama and sheer sonic beauty, opening in the Belfast Waterfront on 14 September when I conduct a powerful programme of Russian showpieces. Popular classics like Rimsky–Korsakov’s beloved Scheherazade and Rachmaninoff’s virtuosic and well known Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini performed by Peter Donohoe, a fantastic pianist who makes a welcome return to us.”

As Ed Smith, the Ulster Orchestra’s new Interim Chief Executive explained, “with 40 main season and lunchtime concerts featuring the music of 30 composers with 20 conductors, over 30 soloists and two great choirs, and with tickets starting from as little as £6, there is something for the committed regular concertgoer to the more occasional listener alike.

“There is a place in the concert repertoire for the broadest sweep of classical music and this Season we include the music of Beethoven to Wagner and if you enjoy humming ABBA and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s hits in the bathroom, then we have something for you too,” he said.

While the opening concert is on 14 September, 10 days earlier in the Ulster Hall sees Your Starter for 10! a taster concert that will feature highlights and excerpts from the forthcoming nine–month Season for just £10.

Ed Smith explained that it was a Season that would also celebrate the music of Benjamin Britten in his centenary year and include traditional favourites like the New Year Viennese concerts and Handel’s Messiah. After last year’s success, there will be another Burns Night celebration in January in partnership with the Ulster–Scots Agency and opportunities for the Orchestra to play its part in the Derry~Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013.

“This Season includes welcome returns for many world–renowned soloists, like pianists Nikolai Demidenko, the young Benjamin Grosvenor and the Norwegian trumpet virtuoso, Tine Thing Helseth.

“There are also more opportunities for our own musicians, like our Leader Tamás Kocsis, to feature in solo performances, There are opportunities to take the kids to family concerts like The Snowman, or for concertgoers to revel in contemporary works conducted by the composers themselves, or enjoy the music of Rogers and Hammerstein, ABBA and Andrew Lloyd Webber in our Showstoppers! concert in November.”

This Season, the region’s only professional fulltime symphony orchestra, which is supported by its principal funder, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, will also be performing again at Belfast’s Clonard Monastery and at venues around Northern Ireland including Coleraine, Derry, Ballymena and Bangor, with other venues to be confirmed.

Looking forward to the new Season, violinist Karen Sexton said, “I am so proud of the Ulster Orchestra, because we are providing wonderful music to local people. I am so lucky to be doing a job that I love, and I am honoured to be a part of such a great orchestra.”

Tickets are available from the Ulster Orchestra’s
Box Office at the Ulster Hall or by calling 028 9023 9955 or online.