Britten Spring Symphony, Holst The Hymn of Jesus and Copland Appalachian Spring

Come and celebrate as Richard Cooke marks his 40th anniversary as Music Director of Canterbury Choral Society, with the CCS Youth Choir and an ambitious programme of rarely-performed but outstanding works from the 20th century, including Britten Spring Symphony.

They’ll be joined by the London Mozart Players and a team of fine soloists in a programme of music in which to revel and dream on a June evening; full of passion, depth and humour. ‘Sumer is icumen in’ yell the augmented children’s choir at the end of Britten’s great Spring Symphony. Copland’s hauntingly evocative Appalachian Spring is preceded by Gustav Holst’s The Hymn of Jesus, perhaps his greatest work alongside The Planets.

London Mozart Players

The London Mozart Players is as fresh, dynamic and pioneering as it was in its inaugural concert, some seventy-three years ago under the direction of founder Harry Blech. In 1949 the LMP’s audience sought out the works of Mozart and Haydn, but today’s audience expect a wide-ranging repertoire – from baroque through to genre-crossing contemporary music and new commissions – and the LMP is only too delighted to deliver.

Recognised as the UK’s longest-established chamber orchestra, the LMP retains its trailblazing reputation to this day. It was the first orchestra in the world to appoint a woman artistic director (Jane Glover in 1988), it is the only UK professional orchestra to be managed operationally and artistically by the players, and was one of the first chamber orchestras to include education and outreach projects within its regular output. LMP was also an early adopter of the digital space, a necessity during the pandemic, and the ensemble continues to present a hybrid of live concerts and digital content to an ever-widening global audience.